Reply With QuoteThe first step is get a full chemical analysis of the water.Usualy to properly treat iron bacteria you need a chemical feed chlorinator,carbon backwash filter,and a water softener. The size of the unit will be determined by your analysis.
SAM
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well water treatment? Please help.
When I installed my new pump and pressure tank I noticed that the old pump was totally clogged with bacterial iron. I put some bleach into the well and it cleared up for about 10 days. I also have a septic tank. My question is-- Is there anything that can treat the water in the well that is safe for a septic tank?
The first step is get a full chemical analysis of the water.Usualy to properly treat iron bacteria you need a chemical feed chlorinator,carbon backwash filter,and a water softener. The size of the unit will be determined by your analysis.
SAM
Where and how is the best place or way to do that? A nearby water-softener salesman seems pretty sharp, but is he likely to have the necessary resources?Originally Posted by sammyhydro11
Rather than deal with filters, I periodically super chlorinate my iron infested well and make sure all portions of the piping sit filled with the solution for several hours. I also make sure water is being pumped back into the well so that areas above water line are also treated. You can usually find an unused hole in the well cap - or make one, or raise it a few inches if plumbing permits.
You have to go the whole route to get a lasting cure-a gallon down the hole is not going to help.
Septic tanks take some chlorine without any problems, the bacterial load is so high that its almost impossible to disturb it. Dont waste any money on the
useless septic "pumper-plumber in a bottle" snake oil either.
I would get it tested by a local certified lab and not by a salesman.You need to take the analysis before any water filters or treatment system. The periodic well chlorination can work to kill the iron bacteria but wont get rid of the iron. Most people don't want to have to pour bleach down there well every so often and want something that is going to work automatically.
SAM
Thanks for all your replies, however------
Since I have a limited budget, what should all of this cost? including test, and the necessary equipment. My well is 90' deep with one person using it. Right now I have bottled drinking water delivered since the well water makes me sick.
Mine is 65' deep, and I will let you know what I end up doing and what is cost.
Here in New England the water analysis is around 75.00. The equipment that you need will be based on the water analysis.
SAM
The short answer is yes, a chlorine pellet dropper can be installed on the well. The down side in chlorinating a well can cause problems with the pump, cable and drop pipe and cause water quality problems. That applies to shocking a well or constant chlorination.
Any water treatment dealer, pump guy, well driller, lab, pump or plumbing supply houses or the county folks can test water. There is no need for any of them to lie to you about what and how much of it is in your water, you already know the water has problems.
What you need to know is all the choices you have in what type of equipment will successfully treat the problem. To treat any type of reducing bacteria, like IRB, you need a disinfectant. They are chlorine, three types of equipment are used for chlorine, or hydrogen peroxide although it doesn't work very well for that type of bacteria problems and requires a solution feeder, or ozone which is generated on site and very expensive.
All those types of treatment require a proper retention and a turbidity filter. How you introduce the disinfectant varies; solution feeders require a lot of baby sitting, well casing mounted droppers stand on top the well about 3' high, inline erosion pellet chlorinators install in your plumbing past the pressure tank and are my choice because they are compact, take up no floor space, are inexpensive, have no moving parts and don't need electric and you don't have to mix any solutions or have an ozone generator or air dryer and their expense.
If you shock a well for IRB or other bacteria, that is at best a temporary 'fix' because the bacteria re-enters the well with the recovery water and recontaminates the well and pump etc..
All systems above can use a special carbon filter to remove the chlorine etc. from the water so you do not have the smell or taste of it in the water and thereby the septic system is not bothered by the disinfectant.
Click Here to learn how to correctly size or program a water softener.
So then, and with the matter of cost aside for the moment, ozone would be the only way to keep the water in my well free of bacteria without doing any damage to any of the mechanical components of the well?
Here is something I just found:
www.berrysystemsinc.com/products/halovac.html
Overall, this company claims its system will eliminate/control bacteria within a well as well as to eliminate/reduce slime and scale buildup. If this system does not have any drawbacks similar to those of chlorine injectors, maybe this is the solution here ...
Gary I tried an inline chlorinator (not yours) and after only a few months the internal feeder (suction?) line clogged. I took it apart and the gunk in the line was rock-solid; dunno if from the clorine pellet residue or from hard water. Anyway maybe I was using pellets that were too soft? Pro Chlor-Pel. BTW I couldn't find on your website that you sell your pellets separately online?
I couldn't find any pricing on their site--I would be particularly interested in their HaloSan product which they say MUST be used with the HaloVac. It might be VERY pricey for an on-going expense.
I wonder too how their ScreenCleanPlus might differ from the Super IronOut we get at Wal-mart.
Uses "Nonyl phenoxy polyoxyethylene ethanol-iodine complex ".
Wow... I would assume it is simular to a chlorine injector, except using an iodine disolved in an alchol product.
By the way it's also used as a teat dip... if you care.
Rancher
I suspect they might not sell to a mere end-user consumer. I read something on their website about "must be installed by ...", and maybe they even sell their chemicals only to/though licensed plumbers also. There is a certain drain cleaner I have used that can only come from/through a licensed plumber-dealer, but I did once find the same thing in an identical can with a different label.
What does "Super IronOut" do? It would be easy to add a solenoid valve and do some treated re-circulating back into the well whenever the pump runs.
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