Galvanized pipe rusted...maybe?

Gary Slusser · Aug 24, 2007

Try talking about what I actually said instead of what you want me to have said.

Yes liquid sodium hypochlorite comes in various strengths; from 5.25% to 21%.

FDA approved for potable water use chlorine pellets have 70% available chlorine.

irishcatred · Aug 24, 2007

Gary Slusser said:
Liz, if I'm understanding you correctly - when we recycle bleach bottles we don't make new bleach bottles out of the old ones. They make plastic tables, chairs, garbage cans etc. out of that plastic."

That is what I understood him to say. On the other hand when we had a swimming pool we would return the chlorine containers (pucks or liquid) to the supplier and pick up another container full - they presumably refilled the empty we returned & somebody else got that. Difference between re-cyclying and re-using. I was just passing on another view........Liz

Sponsor · 2022-01-29T12:20:58-0800

irishcatred · Aug 25, 2007

Chlorine flush for iron bacteria

speedbump said:
Post back Liz, when you have had time to see if it helped.

bob...

Well it's only been a couple of days but here's what's happened so far. For a couple of hours our household water supply smelled just like the town water we were accustomed to before moving to our new house. Since then it has had no odour at all! I've been able at last to brush my teeth, etc. without gagging at the smell and for the first time since they were installed our toilet bowls do not look grubby regardless of what we've done to clean them. As for the chlorine controversy - the technicion used less household bleach than I used to use in a week for laundry, stain removal and other household purposes when I had a houseful of kids and pets. Our parents' generation used it a lot more generously. All our kids( & us) swam in a chlorinated backyard swimming pool regularly from infancy and while I rarely, if ever use chlorine these days, somehow we have all survived to live healthy lives. Personally I think common sense and a sense of balance need to be applied to all the many, many things we are told to be afraid of. ........Liz

Raucina · Aug 26, 2007

There you go. Read the latest scientific american magazine- our noses are the best saviours of our health, and they choose chlorine above the stink of iron bacteria anyday. Your results are exactly as my own.

Speedbump · Aug 27, 2007

The shocking of the well will more than likely be temporary for the smell part. If it's sulphur, it will come back very soon.

Pool Chlorine does have other chemicals in it such as stabilizers which are not intended for drinking water disinfection. If anyone cares to drink this stuff, just ignore what it says on the products label and be my guest. I for one will not use it in drinking water for my customers or myself. If it's intended for swimming pools and not drinking water, that's good enough for me.

bob...

Rancher · Aug 27, 2007

speedbump said:
Pool Chlorine does have other chemicals in it such as stabilizers which are not intended for drinking water disinfection. If anyone cares to drink this stuff, just ignore what it says on the products label and be my guest. I for one will not use it in drinking water for my customers or myself.

This is true, but I thought we were shocking the well not continuously adding chlorine for water disinfection. After the well is shocked you should purge out the residual chlorine and flush the well, any trace amounts should not be a problem after what you just cured. I only drink Lake Arrowhead bottled water, which gets it's water from pure spring water, with all the Los Angles cabin owners feeding it with their septic tanks...

I use a small tap off my water supply that is filtered, sediment and carbon, seems to do the trick.

Rancher

Speedbump · Aug 27, 2007

I agree, shocking the well with pool chlorine if flushed out properly wouldn't be a major problem. But it is just good practice to use the right product in the first place, then there is no worries.

I often wondered what made people think that spring water is so pristene, when it's nothing more than well water. We have springs all over the place here in Florida. They are just free flowing out into the Atlantic and the Gulf 24/7 and all the powers to be are wringing their hands preaching doom and gloom about how we are going to run out of water by the year blah blah blah. If any of these hand wringers ever started thinking about the actual problem instead of the next election, they would damn up some of these big springs. Then they could start complaining that we have too much water and flooding is becoming a major problem.

bob...

Gary Slusser · Aug 27, 2007

All those inhibitors and stabilizers, how does one test for them or any residuals; with their nose or otherwise?

So saying the smell of chlorine is gone or, I tested for chlorine and there is none in my water after running off the well after shocking.... doesn't mean there is no residual of the other things found in pool puck type chlorine.

