Is there anyone on home hemo that has their own well and septic systems?

Do you use DI tanks or an RO?

Did you have to supply your own equipment or did the center?

Is yours an FMC center?

There are people on Home Hemo that do have well and septic but those people tend to have the most problems with equipment. The problems you might face are whether or not your septic system can handle 500 gallons of water a night being dumped into it without flooding your yard, whether your well pump can handle the stress of having to work that hard and if it can even supply the needed pressure to keep the RO running correctly. Also with well water you will find that it is usually worse in quality then city type supplied water. Its usually harder and the pH is usually off balance. That can be remedied but it is EXTREMELY hard on the equipment. You will notice especially if you have an RO that the membranes will foul up much easier and even with a softener its not much better because with very hard water it has alot of salt to remove (softeners use ion exchange to exchange the calcium magnesium in the water for sodium ions). DI is a pain because there is no good way to do it since you have to change the cartridges or sacks. The worse the water is the more often they have to be changed! When you use sacks they are usually very heavy and a technician or water specialist company will have to come out and change it and if you use DI cartridges they sometimes leak.
Either way the more equipment your required to use, the more problems you are likely to have and the best technical staff/water specialists can only help you so much (they will probably be at your house quite a bit). RO's are especially prone to breaking/fouling with worse water. PH is another big concern because if it is not in a reasonable range, alot of the toxins in the water may not get removed correctly. You can have a acid injection system installed in your house if you have high pH but it is troublesome and may cause more problems then it is worth even to the point of being dangerous if something was to go wrong with it or if it was set incorrectly.
It really depends on the clinic you are going to as you might be rejected for your own safety if they feel that it is too dangerous to try and run your treatments under those conditions. They can do water analysis and such to determine this, but please take all I said into consideration. The FMC unit here does provide all the proper equipment including DI's or RO and pays for the installation of plumbing etc.., if need be to the extent of what is needed to run but not usually if its a pre-existing plumbing/electrical problem.
One other thing is that it should be checked with the local officials if it is ok to have your dialysis waste dumped through your septic just to cover your own back because believe it or not some vicinities may consider it illegal dumping of hazardous waste.
If you are planning to go ahead with it and the facility oks it and feels its a safe setup then I suggest you be patient because these type setups are the hardest to deal with and have the most problems. If you have qualified technicians though there should be nothing to worry about because they will know when it is safe to run and when it is not. Just be patient with the fact that you may have problems that are beyond their control.

quote:

Originally posted by Patient:
Is there anyone on home hemo that has their own well and septic systems?

Do you use DI tanks or an RO?

Did you have to supply your own equipment or did the center?

Is yours an FMC center?

The fact that you have a well and septic does not mean you cannot do home hemodialysis. In our area we have had a number of people do so. In fact a large metropolitan in center unit here uses water from two of their own wells. Most cities in this area draw their city water from wells.
Well water, at least here in MN, normally does not pose any unusual problems. It does need to be softened, we install a dedicated softener just before the RO system. No problems. Excessive amounts of iron in the water may require an iron filter, again no problem. The purpose of the softener is merely to prolong the life of the RO membrane.
There are a variety of companies making RO systems that don't use all that much water. Our nocturnal hemodialysis patients generally run for 8 hours and use less than 200 gallons, more like 150. A septic system should be able to handle that unless it is very old. The condition of the septic system is probably the main concern or source of potential problems, so have it evaluated.
I work for FMC, and in this area we cover the costs for the RO, any plumbing or electrical modifications.
We send a sample of the water for analysis whether well or city, prior to any decisions re home hemo. Some city water is no bargain either, depending on location. But we have never, as far as I know, not encountered a situation where we could not provide AAMI standard water for dialysis.
If you would like more information, feel free to email me at msully@tcq.net
Sully

I agree with Sully ..... well water isn't necessarily worse than city water .... incoming water quality, whether well or city, varies greatly from one area to another. One thing which is important to note about RO usage in ANY situation ..... the amount (volume) you will use depends on several factors, such as the quality of the incoming water & the recovery rate. A water treatment professional should be able to figure these things out for you following analysis of the incoming water, flow rates, and temperature of the water supplying the RO. There are so many factors, it is impossible to make accurate GENERAL statements. DI can also be a good choice, and is not usually as bad as some people think. ANY time you are using water treatment devices, there is a potential for leaking ..... regardless of what type!

Good Luck!

I dialyzed at home for years out in the country with my own well and a lagoon for a septic system. The well was absolutely no problem. I ran the water through a water softner and an R.O. machine before using it. It worked fine and certainly did not seem to stress the well pump at all. Good Luck.