The object of this test is to make sure the well is free from coliform. Coliform is a common indicator bacteria which is easier to test for than other types of bacteria like E. coli.

1. Make sure you have completely purged the system of any Chlorine (if the lab detects any chlorine, they will not test your sample). Purging chlorine from the system can take anywhere from two to six hours (possibly more). If you smell chlorine in your water, run the tap until you cannot smell it anymore.
2. Make sure your water conditioner is bypassed.
3. Be sure there is no screen (sometimes referred to as aerator) in the faucet from which you are taking a sample. DO NOT USE YOUR KITCHEN FAUCET FOR SAMPLES.
4. If you have an all-metal faucet, lightly heat the metal to help disinfect your sampling point. You do not need to heat your faucet for more than a few seconds, and do not heat the faucet at all if it has any interior of exterior plastic components.
5. After heating up the faucet, run cold water at a slow steady stream for at least one hour. Do not touch the faucet or adjust the water flow while it is running, any changes may release particles from the valve into the water stream, affecting the test result. While performing this step, we advise that you run one or two other faucets in the house at full speed to create constant motion in your water system.
6. Collect water in a sample bottle, obtainable from your local county health department. To avoid contaminating the sample, do not breathe directly in the bottle, and do no not touch the bottle lip or the inside of the cap. Wearing a facemask and clean nitrile gloves can help maintain a sterile bottle.
7. Immediately transport the sample to your county health department in a small cooler.
8. If you’ve already taken in more than one sample, ask the lab if they will give you a bacteria count so you can tell if you are making progress.
9. It is not unusual to have to chlorinate the well once or twice after the initial drilling. We chlorinate the well when we drill it, but often the plumbing is not completed at that time so the interior water lines may not have been disinfected.
10. Running the water for an extended period of time is one of the best things you can do, particularly if the house is new or has not been occupied for some time.  Make sure to run multiple taps simultaneously so the pump runs continuously.

At Cribley Drilling, we keep our finger on the pulse of the water well industry. We use materials from proven leaders in the industry, and are constantly on the lookout for ways to keep our services above the industry standard. With a fleet of state-of-the-art drill and service vehicles, we’re ready to tackle any situation. And, our highly trained staff will always ensure that you receive the best well possible.

Not likely.

In Michigan, we are fortunate to have an abundant supply of water in huge interconnected aquifers which are constantly being replenished by water that filters through the ground. Most wells in Michigan don’t go dry, but instead become clogged with mineral deposits over long periods of time and do not produce as much water as they once did.  If this occurs, there is a possibility that the well can be reconditioned to alleviate this problem.

In most cases, it’s best to have your well drilled before constructing a new home so the house can have water as soon as possible. The latest the well should be drilled is during the drywall stage of construction if at all possible.  Some areas in Washtenaw County are designated “well-first” by the health department.  These sites must have a completed well (not including the pump) to get a building permit. Check with your local health department to find out if your project is in a well-first area. The following townships (Augusta, Superior, and York) are designated completely well first in addition to parts of other townships within Washtenaw County.

The best way is by reputation.  Ask a friend or neighbor that has had a well drilled, they’ll often have an opinion about their well experience. Price comparison can also be helpful, but should not be your only deciding factor; your well is one of the most important aspects of your home, and should be invested in accordingly. Form an opinion of the company by the way it presents itself along with reputation and price.  If there is still doubt after that, you can always inquire with the state environmental health department.  Most states will list any company with complaints filed against them.

Ground water is generally very safe and dependable. If you think your water source has been contaminated, it’s best to have the water tested.  Water testing is always available to you from your local and state environmental health department.  The most common test is for Coliform bacteria, but there are a few other things that you can test for like arsenic and nitrates. Most people will not find a problem with their water, but testing can bring peace of mind for a worried home owner.  There are also certified private labs in most areas for more detailed water testing.

We keep an extensive database of all the wells we’ve drilled to date (nearly 27,000) and we cross reference that with a similar state database. From that information, we attempt to determine the depths and static water levels of wells in neighboring areas. We also review details regarding the construction of those wells. This information can be helpful for accurately estimating and constructing your well.

A water conditioner has millions of poppy seed sized beads made of negatively charged poly styrene plastic which naturally attracts positively charged ions like calcium and magnesium.  Water flows through the beads (mineral/resin bed) and exchanges sodium or potassium for the minerals which cause hardness. This process does add a small amount of sodium or potassium to your drinking water so further treatment may be desired, usually in the form of a reverse osmosis drinking water system.

When the resin bed has used the majority of its negative charge, the system regenerates with a sodium or potassium solution called brine. Most modern softeners have a metered regeneration feature which is designed to save salt. If the unit is not equipped with a meter, it either has a clock which can be set to regenerate the unit on a set schedule of days automatically.

When a water conditioner regenerates, it will typically behave in the following order at 2 AM.

