Our water has developed a bad smell. We contacted a well company and
they said that we need the well clorinated and acid treated. It will
cost about $700 (only $150 to just clorinate it). I'm wondering is this
what I really need. The well is a 4"well, 175 feet deep, & 30 years
old. It is the original pump. Would I be better off replacing the pump
and screen rather than having it acid treated? Any idea what replacing
the pump would cost?

wrote:
Our water has developed a bad smell. We contacted a well company and
they said that we need the well clorinated and acid treated. It will
cost about $700 (only $150 to just clorinate it). I'm wondering is this
what I really need. The well is a 4"well, 175 feet deep, & 30 years
old. It is the original pump. Would I be better off replacing the pump
and screen rather than having it acid treated? Any idea what replacing
the pump would cost?


No idea.

Some suggestions follow

Chlorine will deal with biological contamination, and most new wells in
most areas of the country now require chlorination when the drilling
permit is issued. It is a continuing process so the chlorine supply
must be topped off every few months (granular but not the swimming pool
kind) The acid wash kills any bacteria inside the pump.

However, the bad smell COULD be from Hydrogen Sulfide (rotten eggs
smell), and this also makes the water taste bad. Acid wash will not
help this problem as it is in your water source.

Water softeners with a KDF media filter added on will block hydrogen
sulfide, lead, iron and more, stuff that a traditional water softener
does not offer.

The new Fleck 5600 series softeners offer this as an option for an
additonal $175 on top of the price of a new system. Prices start near
$500 for the smallest units.

wrote:

Our water has developed a bad smell. We contacted a well company and
they said that we need the well clorinated and acid treated. It will
cost about $700 (only $150 to just clorinate it). I'm wondering is this
what I really need. The well is a 4"well, 175 feet deep, & 30 years
old. It is the original pump. Would I be better off replacing the pump
and screen rather than having it acid treated? Any idea what replacing
the pump would cost?

Hi,
First you'd try, shock the well with clorine. Lots of info. on the net.
I shock my well out at our cabin twice a year.

wrote:

Our water has developed a bad smell. We contacted a well company and
they said that we need the well clorinated and acid treated. It will
cost about $700 (only $150 to just clorinate it). I'm wondering is this
what I really need. The well is a 4"well, 175 feet deep, & 30 years
old. It is the original pump. Would I be better off replacing the pump
and screen rather than having it acid treated? Any idea what replacing
the pump would cost?


GOOGLE: well + shock + treat

Bear in mind that this could be overkill for your well,
especially if there isn't any coliform bacteria present.

There is a danger that the treatment will so disturb the
well that the pump inlet will get clogged.

As suggested, it may be iron bacteria. One solution I've
used on my own well is a small chlorinator pump injecting
solution right before the bladder tank. This has
completely eliminated a bad iron bacteria-caused oror for
the past 5 years.

Jim (NOT a well expert...)

One solution I've
used on my own well ....

How much did this cost you? That said that this would be an option
also... but it was very expensive ($2000). Is it something I could put
in myself?


THANKS,

wrote:

One solution I've

used on my own well ....


How much did this cost you? That said that this would be an option
also... but it was very expensive ($2000). Is it something I could put
in myself?

Don't tell anyone g, but I built this myself.
I bought a used chemical feed pump (Peristaltic)
on eBay. It pumps a few drops of solution out of
a Gallon jug and into the bladder tank inlet.
There is a stainless check valve to handle the
corrosion.

The pump must be able to build pressure greater
than the bladder water pressure.

Many ways to control it, but I chose a timer
to allow the feed pump to run for a few seconds
each time the well pump comes on.

Jim

" wrote in
message ps.com...
Our water has developed a bad smell. We contacted a well company and
they said that we need the well clorinated and acid treated. It will
cost about $700 (only $150 to just clorinate it). I'm wondering is this
what I really need. The well is a 4"well, 175 feet deep, & 30 years
old. It is the original pump. Would I be better off replacing the pump
and screen rather than having it acid treated? Any idea what replacing
the pump would cost?

A gallon of Clorox bleach may work wonders for you.Put it in before you go
to bed.Then in the morning run the faucet that is first in line closest to
the well until you don't smell the bleach.If it does not work you are only
out the cost of the bleach.We had a mouse find his way into out shallow well
one time...it took 2 gallons of bleach and tried our best to run the well
dry....then all was good as new.

On Sat, 3 Jun 2006 23:56:52 -0400, digitalmaster wrote:

A gallon of Clorox bleach may work wonders for you.Put it in before you go
to bed.Then in the morning run the faucet that is first in line closest to
the well until you don't smell the bleach.If it does not work you are only
out the cost of the bleach.We had a mouse find his way into out shallow well
one time...it took 2 gallons of bleach and tried our best to run the well
dry....then all was good as new.

MAKE SURE YOU GET PLAIN BLEACH - NO ADDITIVES. No color-safe or fancy
smells...

Since the OP appears to have no experience, I highly recommend reading and
following the directions in the PDF file in the URL below before shocking the
well. It is a publication of the Georgia Extension Service and explains the
procedure step by step.

http://www.fcs.uga.edu/pubs/PDF/HACE-858-4.pdf

There are other useful well water publications also available at the
Extension Service site:

http://www.caes.uga.edu/publications/subject_list.html

Use your browser to find " Household Water Quality Series" (without quotes)
in the page and you will find the publications following the heading.

Later, Mike
(substitute strickland in the obvious location to reply directly)
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