The Water Softener Blog

There is an upscale community near us with about one hundred homes in the development. This development is served by a community well water supply. Typically, such systems are serviced by licensed companies familiar with community well water supplies. In this case, the homeowners’ association decided to manage it themselves and hired a resident with a chemistry background to maintain the system. This was a red flag that led to the complex water treatment challenges I was called on to help resolve. Community wells are maintained much like municipal systems: disinfectant products  (usually chlorine and ammonia) are added, and water sampling ensures safe, consistent levels. Frequently, polyphosphates are added to encapsulate water supply lines to prevent scale from entering the water supply in municipal water supplies. Community well water supplies often use polyphosphates to encapsulate iron to try and prevent it from staining landscaping, drivewa...