dirt in hot water

We had been getting black chunks and dirty water for the first few seconds every time we turned on hot water. I disinfected my well with chlorine overnight last night (including draining the hot water tank) and spent the day today running the system clean. Everything is great except the black water is worse than ever. Will that eventually stop, or is there something else going on?

Do you have galvanized pipes anywhere on the hot water side?
Galvanized is notorious for scaling up inside (the scale is usually black) over time, restricting water flow until it eventually plugs up completely. The only solution to galvanized is replacing it, whether it's driven well pipe or part or all of supply lines.
Good LucK!
Mike

The house was built in 1979. All the pipes I can see are copper. When I said that I drained my hot water tank, I meant that I ran the faucets until no more hot water came out. Then I ran the chlorine through my hot water tank and the rest of the system. Would it help to drain all the water out of the tank from the valve at the bottom?

Does this happen at every faucet, or only at a specific one? If you used flexible hoses to feed the WH, they could be the source of the black specs. Same is true of some faucet supply hoses.

Actually, the place that it is worst (the bathtub) happens to be the only faucet in the house that doesn't have flexible supply lines. And the water heater uses solid copper pipe.

How deep is the Pump in the Well? It is possible that it is sitting on bottom, and sucking in dirt. Worst case, you will have to pull the motor up some off of the bottom, and also drain the Hot Water tank to get rid of the dirt.

There was an episode on Ask This Old House about the same issue that you are having.

I hope it's not the pump sitting on the bottom. I have heard that silt can build up under the pumps, but my well pump is only 1 year old. They just put it in last summer. Plus, we only notice the dirt coming from the hot water. I guess that doesn't mean it isn't present in the cold water too, but definately not as much. The water literally comes out dark grey with coffee grain type chunks in it for 4-5 seconds when we turn on the hot water. And now there is another interesting problem. The water (both hot and cold) is very rusty. I keep thinking that somebody forgot the flush the toilet, but it's just the water color. Thank God for bottled water. Thanks for the This Old House idea. I'll check into it.