Last fall, my whole house filters suddenly started to become filthy in a matter of a few days. Before then, I would change them every 3 to 4 months as routine maintenance but they were never clogged. At first, I thought that my old Sears bladder pressure tank had gone bad and the crud might be from the tank itself due to a ruptured bladder. It was 20 years old and, believe it or not and despite what someone said in another thread, the Sears pressure tank really did last that long. But the feet were almost rusted off and I was about to replace it anyway when my whole house filters suddenly started getting filthy every few days. Also, I noticed that the old tank was losing about 5-7 pounds of pressure every 3 to 4 months. In any case, it was time to replace the pressure tank anyway so I replaced it with a Well-X Trol WX-250 diaphragm tank and I thought everything would be fine but, unfortunately, the problem persists.
The crud in the filter was orange and a little research showed that the orange might be caused by rust bacteria. I first treated the well with Rust-Out which really allowed me to pump out a lot of crap. I then treated the system with bleach for 24 hours and I recycled the bleach/water through the well with a hose for a couple hours to, hopefully, disinfect the well casing. If I had rust bacteria, the bleach may have killed it because I no longer get the orange stuff. Now it's gray/black as it was in the past except that I have to change the filter at least once a week now while, in the past, I changed it every 3 or 4 months as mentioned above. In fact, in the past, I could use a 1 micron whole house filter and it wouldn't clog even after 3 or 4 months. I'm now using 10 and 20 micron filters until I fix the problem I'm having.
My house is about 90 years old. The well was there when I bought the house about 34 years ago. If I remember correctly, the well is about 75 feet deep. My pump is about 12 or 15 years old and it pumps fine and with good pressure. The pressure switch is set for 40/60. Even now, my water is crystal clear and has no bad smell at all after it goes through the whole house filter and my water softener. In fact, it has no bad smell even when I bypass the filter and water softener. It has never had a bad smell and it tastes fine. However, if I didn't soften my water, it would be pretty hard - enough so to cause rust stains on fixtures.
The well casing is iron. I would have to go out and measure it but I think it's about 6-8 inches in diameter. I'm wondering if the casing itself may have suddenly started rusting and is causing the problem. I have read that it may be possible to line the casing with plastic pipe. I have also read that this problem can occur if the water table is somehow disturbed (construction, etc.) but there has been no new construction in my immediate area but there has been some ongoing road work since last fall about 1/4 mile away. I live about 25 miles west of Chicago.
I would greatly appreciate any information and suggestions from someone who has dealt with a similar problem. Fortunately, my water is fine but I have to change my whole house filters every 5-7 days now and they are really filthy gray/black when I do.
The crud in the filter was orange and a little research showed that the orange might be caused by rust bacteria. I first treated the well with Rust-Out which really allowed me to pump out a lot of crap. I then treated the system with bleach for 24 hours and I recycled the bleach/water through the well with a hose for a couple hours to, hopefully, disinfect the well casing. If I had rust bacteria, the bleach may have killed it because I no longer get the orange stuff. Now it's gray/black as it was in the past except that I have to change the filter at least once a week now while, in the past, I changed it every 3 or 4 months as mentioned above. In fact, in the past, I could use a 1 micron whole house filter and it wouldn't clog even after 3 or 4 months. I'm now using 10 and 20 micron filters until I fix the problem I'm having.
My house is about 90 years old. The well was there when I bought the house about 34 years ago. If I remember correctly, the well is about 75 feet deep. My pump is about 12 or 15 years old and it pumps fine and with good pressure. The pressure switch is set for 40/60. Even now, my water is crystal clear and has no bad smell at all after it goes through the whole house filter and my water softener. In fact, it has no bad smell even when I bypass the filter and water softener. It has never had a bad smell and it tastes fine. However, if I didn't soften my water, it would be pretty hard - enough so to cause rust stains on fixtures.
The well casing is iron. I would have to go out and measure it but I think it's about 6-8 inches in diameter. I'm wondering if the casing itself may have suddenly started rusting and is causing the problem. I have read that it may be possible to line the casing with plastic pipe. I have also read that this problem can occur if the water table is somehow disturbed (construction, etc.) but there has been no new construction in my immediate area but there has been some ongoing road work since last fall about 1/4 mile away. I live about 25 miles west of Chicago.
I would greatly appreciate any information and suggestions from someone who has dealt with a similar problem. Fortunately, my water is fine but I have to change my whole house filters every 5-7 days now and they are really filthy gray/black when I do.
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