Desalination of ground water from a well

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My ground well has salty water and can not be used for drinking. The water damages  clothes in washing ,the floor in cement or tiles or other concrete material changes color in contact with that water.

Taps ,shower mixers ,all damaged by this water .

This water is used by one religious community with more than 50 persons for all needs.

Can you please  suggest me any treatments to let my well be useful.

Regards

Seff

Taxonomy

15 Answers

  1. Use Capacitive Deionisation technology to desalinate water to desired level. This can economically treat water and desalting rate can be adjusted. Many applications does not need absolute Removal of salt. For large volumes you may consider electro chemical desalination based on electro dialysis reversal 

  2. Hi

    To my money, knowing the water analysis don`t make a big difference. its better to dig another well in a proper place and sensible depth.

    Good luck

  3. You have two way to do

    First of all, Could you give me more information such as the water analysis report? What are observation parameter has been over WHO standard for drinking water?

    1. Make a new well by proper deep that you can seeking a local information about the quality of each dept. 
    2. Use desalination by reverse osmosis (RO.)

    Both should have above information to make decission

  4. Analysis of water is required to reply your question.

  5. Solamente puede solucionarlo haciendo un estudio para ver si tiene otra fuente de agua de menor salinidad o con una pequeña planta de osmosis inversa. No busque otra solución

    www.adrianwerner.com.ar

     

  6. Hi, like most of the responses on this question.  I am also of the same opinion.  Human taste is the ultimate deciding factor for potable water concerns.  Well water may be low brackish, mid brackish or even high brackish.  So first you need to establish, only one parameter and that is the TDS profile.  Suggest to get data of the region (a bit difficult) or do a high level sampling for every season (3 - 4 months) and when there is a change in season (like early monsoon, mid monsoon, peak summer and peak winter). For cost economy point of view, only TDS should be done for inorganic constituents and for organic, since it is a well, try for fe, Mn etc. This will give you a pilot treatment scheme.  Pick from here.  It is a lengthy process, but if done correctly will save you hidden costs and challenges for the future.

  7. Without a detailed analysis of the ground water there is no way forward and all suggestions are only guesses. We have installed a number or treatment plants for artesian water. Within a radius of 50km the water conditions and composition of TDS can be very different. Get a registered laboratory to do a detailed analysis. The components to check are:  

     

     

    COMPONENT

     

    Calcium

    Ca

    Magnesium

    Mg

    Sodium

    Na

    Potassium

    K

    Chloride

    Cl

    Sulphate

    SO4

    Bicarbonate

    HCO3

    Silica

    SiO2

    Soluble Iron

    Fe

    Copper

    Cu

    pH

     

    TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS

    & Total Suspended solids

    TDS

     

    &

     

    Tss

     

  9. If the entire aquifer is salty, there is not much that can be done with well modifications or re-drilling.  Other (costly) desalination options have been posted.  With the size of your usage and continuous needs, I would recommend a direct distillation system.  The most direct would be electric or fueled-burner heating with condensation by preheating the inlet stream from the well..  Sustainable and cheaper designs could be done with solar heating, but the production rate may be less.  It would have to be seen if the design would supply enough fresh water for the antic-pated uses.

  10. Hi - One thing to try as a quick fix is to assess whether you have the possibility to lift the pump to a higher level. Saline water is more dense than fresh water so you may be able to exploit fresher water within the upper section of the well. For example if the well is 30m deep with a 10m water level and the pump is set close to the base then you may be able to retract the pump to say 18-20m and see if the water quality improves. An ability to do this depends on how far your water level draws down ( dynamic level ) when being pumped.  Also do you have the ability to pump less water for longer ? Pumping the well at a lower rate but for longer if using a storage tank may help to reduce the saline intrusion. Good luck and keep us posted !   Iain Howley ( UK Well Drilling Engineer )

  11. First, you can clean the lines by running warm citric acid through the piping it will work on almost any type of material that has scaling.  Jumper in back as far as you can to pump this through your system if you are looking to clean up the scale/color.  Citric will probably work on your hard surfaces too, but something like hydrochloric (muriatic) acid will take up concrete and etch it.  Citric will not do that, but may take a little longer as it is a weak acid.

    I cannot direct you on the laws for making potable water in your area, but you are almost certain to meet all criteria, if you install a small RO system.  There is not much to it, but if you are on a budget, then that may be a problem.  Unfortunately, sodium is difficult to remove in any other way.  The rest is going to be iron and other minerals fouling your RO membranes.  You might consult the manufacturer about cleaners to use periodically if your pressure gets too high due to fouling.

    Good luck,

    Sean L. Roop - Principal and Senior Consultant - Industrial and Engineering Consultants, LLC

  12. Good Afternoon Seff,

    The best recommended solution(s) start with a source water analysis.  Please provide the recent water test data.

    Warmest regards,

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  13. New Well needed

  14. Natural macrophytes (such as water hyacinth) have been known heavy metal removal in constructed wetlands to improve water quality through iron exchange in the rhizomes. I believe if you can find these and just submerge them on the surface of the water well, the water quality will be drastically improved. 

    1 Comment

    1. de ninguna manera, meter eso en el pozo solo ocasionará además de seguir el agua salada, problemas bacteriologicos. 

  15. If your well has high amounts of sodium and chloride, there are a few methodologies that can possibly be applied--reverse osmosis that can be applied at the point- of-use, distillation systems, and deionization. All these methodologies can be expensive, especially if the well is used by 50 people and the water is distributed to various points-of-use. It would be of interest to determine why the well water has become salty. Are you near the coast or, possibly, the well was drilled too deep near naturally-occurring saltwater sources.