Water treatment options?

[Scott K]

I have had water issues with since I moved into my house several years ago, such smelly water, taste bitter, kills my bait, it is city water. I want to have a water treatment place come and test my water, and let me know what I can do to treat my water. Who, or what are the options for this? I was going to call Kinetico, because there is one local, are there better options?

[jeffreyd]

have you talked to the city, neighbors to see if they have the same issue? there are many people on city water that do not have issues like you have explained. I would be curious to see what they have to say.

[Scott K]

I know the entire city doesnt have the same problems, but I know some that do. I tested it last year with a home kit, it was extremely high with nitrites. I asked the city, they came up and took a sample and tested it, but never gave me the results. They told me that they arent required to test for nitrites, and dont, so they wouldnt even know if it was above the danger level.

[Powerstroke]

I would check again with the city. I work for a city water dept and there is quite the list of things we are required to test for. Anything that has a "danger" level should be tested for. We are required to keep a copy of our most recent test on file. I give out the results to people all the time, especially for folks setting up softeners or getting filtration systems.

Otherwise you can ask the city where they take their water samples. We can test for a couple things, but the bacteria samples and of the major ones have to be done by certified labs. I'm sure there is something reasonably local and they will usually be the same people who test wells and such too.

[Scott K]

They did tell me that they tested the water at the pump, and it was good there, but they never got back to me on the test from my faucet. And the guy that took the test, he told me that they have never tested for nitrites because they arent required to. I will wait and see what Kinetico tells me then go from there. They offer a free test.

[WallEYES]

Does the city flush their hydrants? Usually it is in the spring and in the fall to rid of any foreign materials in the system.

[Scott K]

It was just done 2 weeks ago

[Archerysniper]

Is it just the hot water or is it both,the reason I ask if it's just the hot it is cause by the anode rod in the water heater. Do your water lines have any dead end runs that are just capped off they will hold bacteria since the water is not moveing through the lines. Another one that I have worked on was the carlson towers on 394 and 494 the city was not adding enough treatment chemicals to the water and thet were at the dead end of the city main and caused them to have terrible water I spent a saturday out there for 16 hours with another plumber draining the water out of every fixture and heater and pumping highly clorinated water into the building filling up the whole water system with it and letting it sit for 6 hours and then draining it again and flushing out all the chemicals.

[Scott K]

No, I know the cold water is bad, unsure about the hot water. I have the place coming this afternoon to test it, I will see what they say.

[Scott K]

Well, I wasnt surprised, but they recommended a reverse osmosis system.

[frazwood]

If nitrites are high, then you have a big problem (but not with your bait). Nitrites are very dangerous for babies, causing methemoglobemia (better known as blue baby syndrome). The nitrite is harmless to fish, though. The thing that is killing your bait is probably chlorine (or chloramine, depending on which disinfectant your city uses).

Do you know the source of the water that the city uses? If it's a surface water, then the source of the bad taste and smell is likely algae growing in the lake/river. Its harmless, though no fun at all.

I wouldn't recommend an RO system as a first shot (MUCH MUCH cheaper). I'd start with a Brita Filter. It should remove both the chlorine and the geosmin (the compound the algae produce), giving you a better tasting water that doesn't kill your bait.

[Scott K]

frazwood, the water comes from underground. The water still hasnt been tested professionally, my first sample that was tested, I brought a sample to Pet Expo, and they did a test on it, and said that the Nitrites were in the danger level. They sold me some test strips, I tested it with the test strips and it reveled the same result, nitrites in the danger level. I brought a small sample to a place in Mankato, they just sent me a sheet with a bunch of numbers on it, and it didnt show what the numbers meant, hih, or low. I then called the city, they came here and did a water test here, and everything was good, but they couldnt test for nitrites, so they took the sheet that I had with the water test on, and a water sample, and then never ot back to me after that. I called them a month later, and they told me they didnt have any record of the results.

What I was told is, if I had nitrites in my water, the entire city would as well, and I know that other people dont have issues with their city water killing their bait. So I am quite confused, and concerned about the water and my families health. If my water can kill bullheads over night, but someone 6 blocks away dont have any problems at all with their bait tank, I dont know where, or what else it could be. I know my water does taste bitter.

The Kinetico sales guy took a water sample to have tested for nitrites and arsenic, but told me it would be a few weeks to get it tested, and he said if it had any in it, he would just recommend an osmosis system anyhow. I just hope he gets back to me, and lets me know what is in my water, as this will be the 3rd test, and I havent got a actual result from what is in it, or what to do about it. I will check into the Brita filter, as I dont want to spend money if I dont have to, but I would really like to know what is in my water.

[UMDSportsman]

In College the city water in duluth would always get to my minnows, not necessarily kill all of them, but always some. I also had the same issue when I lived in an apartment in Worthington. It is the chlorine that gets to them. If you fill up a 5 gallon pail and let it sit out overnight, then put your bait in it the next day, you will be good. This made a huge difference for me. The chlorine has a chance of evaporate out when you leave it sit out over night.

[Scott K]

I fill my tank, let the filtration pumps run for a week before putting bait in it, and it still killed them from about 10 am, til 3pm the same day. It killed everyone of them, about 40 of them.

[Jim Almquist]

I have been reading this and find it interesting because you have city water with some very strange issues. When you test your water are you running out all the sitting water that is in the pipes so that the water you are testing is more or less from the street ? If the results change maybe you do need to shock your pipes. The only other thing is there a difference in the water quality based on the distance from the supply. Is your neighbors water just as bad as your but down the block it is better ? The only reason I ask is that I know Henderson is pretty much built on a slope and wonder if the water is better up the hill or down.

[Scott K]

Water is better up the hill, I live halfway up, and I have the problem, a fellow fishermen lives on top, he has no problem. I run the water for 1 minute before taking the water for the test, that should have been long enough.

[Tom7227]

I would contact the County Health Department, then the State Health Department or the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. There just isn't any excuse for a municipal water system to be this bad. It seems hard to understand why the various test results either disappear or don't result in some sort of corrective action.

I know how to shock a well but I don't know how you would shock the pipes in your house if you have city water. Could we get an explanation please.

[Archerysniper]

To shock the system you need to get a transfer pump mix the chemicals in some drums I use chlorine tabs but powder mixes easier and then shut your water of at the meter and drain the whole house down you can then pump the chlorinated water in through your mop sink faucet if it has a hose thread or the drain on the bottom of your heater fill it up till it comes out of all fixtures hot and clod sides and let sit for 12 hours then drain your system again turn the water back on and flush all fixtures until no chlorine can be smelled.

[King Canada]

This is Keith Swenson, the Mayor of Henderson. Please call the City Administrator, he's expecting your call . James the Water guy works hard at helping people figure out where their water problems are coming from.

[Scott K]

Thanks Keith, I will call in the morning, I would love to get to the bottom of this, and figure out what is going on.

[Jim Almquist]

I am really curious to see what the problem is or the solution. I just wonder if there is some stagnant water getting sucked in from a dead end pipe or something goofy like that. Might just need to open up the fire hydrant and let some of the water clean out the pipes.

[Scott K]

I am curious as well, since others dont have the same issue, I was thinking it has to be in the pipes in my house, or to my house. I would also like to get the situation resolved, if it is financially feasible. I will post with updates, when I find out anything.

[LightningBG]

Doesn't surprise me the kinetico guy suggests a RO system. He might have a little bit of a vested interest.