well gone bad?

**mike891** · 03-11-2009, 08:05 PM

help discovered fuel oil in water. can smell it and see it floating in a glass no neighbors have problem fuel tank not leaking and on other side of house 70 ft away what can i do?

**sammyhydro11** · 03-11-2009, 08:25 PM

You need to call a water testing lab and have your water tested for VOC's. tell them your situation and they will come out and take a sample. In the mean time i would stop using this water for bathing and consumption. I also recommend calling your local health department so they are aware of possible contamination of other wells and what you should do with yours. If your neighbor has good water and is close enough, you might be able to run a hose from their outside spigot to yours and turn them both on. The water from their system will basically backfeed into your house. You will want to close the main valve coming off your holding tank. If you are able to get water from your neighbor, you will also want to flush your hot water tank and all the faucets but i still don't recommend drinking the water. The state might require that you fill the water that you flush from the hot water tank into drums. This is something that shouldn't be taken lightly.

sammy

www.tylerwellandpump.com

**Gary Slusser** · 03-11-2009, 09:43 PM

Rather than VOCs, you might want a hydrocarbon scan. You want to keep your animals away from the water. The source could be a pipeline, diesel fuel, home heating oil and it may be from a 'spill' from many years ago.

Carbon is used to remove it but, you may find that the carbon becomes hazardous waste and can be expensive to get rid of. It takes someone that knows what they are doing to successfully treat it with special set up of the filters. You could buy the equipment online and install it yourself but regardless where you were to buy it, you will have to follow instructions specifically to maintain it properly.

Some will probably suggest a new well, there is no guarantee that a new well wouldn't have the same problem now or later. Finding the source if possible is important.

**mike891** · 03-11-2009, 10:30 PM

gary, is there any possibilty of this being a temporary thing i don't know how deep well is but have been here 34 yrs and have had great water. this just started on monday thanks

**mike891** · 03-12-2009, 01:53 PM

sammy, gary, turns out not fuel oil, but mineral oil from bad pump seal. still costly but at least not a catastrophe thanks mike

**Gary Slusser** · 03-12-2009, 04:54 PM

Very good, I was going to suggest that but you said it smelled like fuel oil.

**valveman** · 03-13-2009, 05:27 AM

Burned mineral oil has that smell. I learned this years ago with the old Reda pumps. The mineral oil won't hurt you, just keep you regular for a while. Stick a hose back in the top of the well and let some water recirculate inside the well while an additional hose is dumping water on the ground. This keeps the oil stirred up with the water so it can be pumped out. Personally I like motors with ball bearings and mineral oil. I have seen them last 30+ years.