Help! New well has poison smelling water

[beppington]

I had a new well put in on 9/10/10 at my new vacant lot. I've had very little need for it so far, so it hasn't been used much yet. But I noted very brown, iron-ish water coming out of it, so first chance I got I bought a new hose & let the well run wide open for 3 separate days, about 6 hours each of those days.

The iron/ rust colored water has now turned nice & clear ... BUT the water smells very strongly like either pesticide or gasoline, or some mix of those two (hard to say exactly).

I forced myself to at least taste the water, & there seems to be no actual strange taste, just the horrible odor.

I thought the smell might be just the new probably Chinese-made hose, so I disconnected that & got water straight from the spigot the well installer put in right at the well head. No change; Still very strong pesticide odor.

I always thought maybe it was just me thinking it seemed bad, so I had 3 friends try it, too: "Holy cr@p what is that??? Yuk!!" & "You may be RICH!" (as in I've hit oil or gas)

I should add, 600'-700' from this new well there's a huge interstate natural gas pipeline running across my property. To me the odor is not what I know of to be the usual "natural gas" odor I've smelled in our house (we have natural gas heater & hot water heater), like when the how water heater kicks on. Could it be related??

What would you do?!? Any solutions?!? You'd have to be crazy to drink this water with the way it smells. It was all I could do to taste it & then spit it out.

 

[sweettractors]

I had a new well put in on 9/10/10 at my new vacant lot. I've had very little need for it so far, so it hasn't been used much yet. But I noted very brown, iron-ish water coming out of it, so first chance I got I bought a new hose & let the well run wide open for 3 separate days, about 6 hours each of those days.

The iron/ rust colored water has now turned nice & clear ... BUT the water smells very strongly like either pesticide or gasoline, or some mix of those two (hard to say exactly).

I forced myself to at least taste the water, & there seems to be no actual strange taste, just the horrible odor.

I thought the smell might be just the new probably Chinese-made hose, so I disconnected that & got water straight from the spigot the well installer put in right at the well head. No change; Still very strong pesticide odor.

I always thought maybe it was just me thinking it seemed bad, so I had 3 friends try it, too: "Holy cr@p what is that??? Yuk!!" & "You may be RICH!" (as in I've hit oil or gas)

I should add, 600'-700' from this new well there's a huge interstate natural gas pipeline running across my property. To me the odor is not what I know of to be the usual "natural gas" odor I've smelled in our house (we have natural gas heater & hot water heater), like when the how water heater kicks on. Could it be related??

What would you do?!? Any solutions?!? You'd have to be crazy to drink this water with the way it smells. It was all I could do to taste it & then spit it out.

Take a sample to you local health office and have them send it off and check it out. Ken Sweet

 

[Mousefield]

First thing I would do is talk to the people that put in the well, did they notice anything when drilling the well? They just may have the answer. If not then I would send a water sample to a lab for testing.
Depending what the answer is from the well driller and/or the lab would dictate how to clean the water up.

 

[Transit]

My first thought is sulfur. Than there are instances where natural gas wells are known to leak gas into the ground water to the extent where you can roast a stake under the kitchen faucet. I would be taking to your local health dept.

 

[GBeck]

just seen something on tv...to get natural gas they use something called fracking ( I think)
see if you can light your water on fire

 

[beppington]

My first thought is sulfur. Than there are instances where natural gas wells are known to leak gas into the ground water to the extent where you can roast a stake under the kitchen faucet. I would be taking to your local health dept.

Yeah, I've smelled sulfur in well water many times in this area; This definitely isn't sulfur, none that I've ever smelled anyway. I wish that's all it was.

I'll do as you all are saying: Gonna call the well installer today. And send a sample off if needed. I just can not imagine ...

By the way, there's no natural gas well, anywhere in this area that I know of anyway (been here since '77) ... It's just an interstate pipeline that originates I think in Texas.

 

[dmccarty]

I would go ahead and send the sample since it is good information to have anyway.

Our county now tests the water as part of the well drilling. They did this after we drilled. I looked into getting a sample done and it can be expensive depending on the tests.

Our county requires an employee to come out to get the sample from the well plumbing. No hoses can be used to take the sample. This last requirement ticks me off since it is another appointment one has to schedule. I can take a sample without contamination. Give me the dang cup. :laughing: If I mess up the sample it is my money.....

Later,
Dan

 

[captaincrab55]

Sounds like one has an Iron problem... I think Iron Bacteria may be the problem... Do you have a water softner... Sounds like you will need an Iron filter too... My neighbor accused my septic system of polluting her well with a rotten egg smell... She had a new well drilled, ended up as a 650" hole that only had enough water for geothermal use.. She ended up getting the right filter equipment installed and that water is fine... Crazy thing was that my septic system is on the other side of my 5 plus acres and drains completely away from her property....

 

[beppington]

Do you have a water softner...

No, just a plain old well: 1.5 HP well pump in a 5 or 6 inch casing, back-flow preventer, pressure gauge, 86-gal bladder tank, 1-1/4" PVC, & a spigot. I've made no mods or additions to what the installer left me with.

Sounds like you will need an Iron filter too...

Yes, I'm sure I will. I already have my eye on one.

 

[Richard]

She had a new well drilled, ended up as a 650" hole that only had enough water for geothermal use.

Not intending to thread-jack... but ... (as he thread-jacks )

I would have thought a well sufficient for geothermal use would mean it would be a high volume well?

OK, back to the topic at hand.