Hi
How do you sanitize a well with a submersible pump?
When I pour water and bleach down the well will it be able to pass the submersible pump?
My 4" well has a submersible pump that stopped working years ago so a sprinkler pump (jet pump) was installed. The submersible pump is still down there.
Do I have to pull the pump?
Harry
Chlorinate/Sanitize My Well
The pump should not be so tight to the pipe walls that liquid would not go by. Otherwise you would have to dig the well up to work on the pump. Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
Harry I'm gonn'a take a stab at this one. Now I'm not sure how your well has been drilled. Here in Pa. they do the drilling with a 6in. bit and then drive a "well-casing" down into the hole. A well-casing is a steel heavy-walled pipe that goes down for whatever depth the driller determines is needed to prevent the well from caving in. My well is 187ft. deep and I have 40ft. of casing. (Sub. pump is at 150ft.) Yup..just 40ft. It's drilled in solid limestone..or as solid as limestone is. Not much chance of a cave-in here. Did they put a casing/well-liner in when they drilled yer well? In any case, even if the well is only a 4in. well, a standard sub. well pump is roughtly 3in. in dia. so there's plenty of room for the chlorine to get down past the pump. It's not like the old sub. pump is/should be that tight in the well. Now as far as how much chlorine to put in the well?? I dunno. Most well drillers here just say "pour a gallon or so"....yeah that ain't very informative. I'm sure there's some formula. X# of gallons of bleach/chlorine per depth of well. I've just never heard of it. Well, I'll call Zargers and get back to this a.s.a.p my friend. I'm kinda' curious..why didn't they remove the old sub. pump? Audie..the curious Oldfart.
Yo
The previous owner installed the jet pump when the submersible pump failed. The previous owner left the submersible pump in the well.
This morning the well man cometh and pulled the pump out of the well. It had a plastic centering seal around it and an anti-torque devise above the pump. Tons of sludge on top of the pump. The pump was removed and a foot/check valve installed in its place. He dumped a gallon of bleach and a chlorine tablet down well. It is to set 24 hours then I flush till there is no more chlorine smell and hopefully the water is clear.
The well casing is iron/steel and is corroding. When it goes it's new high dollar well time. Hope it lasts as long as I'll need it.
Harry
The previous owner installed the jet pump when the submersible pump failed. The previous owner left the submersible pump in the well.
This morning the well man cometh and pulled the pump out of the well. It had a plastic centering seal around it and an anti-torque devise above the pump. Tons of sludge on top of the pump. The pump was removed and a foot/check valve installed in its place. He dumped a gallon of bleach and a chlorine tablet down well. It is to set 24 hours then I flush till there is no more chlorine smell and hopefully the water is clear.
The well casing is iron/steel and is corroding. When it goes it's new high dollar well time. Hope it lasts as long as I'll need it.
Harry
Aside from the roof leak, soft floors, rats, mice and bursted plumbing ........ how do you like it?
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Demolition
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You cant chlorinate the well. You have to pump the water into a tank then treat the water.
I was a mechanic in the Navy and we maintained the potable water (drinking quality water) systems onboard ship.
The well may be thousands of gallons. Then it rains and the ground filters more water into the well. You have to know how much water you have before you know how much chlorine to add.
Not enough Chlorine - you can get sick and get the runs.
Too much Chlorine - Will make you sick and give you the runs.
The standard we used was .2 to 2.0 ppm. You measure it with an electric meter or a swimming pool kit that you drop a tablet into the sample and check the color against a little card of colors.
If you can store 100 gallons or 500 gallons or have a system that INJECTS a certain amount of chlorine for every 100 gallons pumped. That is how you manage it.
When you read up on this... It will talk about parts per million. When doing the math it is actually easier if you are using liters instead of gallons. Regardless... Getting the ratio in a safe band is the important thing.
OK gotta run. get it. gotta run.
Be Safe. Dave
I was a mechanic in the Navy and we maintained the potable water (drinking quality water) systems onboard ship.
The well may be thousands of gallons. Then it rains and the ground filters more water into the well. You have to know how much water you have before you know how much chlorine to add.
Not enough Chlorine - you can get sick and get the runs.
Too much Chlorine - Will make you sick and give you the runs.
The standard we used was .2 to 2.0 ppm. You measure it with an electric meter or a swimming pool kit that you drop a tablet into the sample and check the color against a little card of colors.
If you can store 100 gallons or 500 gallons or have a system that INJECTS a certain amount of chlorine for every 100 gallons pumped. That is how you manage it.
When you read up on this... It will talk about parts per million. When doing the math it is actually easier if you are using liters instead of gallons. Regardless... Getting the ratio in a safe band is the important thing.
OK gotta run. get it. gotta run.
Be Safe. Dave
Call Dinwiddie Demolition we'll tear that house right down.
Sweep up every splinter n haul it out of town
Sweep up every splinter n haul it out of town
Well Harry I'm not sure where to go on this topic. Like Dem. mentioned..you can't permanently sanitize a well with chlorine. He is correct, of course. As new water enters the system we can't be certain it is pure and potable. The chlorine dumped into the well disapates and is gone. All I'm stating is what the local well-drillers tell me.... in my particular area. Their reason for applying chlorine is to kill any bacteria etc. that were disrupted during the drilling of the well. And to flush out said bacteria from the waterlines going into the home. After 24hrs....it's your call. If a water test shows a high bacteria count then, you may need to add in a U.V. light inline to kill said bacteria. (Ask your local plumber..they'll know what I'm talking about.) As far as who to trust to do the testing of the water quality? Seek an independent source!!!! DON'T call RainSoft or any of the other competing companys that sell water-softeners/U.V. lights, etc.! The reason is quite simple..they want to sell expensive..... and often un-needed "stuff." JMHO of course...Audie the frugal Oldfart...
