Those who have wells.....

***Jack_Pine*** · 03-19-2013, 16:32

Neighbor just sold house. During inspection the inspector had a well company do an assessment. They said she should be shocking her well twice a year. She has not been doing this. Neither have I. We use bottled water for drinking.....

What say you all? If so, what is the procedure?

stolenphot0 · 03-19-2013, 16:39

No idea but here's a video

YouTube (Short URL)

***Jack_Pine*** · 03-19-2013, 17:06

Yeah, I saw that too. I am thinking the aquifer is potentially very bib....not sure how some chlorine is going to help the water "I use".

skorper · 03-19-2013, 17:13

To a certain extent it depends on how deep the well is. I recently moved and when we had a well in our country house it was only 47 feet deep. I had it checked occasionally for bacteria levels and they were never high. I was told it was runoff water and therefor it was exposed to sun and air more than a well say, hundreds of feet deep, so the chance of bacteria is higher. It had an 8 inch casing and I always kept a cover on the top.

GLOCK19FTW · 03-19-2013, 17:13

I've never heard that before.

I'll have the wife ask her dad tonight when she talks to him. His property is on a well.

Cali-Glock · 03-19-2013, 18:06

Hmmm I have been on a well for 13 years... never shocked the system...

GLOCK19FTW · 03-19-2013, 18:22

Father in law doesn't shock his... so.. I dunno what to tell ya.

jfost11 · 03-19-2013, 18:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cali-Glock

Hmmm I have been on a well for 13 years... never shocked the system...

Minus three and a half years, I've been on a well for my entire life and have never shocked any of them. The first I had heard of it was from a friend at work a year or so ago. Her water will begin to stink after a few months. Of course it stinks of bleach after the shocking so she has to run all of the faucets in the house until the smell dies down.

***Jack_Pine*** · 03-19-2013, 18:35

I am not going to worry about it. we have had the well since 1997 and have never done it....was just wandering.

Cubdriver · 03-19-2013, 18:46

I've been on a relatively shallow well for my whole life; have never done anything like that to it.

-Pat

mustang2 · 03-19-2013, 18:47

I am a plumber and have been working on this kind of thing for 39 years now and I also live in the country and have a well and I DO shock mine twice a year. If you need proof as to why pull the pump an take a look. I have see n everything from worms to dead decaying snakes wrapped around the suction of pumps. It is a cheap easy thing to do and well worth it for the health of my wife and I.

wdp · 03-19-2013, 18:54

We have a well and did install an injection pump that mixes incoming well water with a water/ bleach solution that mixes in a storage tank. It will kill organisms in your well water if this is a problem.

TunaFisherman · 03-19-2013, 19:02

I have a aquifer well. Had it checkd for potential health issues per county rules. Its about 7 yrs old. Its over 100ft deep. County requires a well be no less then 75ft deep. Had some sand issues one summer, but never once has the well company or county said anything about shocking it. Never heard that term even on my parents property.
My well water is run thru pre filters for sand, then osmosis filters for iron,then filtered at kitchen sink to remove salt ect.

M2 Carbine · 03-19-2013, 19:05

Been using a 300 foot water well (on 2nd well) since 1967.
I've never even heard of shocking a well.

I have a filter at the tank and a filter on the kitchen cold water that I change out every 3-4 months.

High Altitude · 03-19-2013, 19:09

Lived in a house with a 500' well for 9 years. Tested water quality twice a year, never an issue and never shocked it.

Bruce M · 03-19-2013, 19:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by mustang2

I am a plumber and have been working on this kind of thing for 39 years now and I also live in the country and have a well and I DO shock mine twice a year. If you need proof as to why pull the pump an take a look. I have see n everything from worms to dead decaying snakes wrapped around the suction of pumps. It is a cheap easy thing to do and well worth it for the health of my wife and I.

Is your guess that shocking the well has as much effect on the water and the system after it leaves the well (i.e. filter, pump, pipes, tank) as it does on the water in the well?

Just curious as it seems at least around here every time there is a "boil water" order it is because some contamination has entered the system some place past the well field.

PhantomF4E · 03-19-2013, 19:44

Depends on where you live I guess . My well in suburban Miami is spectacular. I have it tested regularly . I got one response once that said my well is the one Ponce De Leon was looking for . People pay good money for water with the mineral content that comes out of the ground underneath my house .. The well has been running since 1950 , zero defects . Except a new holding tank and a new pump .