1. The backwash cycle will start and run for about 10 minutes. The softener will pump water down the center distributor tube.  This is designed to expand the resin bed and allow foreign debris to escape out the drain of the unit.
2. The brine and rinse cycle begins when the unit draws the brine solution from the salt tank. The brine works its way down through the resin and up the distributor.  At this time the sodium or potassium exchanges with the iron and hardness captured by the resin beads.  The iron and hardness are then forced out the drain of the unit. The brine portion of the brine and rinse cycle lasts about 15 minutes.  The water conditioner will rinse out any traces of iron, hardness, and chloride for the next 45 minutes.
3. The rapid rinse cycle sends water down from the top through the resin and up the distributor for about 8 minutes.  This procedure packs the resin down tightly in the tank.
4. The brine refill cycle sends water to the salt tank to make new brine for the next time the water softener regenerates.
5. The service cycle then sets the control valve to service which allows the softener to deliver soft water throughout the home.

Our Quicksilver Water Systems utilize up-flow brining.  This means that when the unit brings in brine for regeneration, it will enter the resin bed from the bottom instead of the top.  This is a more efficient way to introduce brine to the resin bed, resulting in roughly a third less salt used per regeneration.

A water conditioner will automatically regenerate the system by initiating a demand meter.  This demand meter counts the gallons of water your household uses and tells the control valve when the capacity of the unit is getting low.  Most newer softeners have the metered regeneration feature which is designed to save salt.  If the unit is not equipped with a meter, it either has a clock which can be set to regenerate the unit on a set schedule of days automatically or the unit is simply a manual unit.  A manual conditioner is one that the homeowner must physically cycle through each individual step.

When a water conditioner regenerates, it will typically behave in the following order at 2 AM.

1. The backwash cycle will start and run for about 10 minutes.  The softener will pump water down the center distributor tube.  This is designed to expand the resin bed and allow foreign debris to escape out the drain of the unit.
2. The brine and rinse cycle begins when the unit draws the brine solution from the salt tank.  The brine works its way down through the resin and up the distributor.  At this time the sodium or potassium exchanges with the iron and hardness which was attached to the resin beads.  The iron and hardness are now forced out the drain of the unit.  The chloride from the brine is not needed and is also forced out the drain.  The brine portion of the brine and rinse cycle lasts about 15 minutes.  The water condition will rinse out any traces of iron, harness, and chloride for the next 45 minutes.
3. The rapid rinse cycle sends water down from the top through the resin and up the distributor for about 8 minutes.  This procedure packs the resin down tightly in the tank.
4. The brine refill cycle sends water to the salt tank to make brine for the next time the water conditioner goes into regeneration.
5. The service cycle is when the water conditioner sets the valve to service which means it is now ready to deliver soft water to be used throughout the home.

The Avantapure and selected Quicksilver systems have upflow brining.  This means that when the unit brings in brine for regeneration, it will enter the resin bed from the bottom instead of the top.  This is a more efficient way to introduce brine to the resin bed in most cases.  This will result in about a third less salt used per regeneration.

While the water softener is running, any other water being used in the house will be unsoftened. The water softener will typically run on the 3rd or 4th day of the week at 2 AM, so it shouldn’t conflict with your daily schedule. Twin tank water softeners have a backup resin tank, so you can have soft water 24/7.

As a subsidiary of Cribley Drilling Co., we have over 70 years of experience with water wells, and we’ve been selling and servicing water treatment systems for the last 40 years. We use the latest equipment and send our crews to regular seminars to keep their knowledge sharp and up-to-date.

A good softener is calibrated to the unique hardness of the water it’s treating.  It is not uncommon to see one occupant of a home using 15-20 pounds of salt per month or a family of 6 use 60-80 pounds of salt per month.  The amount of hardness, iron, and members in a family are the main factors of salt use.  Also, the type of salt saving features in a water softener system can impact the overall salt usage.  Once a water test is taken and your equipment is selected, we can give a better estimation of salt usage, though most average households will use 1 or 2 bags of salt every month.

Softeners can remove some iron if it’s fully dissolved in the water and iron removing salt is used. Extreme cases will need pretreatment of some kind ahead of the softener to properly remove all of the iron.

A good quality, properly maintained system can reduce most contaminants, including sodium, by 90%. Other contaminants which reverse osmosis is effective against include: arsenic, fluoride, radium, sulfate, potassium, nitrates, and others.

There isn’t a straightforward answer, though sodium from softened water is generally negligible when compared with overall daily sodium intake. The exact amount of sodium in softened water is determined by how hard the water was to begin with. To roughly calculate your sodium based on hardness, multiply grains of hardness by 1.8 to get milligrams of sodium in an 8 ounce glass.

(GRAINS HARD) X 1.8 = MILLIGRAMS OF SODIUM IN AN 8 OZ GLASS OF WATER

 The Mayo Health Clinic has estimated that water with an initial hardness of 7 grains will have about 12.5 mg of sodium in an 8 ounce glass. Comparatively, a slice of white bread contains roughly 140 mg of sodium, while a slice of pizza will average 640mg.