Water Quality for Plastering

[BMD]

Hi,

I am building in a remote site which does not have access to mains water (I will have to drill a well).

The plastering is about to commence and I need to provide water onsite.

I have dug a wide hole onsite (~ 10 ft deep) and found plenty of water but my question is how do I know that the water quality is sufficient for plastering. The water in the hole looks dirty but when you take a sample in a bottle it looks fairly clear. I am just worried that if there was something unknown in the water it could stain the plaster or something like this.

Is there any test I could have performed to check the water quality??

 

[onq]

You cannot use groundwater for plastering.

Do not try to plaster the house yourself unless you are skilled at it.
Do not mix plaster using groundwater or you will likely make a mess of it.

Plastering requires very clean water because the particles are "white" and very fine.
Any impurity at all, even a small amount of dirt on a mixing rod, will discolour the plaster and ruin the mix.

Plasterers are known for taking a long time to prepare their mix in order to ensure that there are no dry lumps in it.
This applies to a "clean" mix, but their task becomes impossible when they attempt to do this to a mix with impurities in it.

Small dirt particles do not dissolve readily, get taken up on the trowel and will cause local smears when the coat is applied to the wall.
Larger particles may corrupt the mix, creating lumps which in turn "bump" the trowel, making the coat uneven and impossible to "finish" smoothly.

High levels of salts or other chemical impurities in the water may disrupt the chemical bonding process turning the paster into something else entirely.
In this final case, the water must not only look clean, it must also be chemically clean to ensure the good appearances, durability and hardness of the finished plasterwork.

Hope this helps.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.