OT: Residential Well Water Treatment

[leitmotif]

Jeff

It all depends on what coliform you are talking about. Are they fecal or iron. If fecal the general analysis is for total fecal ie animal plus human. This is most common test and cheapest. YOu can get further testing to distinguish between animal and human at ADDED cost.

Iron coliform to best of my knowledge are not considered a health hazard UNLESS they make HER white blouse pink. Then there may be some health or happiness issues for YOU.

See your local health dept for assistance and reading material. They may be able to provide water analysis also.

Dan Bentler

 

[Jeff23spl]

i forget to say it's animal coliform from the previous test. I know where to get the test but i'm looking for a solution to get ride of it.

 

[OkiePC]

Chlorine?

I bleached my well when I moved in, and again when I replaced the pump, and one other time since then, so about annually. I still get iron, and I thin iron bacteria, and I do live in an agricultural area, so I need to get the more expensive tests.

Personally, I don't worry about natural bacteria, I figure I would have been sick by now, it's the chemical poisons that concern me, so I mostly drink from the reverse osmosis under sink filter. I have drank pond water and lake water, creek water...I am from the olden days when botulism was a sauce and nobody got food poisoning...

Anyway, chlorine kills about everything just don't put it stong into your septic system. Let it evaporate out in sinks and tubs if necessary before killing the bacteria in your sewage...you don't want that.

I found a website some years ago when I pulled the well, and I think it calculated I should use 4-8 cups of chlorox. I sprayed that down the inside of the casing and rinsed it down into the well, then let it sit a day. Then I recirculated it right back down the hole until the smell of chlorine was about like a strong swimming pool, then I closed off the outside spigot and ran all the house plumbing to get chlorine through the pipes, toilet tanks, but I didn't flush any, or drain the basins for another 24 hours.

Okay, I should be outside correcting my flow direction mistake from last night...but brrrr it got cold today!

Paul

 

[rguimond]

I used to have tons of iron bacteria. Regular "shocking" didn't help a bit. Eventually, I cam eup with the following solution:

My well head is in my basement. Used to be outside, but an expansion was built over it. Shallow well - 24'. I wanted to force chlorine into the strata around the well, so I ran two hoses from the well cap up to the second floor, out a window and onto the roof. Total change in elevation was about 36'. With a funnel, I poured several gallons (I'm thinking about 14) of 12% chlorine into one pipe until it eventually filled the other pipe. Let it set for about two weeks (I have another well on the property that's fine). I really don't know how long it took to percolate into the strata, but the head pressure would have been around 28 PSI when the pipes were full. It's been nearly 2 years now and the bacteria haven't returned yet.

I guess the same results could probably be obtained by filling the well casing with chlorine and applying pressure to the well once it's capped - maybe by compressed air through a pitless adapter?

 

[OkiePC]

I scanned a list of articles that mentioned an automatic chlorine pellet dispenser that sounds like an economical method. I would like to have chlorox injectors in my well and compressed air based atomizers would be a nice way to purge (frost proof) the lines.

What we need are some 3 position 5 port valves with center air (pressure or atmosphere) one side chlorine at low flow rates and the other side water, then we could put a chlorine sensor in the farthest or most frequented toilet (think pool test it), and a flow meter for demand ... throw in a CLick with a Kadet...

No, what I need is to bury the shiny white pipes because it's supposed to be nice tomorrow, and apparently rough country canines enjoy playing catch and tug o war with shiny white plastic things...

 

[TomekPLC]

OkiePC, I don't mean to hijack your thread but I have one question.
Does the softened water feel slippery?
I had a Culligan rep at my new house (well water) saying that the water will be slippery and that he could "play" with it a little bit.
Thanks,
Tom

 

[OkiePC]

We soften our water at work. We added a building for it, but I have not been too involved in the project other that reading the "how it works" system manual.

Yes, the water feels slippery. Yes, soap tends to go farther and feel harder to rinse off. It is better for your skin and hair...not so good if you have high blood pressure (drinking), but reverse osmosis under the sink will still be my main drinking supply.

At work we use Culligan Industrial IIRC. I have been so busy, I have not even been out there to find out how we test and maintain the stuff.

Well, now I have a wet wall (waterproof) 6" thick, and insulated with a nice drain and some concrete and cardboard craftsmanship. I got tired and did some silly stuff to use up all my Durock scraps, but trying to have a zero landfill footprint sometimes gets in the way of common sense.

I have done four loads of laundry now, taken two hot showers, mopped my tile in the house, and washed dishes (by hand, of course). And so I guess my silt problem isn't all that bad coming from the well. I can see this $17 paper filter lasting a month.



Paul

 

[OkiePC]

Sometimes it pays to procrastinate and dilly dally...
I have two walls roughed in and painted with some paint that I inherited when I bought this house, and I am in a holding pattern as far as front wall until I get the sliding door "re-appropriated" from the one man's junk pile...(wherever he turns up...)

So, I snagged a water softener today for $60...appears to work fine so far...It was a real quick install until I cracked my last FPT-Pex adapter...

