Softening a private well in Delafield
This is the page most Delafield homes need. The city says most residents are on private wells, so for most houses here there is no utility report, no published hardness and no one sampling the water but the owner.
Call (262) 829-5961Mon to Fri, 7am to 5pmNo report arrives in the mail
Homes on the city waterworks have their water sampled by the utility. A private well owner does not. Whatever hardness, iron or anything else is in your well, you only know it if you have it tested.
City customers can read a published figure. A well owner has to make one.
Why the city's wells are a warning, not a guide
The two city wells sit in different aquifers, one deep and one shallow, and same-day samples came back at 240 and 400 mg/L. A private well could be drilled into either kind of layer, which is why there is no single Delafield number to borrow.
Keep the bacteria test on a yearly schedule
Wisconsin's DNR recommends that every private well get a bacteria test at least once a year. Softening is a separate matter: bacteria and nitrate sit outside a softener's design.
Iron and the staining line
Share the iron number from your report on the call. The city's shallow well has measured iron above the 0.3 mg/L level where staining becomes noticeable, so iron is a fair thing to ask about here.
A quote for a Delafield well home
On the call, mention the well, the number of people in the household, where the well line enters the house, where any old softener stands and what your lab report says. The price comes on that call.
Common questions
We have no lab report at all. Where do we start?
With the call. The details you give are enough for a price, and install day begins by testing your tap for hardness. The DNR's yearly bacteria test is a good habit to begin as well.
Is a deep well softer than a shallow one?
In the city's case it was: the deep well read 240 mg/L and the shallow one 400 on the same day. That is two wells, though, and a private well can land anywhere. Only a reading tells you.
Does the city's chloride trend tell me about my well?
No. It was measured in the city's shallow well, not yours. What it does show is that well water can change over time, which is the case for reading your own tap rather than relying on an old result.