Hey gurus,
We get build-up of iron rich bacteria in our well. Eventually, this leads = to an unpleasant odor in our water (especially when the water has not been = run for a while) as well as slime in the toilet tank, etc. The odor is much= more noticeable in the hot water. I'm not sure if that's because the bact= eria like the hot water better or because the warmer water releases the odo= rs better. Anyway, I try and shock the well about once or twice a year to = stay on top of this problem.
My question is what to do about the water heater. Since the problem is mor= e noticeable in the hot water, I want to make sure that the hot water pipe= s and water tank get addressed as well (the water heater tank is 80 gallons= ), but I also know that a high concentration of chlorine can corrode rubber= seals, etc. In the past I only flushed the system through the cold water = pipes but then Idrained the hot water tank to get rid of any bacteria in th= at water. However, I felt that the smell returned pretty fast because I wa= sn't killing the bacteria sitting in the hot water pipes or the walls of th= e tank. Also draining and refilling our hot water tank is a pain because = our well has a low refill rate and if I let it fill our 80 gal tank as fast= as it can, I will run the well dry and kick up a lot of sediment - not to = mention being bad for the pump. Of course, I can't see exactly how fast i= t is filling inside the tank, so I would end up filling it extremely slowly= .
A few years back we had an outdoor hot water spigot installed for an outdoo= r shower. So these days, I flush the system through the hot water tank the= n run all faucets (hot and cold) until I smell the chlorine. Now I've got = chlorine water in all the pipes. After letting it sit for a day, I flush t= hrough the hot water tank again until it's chlorine free again. This can t= ake a long time, since I don't want to exceed 1.75 GPM and the 80 gallon t= ank will only slowly return to a no (low) chlorine state since there will b= e mixing in the tank.
So, I feel like either way is a poor choice. If I don't run through the ho= t water system, I feel I'm not addressing half of the problem, if I do run = through the hot water system, I feel the chlorine may be doing damage somew= here in the system. So what's the best way to address the whole system, wi= thout causing unnecessary damage? Is what I'm doing OK, or should I be doi= ng something else? I think when this water heater goes, we'll probably go = to a tankless water heater, but until then...
Thanks.
-J