Shocking a well repeatedly can make bacteria related problems, like odor, worse. That's because bacteria produce slime which protects them from it then chlorine can not penetrate the slime caused encrustation and you have no way of killing the bacteria or odor they produce without expense well cleaning.

blan · Sep 8, 2007

Hi guys,
Sorry for the long departure. I didn't mean to stir up the forum when I spoke about using chlorine pucks. I should mention that we distill our water before drinking it. I would never suggest anyone ingest the water after doing this....at least not for some time. I know that it will take time to dilute to a level safe for drinking straight from the tap. I also realize the even showering in the water can be a problem, but we could barely detected an odor even in the beginning with two pucks.

I got rid of my IRB problem for about a month, but then it came back. I am considering a replacement of my bladder pressure tank and going with a fiberglass tank. They claim this prevents IRB's from being produced in the tank itself. My tank is about 6 years old and I believe the life expectancy of about 7 years. I don't suspect the bladder is ruptured. I expected the need for follow up treatments anyway but I was hoping it would last longer than a month. Next time I will use liquid chlorine since everyone is so adamant about it here. I know you guys are right, but thinking that any amount or type of chlorine is safe to drink (long term) is ridiculous...I don't care if it says pottable or not. That is just common sense.

I still have a hard time believing that the source of the IRB's are the well itself because the drop pipe was clean as a whistle inside. When you look at any water line from the pump forward, the orange/brown slime crud is evident.

Obviously I think Gary's idea is great if you have the money. The water was perfect for 6 years, so I'm hoping this problem can't be solved without the addition of an expensive chlorination system. I just have to destroy the bacteria that is present and remove the source...easier said than done though. Hopefully the source is the pressure tank and not the well.

This has been a great educational thread so I'm glad there is controversy. When this problem arose there was hardly any mention of the problem in any forum. Great advice from all of the experts.

I had one other idea that I would like to run by you guys. What if I were to put one of those small clear, screw on type, inline filters just past the jet pump and used it as a source to chlorinate the system (by tablets or powder)? I would just leave the filter out. That way I could just unscrew the housing and dump the chlorine out if it were too strong. I wouldn't have to worry about the concentration level because I could remove it from the system and flush the lines. What's the harm in being over concentrated if the lines are flushed well before showering, etc. At least this would make routine maintenance or repeat treatments a little easier. I'm calling it the Joe dirt approach. I'd love to hear the pros and cons.
Thanks,

Blan

Rancher · Sep 8, 2007

blan said:
.What if I were to put one of those small clear, screw on type, inline filters just past the jet pump and used it as a source to chlorinate the system (by tablets or powder)? I would just leave the filter out. That way I could just unscrew the housing and dump the chlorine out if it were too strong. I wouldn't have to worry about the concentration level because I could remove it from the system and flush the lines. What's the harm in being over concentrated if the lines are flushed well before showering, etc. At least this would make routine maintenance or repeat treatments a little easier. I'm calling it the Joe dirt approach.

This sounds kinda like how we chlorinated our pool back in the old days, drop some tablets either in the skimmer or the basket at the pump, it should work. Only problem is that the water will both enter and exit at the top of the filter case. Tell us how you over come that problem.

Rancher

blan · Sep 8, 2007

I was thinking that it would enter the filter casing with such force that it would have to agitate the chemicals....just my best guess though. I will have to look at one up close. Maybe I can divert the entrance water to the bottom by a pvc pipe or something.

Raucina · Sep 8, 2007

I have a water system that stunk bad and the toilet tanks were filled with red black slime. Finally I removed the trash sears BLADDER tanks that are raw steel inside, replaced with [yes really] sears GLASS lined plain tanks with compressed air precharge, and lifted the well cap and recirculated water back down the hole for hours with a huge addition of "10% chlorinating liquid" intended for pools but without any stabilizers or perfumes. Flushed all taps, let it sit, repeated, repeated again, and 3 years later sweet water still with NO stink and no filters at all.

Imagine all the crap that goes down the well when you set a pump, especially if its laid out along the road - beetles, dog shit, dust, dried tobacco spittle, diaper dust, spilled dried beer, motor oil, goop from the workers hands that just serviced the wife that morning and forgot to wash after the morning toilet call. Maybe your worker is a muslim and he uses his left hand to wipe with.....

