|
SLOBuds
|
|
Silver Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 06/12/03
|
|
Posts: 130
|
|
|
|
Well Shocking Multiple Times
02/27/08 05:32 PM
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
I got a water test from the county which showed coliform and ecoli. Then I shocked the system with chlorene and cleaned out everything throughly - followed the shock procedure strictly.
Re-test shows coliform and no ecoli. The county guy says 'that's better, but not good - no drinking yet.'
I read that multiple shock treatments can help if not fully repair the well. One document said that 3 treatments might be needed to affect the correction.
This is a pretty big effort to get done. Before I actually go there, I'd like to know if it will lead to success.
Any opinions?
Post Extras:
|
|
CJDave
|
|
Veteran Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 10/21/02
|
|
Posts: 851
|
|
Loc: Southeast Iowa
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: SLOBuds]
02/27/08 06:00 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
 One thing that I've learned about this is that "contact time" can vary as the water flow in and out of the well. If the well is punched into a moving aquifer, OR.... if a slow-moving aquifer is actually the source of the contamination it can be tough to get a clean well. In mountain communities it isn't a bit uncommon for septic tank discharge to follow on top of a clay layer and show up in a domestic well. If further treatments show some gain, then I would wait for a while and then test again to see if the re-contamination is from the water source and not some problem with what was standing in the well.
CJDave
Post Extras:
|
|
egon
|
|
Veteran Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/12/02
|
|
Posts: 3011
|
|
Loc: Nova Scotia,Canada
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: SLOBuds]
02/27/08 08:08 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
best be doing it again and again and then take samples on a regular basis.
You should also look into how the well is completed and where the contamination could be coming from.
There may be more involved than just a shock treatment. 
Egon 
Post Extras:
|
|
SLOBuds
|
|
Silver Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 06/12/03
|
|
Posts: 130
|
|
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: egon]
02/28/08 07:26 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
CJDave - then do you believe that the shock treatment can be done once or a few more times for, potentially, better results?
Egon - I am not at all versed in groundwater attributes. But when I talk with my well men, they make me believe that it is near impossible to tell for certainty what is going on down there. And they also say that it is hard to know where to look. That many different factors can cause the well to be that way.
If there is a fair possibility that multiple shock treatments will clear up my water, than I will do that. The shock treatments are many more times cheaper to do than trying to find another hole to drill!
Post Extras:
|
|
RichZ
|
|
Veteran Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/12/02
|
|
Posts: 558
|
|
Loc: Cambridge, New York in beautiful Washington County, next to Vermont
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: SLOBuds]
02/28/08 08:03 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
Something else to consider, is whether you re-contaminating your well. One of the most common causes of well contamination is through backflow on hoses. For example, if you have a stock tank (livestock drinking container) and you fill it with a hose, if you leave the hose submerged in the tank, and turn off the water, you can create a backflow where the stock tank water will be sucked back into the pipe, causing your whole water system to become contaminated (since most stock tanks eventually get contaminated with droppings). Make sure that isn't happening, and that you have no cross connections that could contaminate your system.
Rich
"What a long strange trip it's been."
Post Extras:
|
|
egon
|
|
Veteran Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/12/02
|
|
Posts: 3011
|
|
Loc: Nova Scotia,Canada
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: SLOBuds]
02/28/08 09:29 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
Your well drillers reply are reasonable for an old well.
Treat, test, treat til you get positive results. If not start to consider a new well but do try and determine the aquifer quality from other wells surrounding you if that is possible.
You may wish to contact knowledgeable people on treatment systems also.
Please note, I am not competent to give positive advice on wells and treatment so take all my comments as opinions only.
Egon
Post Extras:
|
|
SLOBuds
|
|
Silver Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 06/12/03
|
|
Posts: 130
|
|
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: egon]
02/29/08 05:39 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
Thanks again Richz and Egon.
Richz - there is a backflow preventer on the outflow line and it (surprisingly) does operate. On top of the fact that there is an airgap between well line and holding tank which adds that layer of security too.
Egon - this is the puzzling part. None of the other wells in my area have this problem. So I am a LITTLE bit hopeful that it is not the aquifer itself.
This is very very frustrating. Several of my friends have told me that it must be nice to have 'free' water. I reply that our water delivery has been much more expensive in the country than it ever has been in the city with city-provided water.
Post Extras:
|
|
egon
|
|
Veteran Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/12/02
|
|
Posts: 3011
|
|
Loc: Nova Scotia,Canada
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: SLOBuds]
02/29/08 05:59 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
Free water he he he.
Perhaps relate to the friends the cost and effort it takes to have "Free Water"
This is something like burning "Free Wood" for heat!
If all the surrounding wells are good just keep shocking and testing. Check your well area for surface runoff that may pass by the well or other such things.
Last spring our daughter bought a house with attached well. The prepurchase water test showed coliforms. After shocking all was good and follow up tests were okay. It would seem the coliforms arrived when the previous owners had a pump replaced. As there was no pitless adapter, just a concrete cased hole in the ground an adapter had to be added prior to purchase. The cost of installation was split between owner and my daughter. This is a jet pump system on this well.
Which reminds me to remind the daughter that another set of tests may be in order!
Egon.
Post Extras:
|
|
RichZ
|
|
Veteran Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/12/02
|
|
Posts: 558
|
|
Loc: Cambridge, New York in beautiful Washington County, next to Vermont
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: egon]
02/29/08 10:19 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
I'm glad that you have the backflow preventers, and that they actually work. Most homes don't have them.
