I smell it, look at it and taste it. If it passes these tests I drink it and wait to see it I react in any way. If I don't I declare it safe and tell the rest o

I smell it, look at it and taste it. If it passes these tests I drink it and wait to see it I react in any way. If I don't I declare it safe and tell the rest of the family. If it smells funny I go and have a look at the well to see if there's anything strange there, I one caught a whole family of frogs in it. Yes, we have our own well, about 5.5 m deep and 1.20 wide, lined with concrete rings. It is dug through a non-permeable layer at the foot of a hill which makes the water level in it higher than ground level, making it nearly impossible for surface water to make its way into our supply. When the thaw comes the water gets a bit cloudy from silt (which is what lies between us and bedrock, a layer of a few metres here and there as memory of the last glaciation). I pumped it out once to do some repairs, put a layer of gravel on the bottom and put in a new back valve, for the rest it has worked fail-free in the more than 20 years that we live here. I did have the water analysed after the repairs, it was fine. So are we. So will you be, without any silly filtration systems unless your municipality really messes up their water supply.