Yet none of the pro's in this area advocate or perform chlorination or sanitation after pump sets unless a lenders test makes them do it. Shameful.

Speedbump · Sep 10, 2007

my galvanized bladder pressure tank and going with a fiberglass tank.

There is no such thing. It's either a galvanized not bladder or a painted bladder tank.

What if I were to put one of those small clear, screw on type, inline filters just past the jet pump and used it as a source to chlorinate the system (by tablets or powder)? I would just leave the filter out. That way I could just unscrew the housing and dump the chlorine out if it were too strong. I wouldn't have to worry about the concentration level because I could remove it from the system and flush the lines. What's the harm in being over concentrated if the lines are flushed well before showering, etc.

You totally forgot about what that chlorine is going to do to any metal it comes in contact with before you distill that water. Your plumbing may have a very short life span.

This sounds kinda like how we chlorinated our pool back in the old days, drop some tablets either in the skimmer or the basket at the pump, it should work.

This is another very bad idea. Putting those tablets in your skimmer or your strainer basket will eat every piece of metal in your pump. This is to include brass wear rings, the rubber in your shaft seal and the stainless steel screws also. I know I see it every day. All I have to do it open up the pump, see that all the metal is gone or almost gone. Ask the customer if he puts pucks in his strainer or skimmer basket. The answer is always YUP.

bob...

blan · Sep 10, 2007

I guess I would have to say that my tank is a painted bladder tank then. I just assumed that they had a galvanized coating on the inside because I have never seen a pressure tank that looked galvanized on the exterior....I guess they exist if you say so.
Regarding the corrosion of my metal plumbing fixtures....that is just a way of life here in this area. The water is so highly corrosive that everyone has to replace fixtures in 7-15 years. Even those with whole house systems. They can slow the corrosion rate but they can't stop it. They had the same problem in the neighboring county that I moved from. I would rather take a little time off of the life of my fixtures and hot water heater (by chlorinating) than deal with IRB's. I'm really not sure what you were trying to say because chlorination or acid is the only way I know of to get rid of the IRB's. Are you trying to say that absolutely no chlorine from a chlorination system gets into the house plumbing?

Speedbump · Sep 10, 2007

You said you were going to buy an inline filter and fill it with chlorine tablets. You have no control of how much chlorine will be in the water. I would have to think it would be extremely high. If your going to chlroinate, use a chlorinator of some sort.
bob...

Gary Slusser · Sep 10, 2007

A distiller without a carbon filter after them will not remove VOCs. They re-condense in the product water.

The bacteria problem is not caused by the pressure tank. The bacteria comes in it with the water from the well.

Shocking a well can cause serious and expensive water quality, pump, drop pipe, power cable and others problems while it can make the bacteria problem worse. And in some cases, albeit very rarely, make the problems go away. Usually for a variable length of time.

Yes a disposable cartridge filter housing can be used as described for disinfecting household plumbing.

Rancher · Sep 11, 2007

speedbump said:
Quote:
"my galvanized bladder pressure tank and going with a fiberglass tank."

There is no such thing. It's either a galvanized not bladder or a painted bladder tank.

No such thing as a fiberglass bladder tank? Do you want me to send you a picture?

Rancher

Speedbump · Sep 11, 2007

No such thing as a fiberglass bladder tank? Do you want me to send you a picture?

Unfortunately there is such a thing. The Well Mate is a bladder tank made of fiberglas tank. Flexcon also makes one now. I'll wait ten years before trying one. Let someone have all the failures like thay do with the Well Mate.

bob...

Gary Slusser · Sep 12, 2007

I've never seen one of these: Quote: "my galvanized bladder pressure tank...."
So I thought that's what you meant and now rancher is into WellMate tanks that have been around for 20 years or more. They are a fairly good tank with a replaceable bladder but not all that popular because they are so big, and pricey IIRC.

Speedbump · Sep 12, 2007

And if you don't mind replacing the bladders all the time, they are not too bad.

bob...

Galvanized pipe rusted...maybe?

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