Well Water Testing: What to Test Before You Buy Any Treatment Equipment

Request the panel in exactly these terms. Labs offer cheaper "basic" panels that omit dissolved-vs-total splits and microbiology — the two omissions most responsible for mis-specified systems.

A perfect lab cannot rescue a bad sample:

1. Use the lab's sample kits and instructions — preserved bottles for metals, sterile bottles for microbiology; household containers invalidate results
2. Sample at the right point: before any treatment equipment for the raw-water picture (and after it, separately, when troubleshooting); run the tap to clear standing water first
3. For dissolved iron: draw and preserve quickly; a sample left open oxidizes and reports falsely low dissolved iron
4. Microbiology bottle technique: use the sterile bottle supplied by the laboratory; do not rinse it; fill to the marked line and leave the specified headspace; do not touch the cap interior; keep the sample cool; and deliver it within the laboratory's holding time
5. Record the context: date, season, recent rain/drought, which tap — the context turns numbers into a diagnosis

A useful well-water report is read as a connected treatment problem: concentration, chemical form, pH, flow, seasonal trend, and the intended water use must be interpreted together before equipment is selected.

1. Dissolved vs total iron gap — a large gap indicates oxidized, particulate iron already in the water; little or no gap indicates that most measured iron is dissolved, and the oxidation stage is sized differently for each case
2. pH row — below ~6.5, iron oxidation slows and resin choices narrow; low pH with corrosion complaints may need its own management
3. Hardness × your daily volume — this hardness load, not the concentration alone, sizes the softener; see the system configuration guide
4. Chloride trend vs today — if an older report exists, compare; rising Na/Cl is intrusion, and the RO stage should be designed for the trend
5. Microbiology against your use standard — positive coliform on a potable system changes the project: disinfection plus source investigation, not just filters

An incomplete, old, or single-season report is not a dependable design basis; fill the missing parameters and re-sample before fixing the treatment train, capacity, or performance guarantee.

• Missing dissolved iron split: ask the lab to add it; if impossible, treat conservatively (design oxidation for dissolved) and verify at commissioning
• Older than a year: re-test — wells change with seasons, rainfall, and nearby pumping
• Single snapshot for a big investment: sample twice (wet and dry season) where feasible; the delta predicts the maintenance your system will need
• Odor present but no H₂S row: hydrogen sulfide can escape from a sample during handling, so field notes — including the pattern described in the sulfur guide — are legitimate design inputs

Send the full report, not a summary, and add the average and peak daily demand, intended use, available power, and site constraints. A supplier should state on the quotation which test values and flow it used and what treated-water targets it guarantees. KONCHE has manufactured commercial water-treatment systems since 1997 in the 0.25–50 m³/h range, but the same evidence standard should be applied to every bidder. The well water treatment hub, iron and manganese guide, and ozone water-treatment guide show how individual results map to process choices.

A simple supplier test: a company that quotes from only "well water, 10 m³/h" without requesting the report is designing for an unknown source.