Thank God for Permatex 1B and hose clamps...

Filtered Soft water tomorrow!

BTW, Home test kit revealed PH of 8.5, Total Hardness of 13-15 grains, iron of only 3ppm and no other problems.

 

[rdrast]

Just a note about using PEX for the misters...While it is great stuff, it degrades very VERY quickly when exposed to Sunlight, so you might want to switch to a run of something more sunlight resistant.

I got a nice PEX multi-size (die) crimper at Lowe's for somewhere around $80/90. 3/8", 1/2", 3/4", and 1", with case and gauge. It does have very long handles, and won't do in very tight spaces, but it works fine for typical PEX work.

What manifold did you go with? I put together one with the Watts pieces. It's very nice, and easily expandable, though it is much larger then I thought.

I just finished rebuilding my deck enough to build a shelter and install my ice maker outside... that will be plumbed into the actual house supply later off of the manifold. Right now, it's just attached to a filter fed from a garden hose. I still need 2/3 a pallet of 2x6x12's to finish off the deck, but it seems every lumber yard in the area is sold out /sigh.

 

[JeffKiper]

Paul one of the meat packing plants I service uses a daily "clorinator". He pours a gallon on chlorine in the well daily. This well only supports his washdown supply. Not as cool as automating a system.

 

[OkiePC]

Just a note about using PEX for the misters...While it is great stuff, it degrades very VERY quickly when exposed to Sunlight, so you might want to switch to a run of something more sunlight resistant.

Thanks for that...I will be sure to get some more of that flexible tubing that came with my mister kit...

I got a nice PEX multi-size (die) crimper at Lowe's for somewhere around $80/90. 3/8", 1/2", 3/4", and 1", with case and gauge. It does have very long handles, and won't do in very tight spaces, but it works fine for typical PEX work.

Mine does 3/8" thru 1" cost about $50 IIRC, but does take a heck of a squeeze to compress 1" rings. I redid my well head plumbing the other day, and after crimping 9 of them one right after the other, I was "feeling it"...but I had them all positioned and them crimped them all at once and will probably not have much more 1" to do. It is plenty levered enough for the 3/4" crimps to be easy.

What manifold did you go with? I put together one with the Watts pieces. It's very nice, and easily expandable, though it is much larger then I thought.

I did away with my old tank tee, and made my own from PEX at the well head. I used the re-useable (expensive) valves and elbows on the front porch where the softener is, so I can reconfigure to my hearts content as I decide where I want a new port or guage installed, so no manifold really.

Paul one of the meat packing plants I service uses a daily "clorinator". He pours a gallon on chlorine in the well daily. This well only supports his washdown supply. Not as cool as automating a system.

I can picture a pellet dispenser popping tablets into the well seal case (where the air vent tube goes through) being a pretty simple device, but now that I know my water has no bacteria problems, I think I will just shock it when I break the seal or once each year or two and call it good.

 

[JeffKiper]

I can picture a pellet dispenser popping tablets into the well seal case (where the air vent tube goes through) being a pretty simple device, but now that I know my water has no bacteria problems, I think I will just shock it when I break the seal or once each year or two and call it good.

Paul what fun would that be? You need more projects to take up the time you don't have to spare.

 

[rdrast]

Okie ... Probably late, but are you doing any annoying demolition work too? My friend loaned me a real nice tool for tearing things apart.
http://www.amazon.com/Dead-AN18-18-Inch-Annihilator-Wrecking/dp/B001SEQH1I
I liked it so much I just ordered one myself. It will come in handy when I tear down the dock.

This was the PEX modular manifold system I have:
http://media.wattswater.com/ES-QC-35Manifolds.pdf

 

[Lancie1]

I did shorten the depth 5 feet during the upgrade, and installed a torque control "thingy" that expaneds inside the casing to absorb pump start up torque, but I think it still stirs sand every start.

Paul, I know this is old news, but I only recently read this thread. One thought popped into my head: Do you have an air inlet on top of your well cover? Over the years, I have installed several well pumps, and observed the same type of problem. One cause of sand or sediment going into the pump is lack of an air intake.

It seems logical to me that if you suck 20 or 30 feet of water out of a well, it is going to leave a vacuum. That vacuum can cause sand, mud, and gravel to get sucked into the holes in the well casing (where only water would normally trickle in). I have had good success with installing a short piece of 1/2" PVC pipe through a spare seal in the well top, with an elbow and a sock filter on the top. This allows air to enter the well (as water is pumped out). It really does reduce the amount of stuff that gets sucked into the well.

Another question on well pumps. To remove a failed pump, it seems that even if a winch is used, still someone has to be strong enough to reach down and grab the pipe and pull it up and hold it while a rope is attached. For us older folks, that is one more challenge. What method do you use to get a failed submersible pump out of the well, where the foot valve is still closed and the 1.25" pipe is full of water 85 feet down to the pump?

 

[Lancie1]

One cause of sand or sediment going into the pump is lack of an air intake.