Rural water treatment

Tank and bore water is not town supply

Town supply arrives already treated. Tank and bore water does not, and the two have different problems. Roof catchment picks up sediment, leaves and whatever the birds leave behind. Bore water is more often about hardness, iron, manganese and sometimes bacteria.

Test before you buy gear

The honest advice is to find out what is in the water before you spend money treating it. A water test tells you which of those problems you actually have, and stops you buying a system that solves the wrong one.

It is worth retesting after any change on the property or in the catchment, and after a long dry spell followed by heavy rain, because that is when a tank picks up the most off the roof.

Filtration

Sediment filters take out the physical material. Carbon deals with taste and odour. On bore water you may need specific media for iron or manganese. Filters need changing on a schedule, and we can handle that too.

Order matters. Coarse sediment first, then finer, then carbon, then UV. Getting that sequence wrong is why some systems block up every few weeks.

Hard water

Common on bore supply around the Bay. It shows as scale in the kettle and on the elements, spotting on glassware, and soap that will not lather. It is not a health problem but it shortens the life of anything that heats water. Softening is a separate piece of gear again, and whether it is worth it depends on how hard the water actually is.

UV treatment

UV is what deals with bacteria and protozoa. It needs the water to be clear first, which is why UV normally sits behind filtration rather than on its own. The lamp needs replacing annually whether or not it looks like it is still working, because output drops long before the lamp stops glowing.

Maintenance

A treatment system that is not maintained is worse than no system, because you trust it. Filter changes, lamp replacement and servicing on existing systems is a normal part of what we do, and we can put it on a schedule so it is not something you have to remember.

What we are not

We install and maintain treatment hardware. We are not a drinking water supply assessor and we do not certify water as potable. Get the water tested, and then we can talk about what the results actually call for.