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will very rusty well water harm plants?

Posts: 9667

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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posted 1 month ago

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We are in a drought and have almost finished up our stored rain water so have begun watering with the old house well here....pulling it up with a two gallon well bucket as we haven't decided on a well pump.

It's very rusty. This is due to the 6" iron well casing...so high iron?

The family who owned the house back in the fifties used the well for all but drinking and laundry (because of iron) and did water gardens with it.

Any thoughts on long term use for plants?

I've been careful to only water blueberries with rain water and not the city water we sometimes resort to for other things as it's quite alkaline.

I should probably test ph.

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R Scott

pollinator

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Location: Kansas Zone 6a

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Extra iron shouldn’t harm most plants, but it can wreak havoc on irrigation equipment. Hand watering should be fine. IF it is just the extra iron. I’d get it tested for other contaminants if you can, I know people that have enough ag chemical traces in their shallow well to kill seedlings.

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Judith Browning

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Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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thanks!
that makes me wonder how an eventual electric pump will handle iron then?

For now we are watering by hand and trusting that since we are in town and there are only hayfields in the immediate area we're less likely to have contaminants? I don't think many here use herbicides on their hay fields.

We have tried to empty the well a couple times and just ran the water out on the ground and the plants and trees growing there anyway, seemed to appreciate it...I did watch for damaged and dieing plants.

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"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
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Anne Miller

steward

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Location: USDA Zone 8a

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Judith Browning wrote:We have tried to empty the well a couple times

I assume you were trying to get rid of the rust?

Most wells are on a water table or aquifer so I would hope that it would be impossible to run the well dry.

There is a pipeline south of me and the guy next to the pipeline said the construction workers ran his well dry during an expansion.

He said that was because the water level fell below his pumps intake. The water level came back up and he was okay.

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Judith Browning

Posts: 9667

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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Thanks Anne!

we were just trying to let fresh groundwater into the well and get a look at the water.

I think the rust is there forever since it's an iron casing?

The water is pretty dense with rust, almost opaque when we pull up a lot of buckets...seems to replenish quickly though and then the water is somewhat clearer.

The well had not been used for decades.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

R Scott

pollinator

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Location: Kansas Zone 6a

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The iron pipe dissolves over time, so unused wells will look REALLY rusty at first. In regular use, it should clear up.

Amber Michello

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posted 1 month ago

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Judith Browning wrote:thanks!
that makes me wonder how an eventual electric pump will handle iron then?

Is there a consideration or available option with your setup for a sediment filter prior to the pump?

Judith Browning

Posts: 9667

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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Amber, that's a good question!
We don't have the pump yet nor any pipe...we'll be starting from scratch.
I haven't run across any info to do with the pumps we've been looking at mentioning a prefilter but it looks like we'll need one.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

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