Deep Well Care
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,570
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Deep Well Care
I'm just finishing my quarterly well maintenance where I dump two quarts of Chlorox in the well and flush out the system. I've been looking at automatic chlorinators, which the county is going to eventually force me into having. I pretty much ruled out the inside the house chloinators for safety concerns. Does anyone have the dry pellet chlorinators, that drop the pellets into the well? How well do they work, what problems have you had, and what is the overall cost? Also do you use the charcoal after filter?
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,570
Likes: 20
Bacteria gets into the system, it can get in there just from washing your hands. and touching the outlet of the faucets. Also when it rains heavily, bacteria gets pushed into the ground, the taste of the water even changes. When I clean the system the water comes out very cloudy for the first couple of days, and we drink bottled water. I pull the cap off the well, and pour two quarts of bleach down the well so it will run down the insides of the casing pipe. Then flush the lines till I smell the bleach, after the water clears I rinse the well pipe with clear tap water. Our well is 385 feet deep.
Elder User
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 543
Likes: 1
From: South East Texas
Sounds like you have either a Jet-Well or a submersible with a settling tank. Mine is a Jet-Well system with a 500 gal. cement settling tank with air pressure and return pipes down about 360 feet and a 2 cyl. compressor. The original system was a outfit out of Houston called Ruth-Berry Wells. Just about everyone down here that had a well had their system.
When they went out of business sometime back in the eary 90's anyone with that well was kinda screwed for parts or the pressure tanks because it was all their design.
When mine gave out in 99 I tore it all out and redesigned the system using available components.
When I bought this house back in 1990 it had been empty for a year or so, so I had to do the Chlorox thing in the settling tank and then flush the whole system. I can't understand why they want you to put a chlorinator on the well, is the water there in the ground that bad ? The only filter I use is one of those under the sink ones that goes to a separate little faucet for drinking and cooking water cause of the iron in the water.
When they went out of business sometime back in the eary 90's anyone with that well was kinda screwed for parts or the pressure tanks because it was all their design.
When mine gave out in 99 I tore it all out and redesigned the system using available components.
When I bought this house back in 1990 it had been empty for a year or so, so I had to do the Chlorox thing in the settling tank and then flush the whole system. I can't understand why they want you to put a chlorinator on the well, is the water there in the ground that bad ? The only filter I use is one of those under the sink ones that goes to a separate little faucet for drinking and cooking water cause of the iron in the water.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2003
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The pump is at the bottom of the well minus a couple of feet, in the basement is a captive air tank, with a switch* to turn the pump on and off. The cholorination of the well is to meet the federal clean water act and some dirty local politics. They want to meter our wells, or hit us with a sewer charge, even though we have no sewer service. WSSC is a out of control monster, we keep knocking back.
* If the switch is more than 5 years old in an unprotected environment or more than 10 years old in a protected environment, IE basement, I'd recommend replacing it. Know someone who filled their basement to the top of the laundry sink.
* If the switch is more than 5 years old in an unprotected environment or more than 10 years old in a protected environment, IE basement, I'd recommend replacing it. Know someone who filled their basement to the top of the laundry sink.
Postmaster
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,659
Likes: 2
From: S/C Texas
We have a shallow well. 
We have an outside chlorinator that draws from a 55gal drum filled with water and one gallon of regular bleach.
A small adjustable pump injects a little bleached water into the line as the water is pumped.
I dont kow what brand pump it is, but its a yellow pump on top of the drum....and you dont want one.
Thing is nothin but trouble. In three years.....its always screwin up.
We have an outside chlorinator that draws from a 55gal drum filled with water and one gallon of regular bleach.
A small adjustable pump injects a little bleached water into the line as the water is pumped.
I dont kow what brand pump it is, but its a yellow pump on top of the drum....and you dont want one.
Thing is nothin but trouble. In three years.....its always screwin up.
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 279
Likes: 0
From: Tillsonburg ON
Wow, I'm sorry to hear about your local politics! Also I guess the ground is different from ours. We only have about 2-5' of soil then gravel, rock, gravel, rock, etc. No requirement for chlorinating and no affect from the light annual rainfall we get in this area. We also don't have any kind of settling tank, no-one around here does -- not sure why that is required either.
We've just had a full analysis as we have to treat an iron-manganese problem and there is 0 bacteria taken from the outdoor tap. But I guess it's not really the well that the clorox treats, but putting it in the well draws it right through the system, so that makes sense! Our local environmental services laboratory only recommends chlorinating the well if the test comes out poor.
Thanks for the info and best of luck finding an appropriate chlorinating system.
We've just had a full analysis as we have to treat an iron-manganese problem and there is 0 bacteria taken from the outdoor tap. But I guess it's not really the well that the clorox treats, but putting it in the well draws it right through the system, so that makes sense! Our local environmental services laboratory only recommends chlorinating the well if the test comes out poor.
Thanks for the info and best of luck finding an appropriate chlorinating system.
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