Removing Odors from Well water

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

Duane, our well, and everyone else's around here has metal pipe cap that you simply loosen 3 bolts and it comes off. Very simple. Does that mean it could become contaminated? Well anything can become contaminated I suppose. Our climate here doesn't bode well for bacteria and such in the open....there's just not enough moisture to keep them going. But the simple cap has always made me wonder....who's to say someone with horrible intentions couldn't poison the supply. It'd be quite easy I would think.

I haven't specifically asked my neighbors but I do know the previous homeowner mentioned that about once a year, he had to dump bleach down it. The driller also sounded like this is a pretty common thing across the board.

[Speedy Jim]

Some links that may help:

Hot water smells:

I might add that dumping bleach in the well can backfire. IF...it is an iron bacteria problem (don't know), the bleach can stir them up in what I guess is a defensive mode. The resulting jellied globs can clog the pump inlet.

I gave up treating my own well and resorted to chlorinating the water coming in to the pressure tank. This has 100% solved the odor problem and slime buildup in fixtures and piping. NOTE: Your problem may be entirely different!! Or you may not want chlorinated water. Just relating what worked for me.

Jim

[Chris Lewis]

According to Duane Bozarth :

As this is preparatory for disinfecting the well, any contamination you might add is going to be disinfected almost right away.

Similarly, for the most part, if you're going to disinfect the well, you gotta get the well cap off anyway. [I'm lucky, the air breather pipe is accessible inside the house right beside the pump.]

The disinfection I had to do was most likely caused because we had to replace the injector, and the plumber didn't think to disinfect afterwards. Whereas, disinfection appears to be required by MoH whenever the well is "disturbed".

[Chris Lewis]

According to James \\"Cubby\\" Culbertson :

That's the theory, yes.

In practise, it's often quite different.

When we pulled the cap off mine, it took 15 minutes of banging with a hammer to free it, and much cursing and swearing from the plumber. Afterwards, he said I was lucky. Sometimes he has to resort to renting a backhoe and pulling the cap off with a chain.

[No, _no_ rust on the cap, bolts were easily loosened. It was a 20 year old rubber seal that was stiff with age.]

And that's _with_ modern caps with "simple" fastening methods.

Tho, if you pull it every year or two, it's bound to stay reasonably easy.

[Treetops]

It's possible a clog could occur but I have not experienced this in the many years I have been shocking my well. I suspect that unless the colonies are physically stirred up they remain inert and in place. This is based on my observations of the heavy iron bacteria slime deposits in my toilet tanks; the addition of bleach does not "rile" them up. With over 150ft of water in my casing, there is not much chance that pouring in bleach will cause much stirring-up action. The slime, even if disturbed, is so loose it breaks up immediately. IMHO a 1-2 HP pump would easily handle this material. OTOH maybe I have just been lucky so far?

I assume your problem was iron bacteria. Could you give me a simple description of your chlorination method? Each time I have looked into a fix for my iron bacteria, I have had very costly and complicated systems proposed. Maybe you have found a simpler solution. Thanks

[Speedy Jim]

Yes, I'm pretty sure it is iron bacteria here.

I bought a used laboratory chemical feed pump. A plastic jug holds very dilute bleach solution to feed into the pump.

The pump dischg goes thru a stainless ball check valve (1/4" size) into the fitting on the pressure tank. The pump only runs when the well pump runs, and only for a few seconds (timer).

The amount injected is really small (took a bit of experimenting to get it right) and the system has been running troublefree for several years. No more slime in toilet tanks, and no more smelly water (hot or cold).

Jim

[Duane Bozarth]

Speedy Jim wrote: ....

Damn am I thankful we have good water w/o such troubles!!!!

[Duane Bozarth]

James \\"Cubby\\" Culbertson wrote: ...

....

OK, that's pretty similar and as someone else posted, if it's coming off annually even ours wouldn't be too bad, I suppose. Problem is the ones typically used here have a pair of o-rings inside the top fitting as well as a flange gasket, and after they've set there for a while (and a well here is disturbed) they're a real pita to get free--the four cap screws are the least of the problem. Granted it's doable and in the list of complicated things, it's not rocket science, it just isn't something I think "Oh, think I'll just toss a string down to see how the water level is today!" sort of activity... :)

I asked because while in TN and VA I saw a lot of really well installations where there was nothing over the well other than maybe an old plastic pail or some such and wondered if by chance somebody had left you with such a mess, maybe. Of course, most of those were old springs where a pump had later been installed and were rarely 100 ft, even. But surface contamination was a big problem because it rained a lot besides.

We're fairly dry here to, but not desert--it's possible most years to raise a wheat crop dry land, just don't count on good years more than 2 or 3 out of 5--and on occasion, maybe be lucky to get one.

[Treetops]

(snip)

Jim, thanks for that. It sure sounds like you have a pretty simple yet effective solution. I will definitely look into the same. Do you know of a website which describes this solution in more detail?

[Speedy Jim]

Nope. Home brewed. Maybe GOOGLE around for Well chlorination or chlorine injection or similar.

Jim