Well-water question...

[ryan820]

Boiling the water only has the effect of increasing mineral content. Minerals don't boil-- ok they do but not technically in the way water does. Boiling will kill bugs/bacteria/viruses in water but boiling the water will release pure water into the air, while the minerals remain behind, increasing the concentration of that water left in the pot. Imagine, if you will, the inside of your hot steam humidifier-- over time, it collects minerals which manifest themselves on the hotplate as that nearly-impossible-to-remove encrusted junk-- THAT is what you get if you keep boiling water.

DI is de-ionization and essentially removes the last stray ions of your water. Stray ions tend to bring along other things such as dissolved solids, Calcium, Sodium etc.. as well as heavy metals. Having a free ion out there that gets nabbed by the DI filter will keep the last remaining bits of bad stuff in your water from going into your clean-water-supply.

I got my RO/DI from Bulk Reef Supply-- an online vendor that caters to Marine Aquarium hobbiests (of which I am one) but their RO/DI units are fantastically built. I have zero affiliation with them but can assure you you'll have a wonderful experience buying from them. I got the 5 stage plus unit, which includes a monitor to know what the quality of your filtered water is-- which allows you to know when you need to get new filters. I don't use mine very often (my tank is not that big-- 55 gallons) but I'm so happy with its operation and Bulk Reef Supply has very good customer service. I paid roughly 180 for mine.

Hope this helps!

 

[ChikeeMomma]

We have pretty salty well water with all the goodies to go along with it (iron, calcium). I have raised many birds on it with no problems. It is up to you, though.

 

[TouchO'Lass]

Thanks again, folks! I've heard of the DI process, but don't have any 'first hand' with it. That's great info!

The amount of knowledge and experience in this forum is just invaluable...

I'm going to trust my well and start half and half for a couple days, watch how they do, then gradually increase it so they'll be on the straight stuff by the time they're outside for good.

 

[Wildflower_VA]

Epsom salts are not like "sodium salt". Epsom salts are magnesium salts or magnesium sulfate (full strength Epsom salts: 9.8% soluble magnesium, 12.9% sulfur). Chickens need magnesium, so I can't imagine the amount of Epsom salts in your drinking water being high enough to hurt the chicks. If you had a high concentration in the water you drink, you would constantly have diarrhea. Same goes for the calcium. I live where the rock is limestone. My well water if full of calcium, but my chicks did great drinking it. All hard water has a lot of calcium. Magnesium and calcium are the two good minerals in water that gives it the good taste. RO water systems takes out everything good for you in water. Distilling water makes it harsh and can result in an acid state.

 

[sillyredhen]

This is a really great question! We have had chickens on well water for about a year now, and we haven't noticed any problems.

 

[dolly85]

Have you had your water tested? If its safe for you to drink its safe for the animals. I've had well water my entire life and haven't had any problems with it. If you are worried you can get a filter and give your animals filtered water from inside by I sincerely think that is going overboard! In the warmer months my animals won't hardly touch their fresh water I put out daily. They'd rather drink from nasty puddles, swamps, and whatever else they can reach and they NEVER get sick. And yes, this includes new chicks (and kittens, kids, ducklings, etc) following their mother around!
Boiling water is only going to INCREASE the concentration of minerals in your water. People boil water to kill microorganisms that can make you sick, people seem to have this misconception that boiling water will take everything out of it and leave it sparkly clean.......