Well water treatment in Co. Tipperary

Private wells in Co. Tipperary

The 2022 Census counted 8,036 Tipperary households on a private well or other private supply, 12.9% of the county. Another 5,516 homes are on a group water scheme, public or private. The share on private supplies is highest in the north: 25.7% of homes in the Newport area, 22.1% around Roscrea and Templemore, 18.9% around Thurles and 16.1% around Nenagh. In the Clonmel area it's just 1.8%.

Nobody monitors a household well for you. It's classed as an exempted supply, so testing it and treating it is down to the owner. That's why every system we fit in Tipperary starts with a lab report.

What's usually in a Tipperary well

Hard water on the limestone

The flat lowlands of north Tipperary and the Golden Vale along the Suir sit on limestone. When the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) checked public supply sources in North Tipperary, 59% had what it calls excessively hard water and another 21% were hard. Around Thurles it measured 373 to 453 mg/L, which is very hard, and the hardest water was at Loughmore, around Thurles, Lorrha and Templetouhy. Expect scale in the kettle, the shower and on the immersion element.

Softer water on the sandstone

The softest North Tipperary water came from the sandstones and mudstones at Templederry, Clonakenny and Kilcommon, and the GSI describes water from the Galtee and Glen of Aherlow sandstones as soft to moderately hard. On the Old Red Sandstone in the north it found a typical pH of 6 to 7, so slightly acidic water is possible.

Iron and manganese

The GSI found high iron and manganese widespread in North Tipperary, often above the EU limit and mostly natural. The highest iron was at Borrisokane, Terryglass and Lorrha, and manganese was raised at Aglish, Borrisokane, Lorrha, Rathcabban and Clonakenny. You see it as orange or brown staining, black specks and tinged laundry.

Natural fluoride around Lorrha

Fluoride above the drinking water limit occurs naturally in parts of the Calp limestone around Lorrha, the GSI found, along with high barium and strontium there and at Clonakenny, Templemore and Roscrea.

Bacteria

The same North Tipperary study found faecal coliforms in 62% of public supply sources, 60% of group scheme sources and about 9% of the private supplies sampled. Parts of the South Tipperary limestone are karst, with swallow holes and springs, where water runs through open channels in the rock. You can't see, smell or taste bacteria, so a lab test is the only way to know. See bacteria in well water.

What we usually fit in Tipperary

Most Tipperary wells are on limestone and need the line below, in this order, with stages left out if the report doesn't call for them:

1. Sediment filter to protect everything after it.
2. pH correction, only on the sandstone and only if the report shows acidic water.
3. Iron and manganese filter, because both foul a softener if they reach it.
4. Water softener for the hard limestone water. On soft sandstone water it's often not needed.
5. UV disinfection if the report shows E. coli or coliforms, fitted last on the main line so the water reaching the lamp is clear.
6. Reverse osmosis at the kitchen tap for drinking water, and the stage that reduces fluoride if your report shows it.

On mains water and only bothered by limescale? See our water softener page for Co. Tipperary instead.

The well grant in Tipperary

Tipperary County Council runs the domestic well grant from its Civic Offices in Clonmel and Nenagh (0818 06 5000). Water treatment can qualify, but works done before the council's inspection don't, so apply first and fit second. Bring the council your lab report and our itemised quote. We'll tell you which tests to ask the lab for: iron, manganese, hardness, pH, nitrate, E. coli and coliforms at the very least, plus fluoride around Lorrha.