well water

[indebt]

I have a 400ft deep water well that is 6 months old. The water smells if I put 1/2 gal bleach down the well it goes away for about 2 weeks then returns. The smell is 3 times worse with the hot water any ideas. Can I use clorine tablets like in a swimming so it will desolve slower.

 

[tc35dforme]

Time for a comprehensive water quality analysis...

The problem isn't the odor...it's what causes the odor that can mess you up !!! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

It could be iron based, sulphur based, a byproduct of surface contamination entering the well....you'll never know without dropping a few hundred and having a full series of tests run.

 

[RayH]

What's it smell like?, rotten eggs (sulfur), does it smell kinda "swampy" or is it a metallic smell?
You say the hot water smells more, Im guessing, sulfur.
I wouldnt just keep pouring clorine down. Clorine is good to get rid of bacteria in a new well and new house plumbing, you should always run some clorine down a new well or through the plumbing of a new house to kill the bacteria in the pipes, but in the long term, you need to address it with UV light or filters.
You can use a charcoal type filter to get rid of just about any type of smell.
Sulfur, while it smells sickening, in moderation, isnt bad for you.
Metals, as well as limestone, (hardness) in the water can be filtered out also. or you can use a softener to filter and change the hardness characteristics of the water. Iron and limestone arent bad for you either.
Either way, give up on simply pouring clorine down it and have it tested so you know what kind of long term fix you need.
You dont need to spend a bundle testing it for everything under the sun unless you suspect that its contaminated with something like lead or fertilizer then you can have it specifically tested for those things. Definately have it tested for bacteria though. You can figure out most of the common well water ingredients on your own. Iron leaves stains, limestone leaves white scales and sulfur smells.

 

[forgeblast]

We have the prefilter and a uv light. They work real well together, although the bulb is expensive 97 bucks for a new bulb.
i have a question can you take the cap off of your well to measure or is it pressurized? i want to measure how far down our water is.
thanks

 

[RayH]

You can remove the cap and measure. The water is just sitting there. Use a piece of twine or small rope with a weight on it and lower it down. Keep track of how far down it goes until it gets wet.

 

[Highbeam]

The well casing itself on a residential system isn't pressurized but the smaller pipe inside the casing is. There are a few ways to measure the depth and they are better than dropping a rock and counting the time until it splashes. There are electric gadgets that you lower until they hit water when they beep and then you measure the line.

Then there is the tube that is great to be installed when you lower the pump attached to the pump. It's a neat trick that when you pump air into that tube the pressure in the tube will go up and up and then level off when the air pressure overcomes the water pressure and bubbles leave the tube. You measure that air pressure on the surface and that can be tied to a water depth above the end of the tube where the bubbles emit. I've seen the tubes in copper or plastic and the gauges are permanently installed on the wall of the pump house with a schrader valve to add air until it bubbles. The tube in the casing can be any diameter and doesn't need to be straight, just no kinks.

 

[Freds]

FWIW, my well guy said the only time you need to dump bleach down the well is if you had the cover off. Apparently that automatically contaminates it (according to him). Then you run the water at the taps until you smell the bleach, let it sit overnight and run them in the morning until the smell disappears. I had a chart around somewhere that the testing people gave me on the ratio of bleach to well size.

 

[RayH]

Im not sure I believe that about dumping bleach just because the cap was off. I dont think the caps are sealed well enough to keep bacteria out anyway, what difference would it make if it was off. Most actually have vents to equalize pressure as the pump sucks water out of the well. Thats assuming no one dumps waste into it or an animal doesnt crawl in it and die while its off.

 

[Freds]

Good points, beats me. That's just what I was told, although my well is a shallow well, so maybe that makes a difference. They said if I ever had the lid off to bleach it.

It used to just have a wooden cover on it, spider webs inside and one winter even a mouse.... dead of course. Not much of a distance swimmer I presume /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif The testing co. couldn't believe there wasn't a significant bacteria count. Clean little bugger, too, I figured.

I have since put a 1/4" thick rubber gasket around the well casing sticking up a little and gotten a nice concrete lid for it.

 

[SPIKER]

probably said to bleach it if the lid was off simply cause it was aoready OFF lol...

not sure what was cause of well smell or type of smell he has so can't help there /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
mark M