We get our water from an underground spring-fed spring box, cistern;
it is about 15 feet deep. The water has lately developed a foul odor.
We have checked the box for foreign objects (eg: decomposing animals)
but nothing can get in because the lid is a 4’x4’x4” reinforced
concrete slab. We don’t drink the water but use it for bathing and
washing. We are in a severe drought here in North Georgia and have
been conserving water, so some neighbors have said it is because we do
not use enough water to refresh it. I am thinking maybe we need to
pump it dry and wash the cistern. Any ideas and/or suggestions would
be appreciated.

Thanks

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...

We get our water from an underground spring-fed spring box, cistern;
it is about 15 feet deep. The water has lately developed a foul odor.
We have checked the box for foreign objects (eg: decomposing animals)
but nothing can get in because the lid is a 4’x4’x4” reinforced
concrete slab. We don’t drink the water but use it for bathing and
washing. We are in a severe drought here in North Georgia and have
been conserving water, so some neighbors have said it is because we do
not use enough water to refresh it. I am thinking maybe we need to
pump it dry and wash the cistern.

1. Shallow wells always confront this problem, because
supplied by either local rainfall or upstream sources the
well users cannot control.
2. For personal health, the user should know the germ
count of the water. (We have a shallow well. Conveniently,
government testing is free (total coliforms and fecal coliforms.)
We add bleach (just a litre, diluted, squirted onto the walls
of the well above water level) whenever the germ count
both seems high and (in 2 consecutive tests) trends up
rather than down.
3. Local drought can spread local pollution underground.
As point sources (e.g. ponds) dry up, polluted underground
sources can spread laterally.

Your main decision may be between:
(a) Cheap remedy, germ testing and bleach. You will
soon find out whether this works, and for how long.
(b) Expensive remedy: trying to map the source of
your water, in case a source of pollution can be
localiised and remedied: no guarantee of success.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)