Well water not passing water test.

Question

I am buying the house I have been living in for the last 4 years. We had a home inspection a few weeks ago. The water test came back with high levels of coliform. The inspector told me how to fix this was to adjust the screen in my well. My question is how do I adjust it and if it doesn't work how can we make it pass? I was told that i was to use bleach in my well they would detect that and if I was to boil the water they could tell. I have asked around and everyone that I know either has town water or they haven't had a water test done in years. If we don't pass this next test we cant get the house. Please help

Answer 1

Shocking the well is not hard. Go to a home improvement store like Lowes or home depot and go to the spa or hot tub section where the chemicals are. I buy mine there to shock my well. There are 1 inch tablets of chlorine that are easy to drop in a drilled well or any other style of well. Drop or install a couple of these tablets to start with in the well and wait for four hours or so to allow the tablets to dissolve and circulate throughout the water column. Run some water in the house until you smell chlorine in the water. Run some water throughout the house at all spigots. If you do not smell chlorine wait another 4 hours to run the next cycle to smell the chlorine. I usually get impatient and over chlorinate and then it takes longer to get the chlorine out of the system. You may have to add another couple one inch tablets in the well if there is alot of water in the well. Wait over nite after you smell the chlorine at the taps and flush the system. It is VERY important that you do not allow anyone to consume the water while it is being shocked and for several days afterwards to make sure that all the chlorine is out of the system. Chlorine is very toxic to life but when the chlorine is being flushed out it is a good time to wash white stuff in the washing machine.

You may have to shock it several times to get the levels of coliform to a safe level. If after several cycles of this you may also have to add a ultra-violet filter to your system. They are not all that bad to install but it is just another thing to maintain. Good luck and I hope this helps.

P.S. I shock my well once a year just on general good health principals.

Answer 2

I would contact a well treatment company to help you. It is not unusual to shock a well with a chlorine treatment, but you will have to be able to flush the well after treatment. You should want to get this done correctly so you do not have to worry about contaminated water.

Answer 3

Normally you would pull the pump out of the well to get to the screen. You would need a fine sreen to stop coliform but it would plug up quickly. Filter the water through a felt hat or a Brita water filter jug to get a clean sample without boiling. This will remove most contaminants. You should shock the well after the test passes for your own safety and make sure you run the water through all your outlets hot and cold to steralize the lines as well as the ground water.

Answer 4

Sounds like you have been drinking it for the past 4 years and no problem.

Pay the inspector off, pour some bleach down the well casing to ease your mind.

Answer 5

You should call the inspector back and ask how it is down or who you can contact that does this kind of work.  Plus, why aren't the people who currently own the house having this done or paying for this to be done?

Answer 6

my health inspector suggested to use bleach in the well to remedy this problem; if you are unsure how to do it, a reputable water treatment company can do this for you