Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pond water into Drinking/Potable water

Hello its been a while. Got a question. If one was to utilize a pond for water to a house, what kinds of systems or filtration are out there to do this. Thanks Joey

RO maybe.

Boiling

Jk ------ but would work in case of zombie apocalypse

Ya it would but I am looking to supply a whole house kinda thing, pressure and all and also safe for drinking.

I know they do this in southern Indiana where ground water is less plentiful but not sure of specifics. Hopefully someone else will come on that can tell you from first hand experience.

It's quite common in NW Ohio and what made my market for Blue Tilapia so chemicals may be avoided....most claim to pump sulfur laden ground water into the pond to lose taste and odor, then filter home use pond water with activated charcoal and "standard" sediment cartridges.

I have read a lot about this topic. to the best of my knowledge, you should buy a filter like this:





www.lakewaterfilters.com


and then a very good RO whole house system. the lakewater filter will rid the water of the large stuff, and keep the RO from having any problems.



dustin

oh ya his filter looks to be perfect on that end. gonna read up on RO, will that kill the bacteria or what ever bad stuff is in the pond. There prob is somekind of treatment system around maybe adding a tiny bit of clorine or running threw a softner. then prob a shallow water well pump with auto on/off prob need a expansion tank to. just about everything you need for a well plus something the kill the nasties.

Looks like that lake water filter / a shallow water pump/tank combo / and a Rev Osmosis filter. The RO filter does get the mico orginizms. A small system using a 1/2hp should cost less then 700. that would be 10 gal a min. if you needed a little more 15GM wouldnt be to much more. Hummmm

May want to double check the numbers again. A 10 GPM RO system would be a commercial scale system, and the cost would be 15-20X what you are thinking.

Also, RO will not get all the nasty things. To properly dispatch these, you may want to look into UV filtration as an addition.

I have a system like you are talking about that I used for all water needs until the water company ran lines to my rural area. It is still in operation however I now have "city water" and only use my lake system for outside water needs. The system consists of a standard well pump that is run into the lake about 5 feet below the surface in 10 feet of water. The water goes into a standard well pressure tank and then into a series of tanks. When the pump runs a small tank supplied alum to the water, then another infuses chlorine. The water goes first into one 150 gallon settling tank, then into another. The chlorine kills the bacteria then alum settles out the dirt. The water then goes into a 60 gallon sand filter and then a 60 gallon charcoal filter. What comes out is clean clear water. When I built the house I priced out a well system and then this system. This system was about half of what a well would have cost. In our area Culigan water does this as well as several plumbing companies.

I kinda figured it was as easy as I was thinking, the actual pump system and inlet water filter like the lake filter should be no more then whats set up for wells. Fishing years ago in upstate NY almost every home around the lake was utilizing the lake water, there has to be some system that does a decent job filtering and getting the nasties out..... back to reserching

If you were to fish the lake in front of our lake house you would see a pipe and a pump pulling water from the lake. It's only used for irrigating the grass, not for drinking.....

Can't quite figure out what to say here, and deleted 3 reply's already. Just want to point out that it is just not that simple anymore. What was done years ago, don't quite hold true today.

This guy sums it up pretty good... most the house sounds like you can just do a basic filtration system and have one or two points for drinking using R/O and UV. Might cover it but still not 100% clear if its all you need. Treatment Technologies

It may depend on what the authorities in your jurisdiction allow you to do. Some places have goofy laws.

That was just a sales video for a particular brand of gizmo, which there are very many in this realm.

A bit more research on your part tho.

Feel free to ask questions.

I wasnt sayin his exact items but the idea of not treating the whole house. There is nasties in well water to and you dont need to do anything to it, prob wells need some good filtration to. well anyways thanks for letting me think this threw out loud. appriciate all the responses it was fun to think about. more reserching

When using pond water as domestic water you want to do two main things. Kill the bacteria and other life forms and filter the water to make it clear. The local (state) health department has standards, guidelines, and suggested methods for private users for each state that are available. I have talked to a couple pond owners who have drunk water directly from the pond without any treatment. That is very risky behavior. You are liable for water purity that you serve guests. I would call two local water treatment companies (Yellow pages - Water Treatment, Purification, Filtration Equipment) to get ideas and plans for what you need according to your state standards and an estimation of costs. Once you know what types of minimal equipment that are needed then you can start shopping around for options including DIY. NOTE: Once the health dept knows what you are doing then they often require you to test the water for bacteria content to verify purity and proper functioning of the system.

My philosophy is it is much better if you manage your pond for the clear water option (5-8 ft visibility), thus there is less effort, filtration, and cost to get good water quality in the house. Ponds with lots of tiny micro suspended solids (clays, silts, dead detritus in the less than 0.1-5um range) will always cause more frequent filter changes and maintenance. Many filters only remove particles down to 3-5um. Normally one does not need RO for the entire house, just primarily for drinking water in the kitchen and maybe the refrigerator.

Had to go to the zoning office today so just for conversation since its not that office that would be incharge of something like this but they all are kinda together over there. i threw the idea at him... hehehe he looked at me like I had 2 heads... then I quickly told him how it could be done and he sort of changed his initial reaction but still said ummm i really got no idea.. well it was a thought anyway, i got well water close by but the piping is not ran. My pond is spring fed and pretty clear all the time, it does about 2 or 3 gal overflow in winter and summer, and more like 5 to 6 gal in the spring. My dogs drink it, they never get sick, not that I would drink it.