Hi guys my inlaws just had a new well installed. 4 inch steel well with the on demand pressure sysem. that doesnt matter now they are going around with the health department because there is too much bacteria in the watter. They tried putting bleach in the system but that did not help and they came out to do it again. One guy thinks there might be a leaf or blade of grass down by the motor causing it to give false reading. I thought I heard somewhere that if you could prove that you filter your drinking water you could get away with a less than perfect well readings? The inlaws have a 3 stage fillering system iorn,nitrates,something else. what do ya think?
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Bacteria is not going to be removed by any filtration system your likely to run into. Contact local health dept. and ask about the use of an UV light source in-line water purification system or some other bacterial treatment system that they might recommend for pretreatment. Likely it's Coliform bacteria either from humans or animals (cows, horses or native deer etc.)that has been found. Some are harmful but many aren't, however their presence is an indicator that other pathogens may be present and they, in turn, can be dangerous. Talk with your testing service and ask what was found, specifically, and methods they recommend to rid them from your well. Best defence is to find out where they are coming from and fix or repair that before you attempt final treatment with bleach or UV methods. There are many well owner sites on the net, check out
http://www.wellowner.org/awaterquality/coliform.shtml
and the many other sites to find possible methods to find and treat your problem.
I'm interested in how deep the well is and where it is located on the terrain.
If it's a couple hundred feet you shouldn't be getting bacteria,except from well drilling contamination or around the casing. You said they put bleach down the well.
Around here to shock kill all bacteria in an otherwise clean aquafer we put a gallon of bleach (Chlorx without detergent) down the well and let it set overnight. Then in the morning run that thru the pressure system enough to get it out of the system.
If shocking it doesn't clear-up the bacteria, the aquafer is contaminated and you need health department advice before you spend more money on it.
Coliform can come from any rotting organic matter. It is not a good thing to have, but a certain amt is allowed in water here. I read a report that probably a third of the wells in Maine have it.
To shock a well takes more than liquid chlorox though. It does not always mix with the whole column of water stored in the well, depending on how tall it is, the temperatur, and other things. To get a thorough shock treatment, we add the gallon to the top and throw in a few chlorox tablets that will sink to the bottom before disolving. Let set overnight and then run water through the system till smell is gone then wait an houtr and test again
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You need to clean the sides of the casing, too. If you have a way to cycle the water from a spigot or a yard hydrant through a hose back down the casing, this is better. I also opted for a higher concentration of chlorine when i shocked mine (four gallons in a 150' deep well, 6" casing). I was told i would never get rid of the bacteria in my well causing a sulfur smell, but i accomplished it in one session several years ago, cycling the water for several hours, and the problem has never returned.
You must be thorough about letting bleach into every line (including the washing machine and icemaker and outside spigots) to sit, preferably overnite. Before taking a sample of water from a sink, the aerator should be removed, the area around the threads cleaned with a bleachy cloth, and the water allowed to run before collecting a sample.
You should not leave hoses connected (including irrigation systems) without a backflow preventer, or bacteria in them can siphon back into the system. "Leaky" hoses made of recycled tires are the most likely to cause this problem.
I'll chime in even though the advice you've gotten here so far is good. The link posted by Woodway is probably the best source of info on wells for homeowners on the web.
I'd try shocking the well again. Piffen's method will definitely give you plenty of chlorine. One way to be sure that the chlorine is mixed well with the water, and to be sure that you are getting the casing and drop pipe disinfected is to run a hose back to the well after adding the chlorine, and recirculate the chlorine into the well, washing down the chlorine.
Then, run the water at every tap in the house until you smell the chlorine. Let sit for 24 hours. Then flush the system--but not into the drains, if you have a septic tank. As Splintergroupie points out, you've got to disinfect the whole system.
I guess I'll add some more input to this.
Sometimes it takes two, three, even four times to get a well to pass the origional health tests after drilling. this is because of the fluids that are added to the drilling, the pipes that are inserted, the wires, etc. It can also be from improper handling of the testing samples by either excessive air getting into the bottles, dirty spiggot, hands, bottles, lids, etc. Also from not correctly shocking the well with the right solution/amount of chlorine.
Also. When doing you testing, disconnect everthing from the well except at the point where you draw the sample from and this should be done at the well head. (The closer to the source, the better). This prevents any particles/bactiria from backflowing into the well.
Once the shock treatment has sat overnight, let it run until the smell of the chlorine is gone before taking the sample and NEVER turn the well off during this time if you can help it unless your well runs out of water and must recharge.(this maybe one reason why your test fails)