Thank you for your replies.
I am chasing smell not germs.
Here’s more details on the subject.
Our MH is above the Floridan Aquifer which reaches as far north as South Carolina. In most Florida areas it is 100 ft – 200 ft below the surface. In my area it is as shallow as 25 ft. The Floridan Aquifer is not toxic at this time …… knocking on wood.
My well is 30 ft deep. The area at the bottom of the borehole is larger than a breadbox but not larger than a 55 gallon oil drum. This whole area is dolomite and limerock. The water has lots of calcium, magnesium and some iron.
I call the County Health Dept a couple times a year and my area has no toxic private wells reported ….. knocking on wood. There are some areas in the county that are being watched closely because of the high number of private septic systems. No one in this area that I know of has a chlorination system on their private well.
My well and others in this area grow lots of bacteria that give off a funky smell. I am told we have a lot of iron bacteria and sulfur bacteria that gives off hydrogen sulfide. We Florida Crackers call water that smells like mine “sulfur water”. Grandma says it’s good for you and it probably is but my bride complains. And when her prima donna sister comes by she complains too.
Here’s a recap of the war on smell.
1. Culligan sanitized the water softener and water lines with bleach. I still had some smell.
2. At Culligan’s suggestion I removed the magnesium rod from the water heater. This voids the warranty of course. I still had some smell.
3. Culligan told me how to sanitize the water heater with bleach. I did this and still had some smell.
4. Holding tank – sometimes the holding tank becomes “waterlogged” because of a failed bladder. Bacteria grows and smells. Mine is old but still good…I think.
5. This left the well so I called a well service company with a State of Florida Water Well Contractor License. They pulled the dead submersible pump and treated the well with bleach and chlorine tablets. I flushed as directed 24 hours later. Smell gone….knocking on wood.
No this ain’t a permanent fix but if it makes the girls happy for awhile I’m all for it.
The well man said not to shock treat the well too often as the chlorine (bleach) will corrode the well casing. He suggested once a year and or after flood conditions.
Thanks again.
Harry
PS: For drinking water and ice we have a RO system.
I am chasing smell not germs.
Here’s more details on the subject.
Our MH is above the Floridan Aquifer which reaches as far north as South Carolina. In most Florida areas it is 100 ft – 200 ft below the surface. In my area it is as shallow as 25 ft. The Floridan Aquifer is not toxic at this time …… knocking on wood.
My well is 30 ft deep. The area at the bottom of the borehole is larger than a breadbox but not larger than a 55 gallon oil drum. This whole area is dolomite and limerock. The water has lots of calcium, magnesium and some iron.
I call the County Health Dept a couple times a year and my area has no toxic private wells reported ….. knocking on wood. There are some areas in the county that are being watched closely because of the high number of private septic systems. No one in this area that I know of has a chlorination system on their private well.
My well and others in this area grow lots of bacteria that give off a funky smell. I am told we have a lot of iron bacteria and sulfur bacteria that gives off hydrogen sulfide. We Florida Crackers call water that smells like mine “sulfur water”. Grandma says it’s good for you and it probably is but my bride complains. And when her prima donna sister comes by she complains too.
Here’s a recap of the war on smell.
1. Culligan sanitized the water softener and water lines with bleach. I still had some smell.
2. At Culligan’s suggestion I removed the magnesium rod from the water heater. This voids the warranty of course. I still had some smell.
3. Culligan told me how to sanitize the water heater with bleach. I did this and still had some smell.
4. Holding tank – sometimes the holding tank becomes “waterlogged” because of a failed bladder. Bacteria grows and smells. Mine is old but still good…I think.
5. This left the well so I called a well service company with a State of Florida Water Well Contractor License. They pulled the dead submersible pump and treated the well with bleach and chlorine tablets. I flushed as directed 24 hours later. Smell gone….knocking on wood.
No this ain’t a permanent fix but if it makes the girls happy for awhile I’m all for it.
The well man said not to shock treat the well too often as the chlorine (bleach) will corrode the well casing. He suggested once a year and or after flood conditions.
Thanks again.
Harry
PS: For drinking water and ice we have a RO system.
Aside from the roof leak, soft floors, rats, mice and bursted plumbing ........ how do you like it?
Harry I wish I had more to offer up here but must admit...I don't. If the water in the home has an offensive odor it is usually sulfer in the water. Now, like lime in the water supply, this is one of those problems that a water-softener won't usually solve. It's a dissolved mineral that precipates out (shows up) when the water is heated. Water-softeners don't heat. So the water may go thru a water-softener but when it gets to the hot water tank the water is heated up and...Boom!..now it's a problem. "Hard water" is easier to control. This is iron particulates in the water and a water-softener will take this out. Hard water is evident by reddish stains in tubs, sinks and toilets. No smell..just staining and build-up over time. Lime shows up as an "egg-shell" type deposit in sinks, tubs and anywhere else that hot water is used. It scrapes off easilly but can mess up valves and valve seats and hot water tanks build it up in the bottom of the tank until it coats the lower heating element. At that point it overheats the lower element and usually clogs the drain-valve as well. An easy way to prevent this is to drain&flush the hot water tank yearly. Wish I had an easy answer my friend but I don't. Audie..the Oldfart...
