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paulz
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2020 06:43pm
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I was using my well water today for various stuff and test filled a 5 gallon bucket. Minute and a half. I guess that's OK. But the water is not crystal clear, have a look. You can skip to the end, nothing exciting going on..
Is your well water crystal clear?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usPgsM9utPY&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=MrSamHomemade
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Alaskajohn
Member
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2020 07:05pm
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My well produces about 170 gallons per day and is typically crystal clear. If I get close to 170 gallons of usage, the last few gallons start to get silty.
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NorthRick
Member
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2020 07:24pm
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Ours is, except after a good earthquake. The 7.1 we had back in November 2018 made it run cloudy for a day or so.
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2020 07:30pm
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Paul, How deep and did it ever run clear? Was it drilled and cased or a driven sandpoint? Tests?
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2020 08:02pm - Edited by: paulz
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Thanks guys. Here's the history. My property had a house on it, built in 1960, so that's likely when the well was drilled. House was long gone when I bought in '09. The old foundation is now my shop.
I've been using the well water for washing and boiling coffee water for several years, I bring in drinking water. Had it tested in 2017, E coli negative, total coliform positive. I tried a self test kit, had a lot of minerals but I forget what. Smells like sulphur, especially at the start.
Anyway, it sits on the forest floor, the water table is 15-20 ft. below and the well goes down about 45. It has an iron 8" casing. The water has always been very black, but longer pumping times clears it up some. I have suspected for a long time there must be a crack or corroded casing.
So...about two weeks ago I pulled the pump out. It was solid black. I had some solid 6" id corrugated plastic drain pipe laying around, fit nicely inside the casing. So I shoved it down all the way until it hit bottom. Put the pump back in and started pumping. The water soon got much clearer, and, as I went the drain pipe sunk lower and lower. I suspect the silt at the bottom is coming out. The pipe has gone down about 4' so far, went down about a foot today, I ran the pump for an hour or better. I have the pump about 10-15' from bottom. I pulled it out again and it is clean stainless steel again. Water supply seem unlimited.
I'm hoping I can keep going and the plastic pipe sinks to bedrock and I get real clean water. I know it's a bodge but it sure is better than it was. My water tank is close to empty so I will need to fill it soon.
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darz5150
Member
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2020 09:21pm
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Have you ever shock treated your well?
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Irrigation Guy
Member
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2020 06:24am
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Is that ADS pipe perforated?
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Brettny
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2020 07:07am
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Paulz they make well casing seals that you can put in your self. There basically a big sand point with rubber gaskets and pvc pipe that screws or glues into it. This would be like getting your well reclined. But first I would make up a simple air pump and get it all the way to the bottom of the well and pump the crud out of the bottom. Google air pump, very easily made and I bet you have 3/4 of the parts needed alreaty.
My well in my house is actualy in the basement of a cottage on the property, it was an old barn built around 1931. Its 50ft deep, I never run out of water but my well casing is also failing. My static water level even durring a drought is 10ft. My neighbors have wells 250ft(he runs out) and 600ft (they have sulpher)
The rotten egg smell can also be from iron bacteria. Shocking the well and useing a carbon filter could help that aspect of it.
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DaveBell
Moderator
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2020 07:24am
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How old is that garden hose? The black rubber may be coming off the inside. They make food grade hoses.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2020 08:51am
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Quoting: darz5150 Have you ever shock treated your well?
I have dumped a gallon of bleach down it, but back in 2017.
Quoting: Irrigation Guy Is that ADS pipe perforated?
Not perforated.
Quoting: Brettny Paulz they make well casing seals that you can put in your self. There basically a big sand point with rubber gaskets and pvc pipe that screws or glues into it. This would be like getting your well reclined. But first I would make up a simple air pump and get it all the way to the bottom of the well and pump the crud out of the bottom. Google air pump, very easily made and I bet you have 3/4 of the parts needed alreaty.
Interesting.. Back in 2017 I dropped a small sump pump to the bottom. Water was extremely black but after a lot of pumping cleared up some. I will look into the air pump, and casing seal kit.
Quoting: DaveBell How old is that garden hose? The black rubber may be coming off the inside. They make food grade hoses.
I will check.
Thanks guys!
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2020 08:52am - Edited by: Nobadays
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Quoting: Brettny The rotten egg smell can also be from iron bacteria. Shocking the well and useing a carbon filter could help that aspect of it.
^^^This or a combination of sulfur and iron bacteria. Iron bacteria will generally turn things rusty brown whereas sulfur/sulfur bacteria will often leave things black. Neither are really harmful but not pleasant either. A city near where I worked in Oregon had to pig their lines regularly to reduce iron bacteria... water would be a murky brownish... horrible looking stuff that came out when pigging.
Quoting: darz5150 Have you ever shock treated your well?
This can help with sulfur bacteria but is often short lived. If you have alkaline water... in a higher Ph it doesn't usually work well. Another small town near where I worked in Oregon had a horrible issue with sulfur bacteria... alkaline water so even shocking the well with CL2 was ineffective. The locals were used to it but it was terrible tasting water!
A filter system as Brettny suggests is likely your best choice for reducing odor/taste. Again the sulfur or iron bacteria won't hurt you.... hydrogen sulfide gas if the well produces a lot can.
Edit... both can eat away at the casing so re-lining the well might be in order.
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Irrigation Guy
Member
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2020 01:24pm
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I would get that ads out of there. It could end up causing more problems if it drops and blocks your screen if you have one. If your well is just drilled into rock the screen that Brett suggested might be of no use because rock wells feed from cracks in the rock into the bore hole. I would blow it off with air as a fist step. I have used my 185 cfm compressor with good results. Most people don’t have one but you could easily rent.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 1 Oct 2020 02:29pm
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Yeah I'm going to pull the ADS out and try the air cleanout. Looked at a few things online. Seems like everyone does it differently. One guy uses a 4', 4" diameter iron pipe with teeth cut in the bottom, an air line running through it. The air blows the silt around the pipe and into it. Made sense, sorta.
Any other methods?
Ugh, work never stops..
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 2 Oct 2020 03:13pm
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Yum
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Irrigation Guy
Member
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# Posted: 2 Oct 2020 04:08pm
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Do you know what kind of we’ll you have and how it was constructed? And what type of soil is in your area? I tried to revive an old well at my house for a hand pump and the water looked like that. I couldn’t ever get it cleared up. My buddy the well drilled thought the old brass screen failed with the acidic water we have.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 2 Oct 2020 07:38pm - Edited by: paulz
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Don't know what kind of well or how constructed, it was there when I bought. The house was 100' away. Soil is dark rich forest floor.
Today I made up an air hose attached to two 4' steel stakes, removed the plastic pipe, put that down along with a utility sump pump sitting on the bottom. Worked that for a few hours. Removed and put the well pump back in. Still pumping black water.
Might be time to call in a pro.
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