Caver 60 · 03-19-2013, 20:03

As a caver I have sort of a layman's knowledge of ground water. Purity of ground water depends on a bunch of factors. When surface contamination (from any source) goes underground, it does not magically get purified. I know some ground water contamination stories that will curl your hair.

Perhaps the worse was a well at a school system in our state about 40 or more years ago. Students and staff were getting sick at alarming rates. They called in an expert. The expert put a harmless testing agent in the schools bathrooms and flushed the commodes for a long period of time.

The testing agent was slightly larger than coliform bacteria. So if the testing agent was getting through, guess what else was getting through? Twenty four hours later the testing agent was being pumped up in the schools well water. Enough said.

Many factors can affect groundwater. A large factor is geology. Some geologic conditions are much more favorable to letting contaminants into deep water tables than others. There should be a state agency that can advise you on your specific states geologic problems. It's the Department of Natural Resources in my area.

Of course the depth of the well and the population density around you can have an effect. So can some farming operations. Generally deeper wells are safer, but that is absolutely no guarantee.

I've been several hundred feet underground in a cave and seen a well casing going through the cave environment. If I could get there, so could surface contaminates. I would never trust a shallow well.

Safest thing is to have your well tested on a regular schedule, and treat accordingly. Even shocking every six months is no guarantee. Again there are probably state agencies who can advise you on your locality.

And when testing your well, be absolutely sure you follow the written procedures to the TEE. Otherwise you can get inaccurate results.

BTW I'm on a 350 foot well that is cased to 190 feet. Never had any problems yet.

PBCounty · 03-19-2013, 20:42

I've been on shallow wells since 1992. We, nor anyone I know (everyone I know is also on a shallow well) has ever done something of the sort. We're all still alive. We pour the salt into the container and do the pitt tabs about once a month - that's it.

***TBO*** · 03-19-2013, 20:45

HollowHead · 03-19-2013, 20:53

We haven't been on a well since '96. That was the year one of my idiot neighbors decided to bury a horse in his yard against county regulations and took out the entire aquafier supplying the subdivision. HH

PBCounty · 03-19-2013, 22:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by HollowHead

We haven't been on a well since '96. That was the year one of my idiot neighbors decided to bury a horse in his yard against county regulations and took out the entire aquafier supplying the subdivision. HH

I've heard lore about that - how long does that supposedly last? I've heard for years but it rang BS to me.

HarleyGuy · 03-19-2013, 23:22

As others have already stated, water levels and well depths will vary in different parts of the country.
Our well is less than 60' deep and we've never experienced any problems since we've lived in this house.

Water that is supplied via a well constantly circulates through the ground and even though we have filters for sediments, taste and odor, my wife has noticed a slight mineral odor (once or twice in 13 years) that usually only lasts a few days.

I'd like to have access to a municipal water supply, but I'd never give up my own well.

slick64 · 03-19-2013, 23:50

I just had the pump replaced on my system a few weeks ago. Its down 384 ft. Never shocked it in 4+ yrs here.

HandyMan Hugh · 03-20-2013, 01:59

Water wells are usually contaminated by things from the surface. This can be from the initial drilling of the well, or from surface water working its way down along side of a loose casing. In some states now, ALL casings have to be grouted in to prevent surface contamination because of a poorly sealed casing. The contamination can be Soil Coliform Bacteria, Iron and Hydrogen Bacteria, or Fecal Coliforms (from barnyard runoff) and agricultural chemicals (from field runoff).

Soil and Fecal Coliforms can make you ill. If you are very young, or old or have a weak immune system, Fecal Coliforms can be deadly. Iron and Hydrogen Bacteria consume minerals dissolved in the water and release (fart) Hydrogen Sulfide gas (rotten egg smell) into the well water.

Have your well water tested for both chemical and bacterial contamination. Knowing exactly what you have to deal with is essential. Shocking a well with bleach will (if done right) sterilize the water, and the soil surrounding the water chamber from which you draw the water. The treatment will also sterilize the house piping and the water heater which most likely will also be contaminated.

Have your water tested annually at first, and re-treat as needed. Once you "know" your well, testing intervals can be spaced out as neccessary. Sometimes, if the contamination was from the drilling of the well, and does not reoccur, you may not have to ever shock the well again.