wngsprd
Super Member
Looking out the window at a wall of clouds far in the east...guessing it might be the last of Maria's outer bands here. No rain yesterday, but lots of wind and clouds and humidity. Today should see upper 80s for the last time this year.
Most of you guys have wells, so I thought I'd share this: Like most houses around here, we have a dug/bored well, about 40 feet deep and 3 feet in diameter, lined with a concrete casing. Our water tastes and smells great, and makes great coffee
. Since the county was offering a special program, I had our well water tested through the Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension Service program, and got the results last night at a meeting.
They test for iron, manganese, arsenic, sulfates, fluoride, solids, sodium, nitrates, ph, coliform, e. coli, copper, lead, and 20 other metals. Everything looked real good, except for a little copper and a small level of coliform. I was surprised that our ph was exactly 7.0, since we have always thought it was a tiny bit on the acidic side.
They explained that coliform bacteria most likely get in through a crack in the well casing, or other surface leak, and provided good mitigation steps, such as grouting and building up the ground level immediately adjacent to the well casing so it slopes away. Our ground is fairly flat there. They also say to ensure your cap is at least 12 inches above grade...ours is about 24 inches.
They provided instructions for shock chlorinating, which I have done twice in 32 years. They had an extra step I had not done that makes a lot of sense...after adding the chlorine bleach: run a hose from an outside faucet and spray down the inside casing of the well. They also say you should shock chlorinate your well after any well work or maintenance, especially pulling your pump...I didn't think of this when recently replacing our pressure tank.
Well, I guess our water will smell like a swimming pool soon, until I run it all out.
Most of you guys have wells, so I thought I'd share this: Like most houses around here, we have a dug/bored well, about 40 feet deep and 3 feet in diameter, lined with a concrete casing. Our water tastes and smells great, and makes great coffee
. Since the county was offering a special program, I had our well water tested through the Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension Service program, and got the results last night at a meeting. They test for iron, manganese, arsenic, sulfates, fluoride, solids, sodium, nitrates, ph, coliform, e. coli, copper, lead, and 20 other metals. Everything looked real good, except for a little copper and a small level of coliform. I was surprised that our ph was exactly 7.0, since we have always thought it was a tiny bit on the acidic side.
They explained that coliform bacteria most likely get in through a crack in the well casing, or other surface leak, and provided good mitigation steps, such as grouting and building up the ground level immediately adjacent to the well casing so it slopes away. Our ground is fairly flat there. They also say to ensure your cap is at least 12 inches above grade...ours is about 24 inches.
They provided instructions for shock chlorinating, which I have done twice in 32 years. They had an extra step I had not done that makes a lot of sense...after adding the chlorine bleach: run a hose from an outside faucet and spray down the inside casing of the well. They also say you should shock chlorinate your well after any well work or maintenance, especially pulling your pump...I didn't think of this when recently replacing our pressure tank.
Well, I guess our water will smell like a swimming pool soon, until I run it all out.
