Same equipment, same year, different water: what the well changed
Most of Putnam County drinks from the Floridan Aquifer through a private well. The water is safe and plentiful, and it leaves a mark on every piece of equipment it touches.
The two houses
Picture two similar 1980s block ranches a few miles apart that get the same system in the same month: a split heat pump, a new air handler in the utility room, a condensate pump because neither drain could run by gravity, a whole-house humidifier for the dry January weeks, and later, in both cases, a heat pump water heater. One house is inside the city limits of Palatka on treated municipal water. The other is in San Mateo on a private well drawing from the Floridan Aquifer, untreated.
Five years later the two systems are the same age with very different service histories, and the difference is entirely in the water.
What the city-water house looked like
The pan was faintly grey with dust. The drain line had the usual algae film and cleared with a flush. The condensate pump ran quietly and had never been touched. The humidifier’s pad was due for its annual change. The heat pump water heater’s heat exchanger was clean and its efficiency was where the label said. One maintenance visit a year had been enough.
What the well house looked like
The pan carried an orange ring an eighth of an inch thick. The float switch stuck in the up position twice in the previous summer, shutting the system down on the hottest afternoons. The condensate pump’s reservoir was packed with iron sludge and its check valve was failing. The humidifier pad was fused solid with scale after a single season. The heat pump water heater’s heat exchanger had enough scale that its recovery time had nearly doubled, and the brass fittings on the inlet showed the black tarnish that hydrogen sulfide leaves.
None of this was neglect. The owner had done everything the city-water owner had done. The water did the rest.
The three things in the water
Iron. Dissolved in the aquifer, it oxidizes when it meets air and settles as a rust-colored film. In the equipment room it coats the pan, narrows the drain, fouls the float and loads the pump. In a humidifier it builds scale on the pad. In a heat pump water heater it settles in the tank and on the exchanger.
Sulfur. Hydrogen sulfide gives well water its rotten-egg smell and corrodes copper and brass. The air conditioner’s refrigerant circuit is sealed and unaffected; the water heater’s fittings and exchanger are not.
Hardness. Calcium and magnesium precipitate wherever water evaporates or is heated. Humidifier pads, water heater tanks and exchangers, and any evaporative surface scale up and lose efficiency.
What touches the water, and what does not
| Component | Touches well water? | Effect without treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor unit and refrigerant circuit | No | None |
| Indoor coil | No | None |
| Condensate pan, trap, float switch | Indirectly, via humidifier or shared drain | Iron film, stuck float, slow drain |
| Condensate pump | Indirectly | Sludge in reservoir, early failure |
| Whole-house humidifier | Yes | Scaled pad each season, reduced output |
| Heat pump water heater | Yes | Scaled exchanger, corroded fittings, lost efficiency |
| Mini-split condensate | No | None |
The air conditioner proper is immune. Everything plumbed to the house water is not, and anything that shares a drain with those items inherits their residue.
Treatment, from least to most
- Sediment filter ahead of the water heater and humidifier. Catches oxidized iron particles. Inexpensive and worth having on every well house.
- Softener. Handles hardness and low levels of dissolved iron. The standard answer for most of the county.
- Iron filter. For wells with iron well above what a softener can manage, installed ahead of the softener.
- Sulfur treatment. Aeration or oxidizing filtration where the smell is strong and copper fittings are tarnishing.
We do not sell water treatment, but we will tell you which of these your equipment needs and what the water test shows, because the service life of the humidifier and water heater we install depends on it.
The maintenance schedule that makes a well house behave
Spring: pan and trap cleaned of iron sediment, drain flushed, float switch tested, condensate pump reservoir cleaned and check valve tested, humidifier pad replaced and valve checked. Fall: drain and float checked again, water heater’s filter changed and exchanger inspected. Every two years: humidifier solenoid and water line checked for scale. On city water most of this is a once-a-year list; on the well it is twice, and the second visit is what keeps the system off the floor in August.
Where this applies
Nearly everywhere outside the Palatka and East Palatka city water service area: San Mateo, Satsuma, Welaka, Bostwick, the US 17 towns south, Interlachen and the lakes, Melrose, and the SR 100 ridge communities. If your kitchen tap runs orange after a vacation or your white laundry has gone the color of weak tea, this guide is about your house.
Well-water questions we hear across the county
The condensate is just water the coil pulled from the air. How does the well get into it?
Directly, it does not. The well reaches the condensate system through anything plumbed to the house water that drains into the same pan or line: a humidifier, a heat pump water heater’s condensate, a water softener discharge routed to the same drain, or simply the mineral dust that settles in a utility room where well water is used. Where the pan is orange, one of those is the source.
Does sulfur smell mean the air conditioner is involved?
No. Hydrogen sulfide is in the water, not the air system, and the smell comes from taps and water heaters. It does corrode copper and brass fittings on anything the water touches, which is why a heat pump water heater on untreated sulfur water has a shorter life.
Is a softener enough, or do I need iron filtration too?
It depends on the iron level. Softeners handle hardness and small amounts of dissolved iron; higher iron or iron that has already oxidized needs a dedicated iron filter ahead of the softener. A water test settles it, and we recommend one before any heat pump water heater goes in.
How often should the drain and pan be cleaned on a well house?
Every spring at minimum, and twice a year where a humidifier or condensate pump is in the line. On city water once a year is usually enough; the well adds the second visit.
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