On Jun 21, 4:13*pm, J wrote:
Hey gurus,

We get build-up of iron rich bacteria in our well. *Eventually, this leads to an unpleasant odor in our water (especially when the water has not been run for a while) as well as slime in the toilet tank, etc. The odor is much more noticeable in the hot water. *I'm not sure if that's because the bacteria like the hot water better or because the warmer water releases the odors better. *Anyway, I try and shock the well about once or twice a year to stay on top of this problem.

My question is what to do about the water heater. *Since the problem is more noticeable in the hot water, *I want to make sure that the hot water pipes and water tank get addressed as well (the water heater tank is 80 gallons), but I also know that a high concentration of chlorine can corrode rubber seals, etc. *In the past I only flushed the system through the cold water pipes but then Idrained the hot water tank to get rid of any bacteria in that water. *However, I felt that the smell returned pretty fast because I wasn't killing the bacteria sitting in the hot water pipes or the walls of the tank. *Also draining and refilling our hot water tank is a *pain because our well has a low refill rate and if I let it fill our 80 gal tank as fast as it can, I will run the well dry and kick up a lot of sediment - not to mention being bad for the pump. * Of course, I can't see exactly how fast it is filling inside the tank, so I would end up filling it extremely slowly.

A few years back we had an outdoor hot water spigot installed for an outdoor shower. *So these days, I flush the system through the hot water tank then run all faucets (hot and cold) until I smell the chlorine. *Now I've got chlorine water in all the pipes. *After letting it sit for a day, I flush through the hot water tank again until it's chlorine free again. *This can take a long time, since I don't want to exceed 1.75 GPM *and the 80 gallon tank will only slowly return to a no (low) chlorine state since there will be mixing in the tank.

So, I feel like either way is a poor choice. *If I don't run through the hot water system, I feel I'm not addressing half of the problem, if I do run through the hot water system, I feel the chlorine may be doing damage somewhere in the system. *So what's the best way to address the whole system, without causing unnecessary damage? *Is what I'm doing OK, or should I be doing something else? *I think when this water heater goes, we'll probably go to a tankless water heater, but until then...

Thanks.

-J

You need to get in touch with a water treatment company and see what
solutions they have .
Example here.
http://www.proquipdirect.com/Well-Re...FSghtAod3lPFvA

I expect you can find a local company.