We have one well for our house and our farm. We are a commercial goat dairy, so our water supply is tested several times/year by the state. Invariably, one of my farm workers, who are kids, forgets, and leaves a hose in a stock tank, and recontaminates our well. After having to shock and re-test numerous times, I finally bit the bullet and bought an ozone disinfection system for our well. It cost about $1000, but my water is always free of bacteria of any sort now. The volume of water a typical home uses is much less than we use, so you could have good results with a much cheaper system.
Rich
"What a long strange trip it's been."
Edited by RichZ (02/29/08 10:25 PM)
Post Extras:
|
|
SLOBuds
|
|
Silver Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 06/12/03
|
|
Posts: 130
|
|
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: RichZ]
03/01/08 02:31 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
I have ultraviolet on one of the houses at my place. The water is turbid after rain, which reduces the effectiveness of the ultraviolet treatment.
Ultraviolet equipment have stipulated levels of turbidity which may not be exceeded.
Thank you both for suggestions. I am going to shock treat a second time this weekend.
Post Extras:
|
|
GaryQWA
|
|
Silver Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 06/04/05
|
|
Posts: 117
|
|
Loc: Wherever I park the motorhome
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: SLOBuds]
03/01/08 10:43 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
I have extensive experience in shocking wells to remediate Coliform bacteria contamination and for other types of bacteria caused problems.
It is rare to get rid of a bacteria problem by shocking a well and in reality, it is nothing more than a temporary fix.
Shocking a well can cause water quality problems that are expensive to impossible to correct and cause problems with a submersible pump, the power cable, drop pipe and metal casing etc.. And in some cases it can make some bacteria problems worse leading to having the well production decrease until you must have the rehabilitated and/or cleaned or drill a new well.
Identifying the cause or source of contamination is very difficult to impossible. Once you have a contamination problem you would have to do repeated testing every few days to be able to rely on the bacteriological quality of the water. Bacteria problems can come and go by the hour day week month etc..
UV will not work on turbid water and certainly not on visibly dirty water, chlorine and ozone won't work either.
Gary Slusser
Quality Water Associates
Post Extras:
|
|
CJDave
|
|
Veteran Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 10/21/02
|
|
Posts: 851
|
|
Loc: Southeast Iowa
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: GaryQWA]
03/02/08 08:26 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
 Er..... what Gary said.
CJDave
Post Extras:
|
|
SLOBuds
|
|
Silver Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 06/12/03
|
|
Posts: 130
|
|
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: GaryQWA]
03/03/08 07:26 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
Well, that certainly is not good news then.
Thanks for your input. There are government agencies all of the United States with detailed instructions on how to shock wells - which is where I got mine. Most cast their instructions as 'recommended procedures' and none have ever stipulated the downsides you talk about.
Any procedure which can potentially ruin a well forever should not be advanced by our government.
Post Extras:
|
|
GaryQWA
|
|
Silver Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 06/04/05
|
|
Posts: 117
|
|
Loc: Wherever I park the motorhome
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: SLOBuds]
03/03/08 10:45 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
Yep and we currently have a bunch of government employee candidates running around promising all types of things to the ilinformed among us that they say are good for us without a word of anything negative about their policies if they are implemented...
Chlorine is a nasty substance, and the volume required to shock a well successfully albeit temporary is more than enough to harm most everything it comes into contact with in the well and plumbing and the fixtures and appliances it is run through. And then you pump off the well onto the ground.
Gary Slusser
Quality Water Associates
Post Extras:
|
|
speedbump
|
|
Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 07/03/06
|
|
Posts: 58
|
|
Loc: Florida
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: SLOBuds]
03/03/08 10:45 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
In reply to:
Any procedure which can potentially ruin a well forever should not be advanced by our government.
Yeah, but they do. The Health Department in my County says to remove the 1/4" plug in the well seal and pour bleach down the hole. They don't mention chasing it with water to wash the bleach off the casing, wire and droppipe after words.
bob...
Pumpsandtanks.com
Post Extras:
|
|
SLOBuds
|
|
Silver Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 06/12/03
|
|
Posts: 130
|
|
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: speedbump]
03/03/08 12:04 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
I ended up looking at 6-8 different sites that had instructions. They were surprisingly consistent on their recommended procedures ... and surprisingly INconsistent on some of the procedures.
Virtually all of the procedures called out for the same dilution factor - though one of them said that if you had fuzzy parts of determining how much chlorine to use, then you should use more. I don't think that putting high amounts of chlorine is good for the components, as folks here mention.
Most of the procedures tell you to circulate the water for awhile as you pour the chlorine down. This is a process where you take the well water, from the pump, and direct it down into the well hole. The directions also tell you to wash the sides of the well pipe and the other components down in that hole as you do the circulation.
Most directions say to do the wash. ONE direction said to do the wash for 6 hours! I just did it for a couple of hours and by that time the chlorine smell was strong and I felt that all of the sides had been drenched.
We got feedback from many different people and sources saying that this is not a perfect science. Some people said that one shock treatment 'fixed' their well 'forever'. But most others just outlined that we could not be certain whatsoever about the source of the bacteria/turbidity. That if the shocking took care of the problem now, it could re-appear again in the future. That comment is the same as others have made here.
So we have now shocked the well twice, but I don't think that my wife and I will ever completely trust it. Unfortunately. And we don't know what has 'changed,' because all have drank that water for many years now with no adverse effect. I guess it only means that sickness varies by individual - we don't get sick from the water, but others might.
Thanks again for everyone's advice.
Post Extras:
|
|
CJDave
|
|
Veteran Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 10/21/02
|
|
Posts: 851
|
|
Loc: Southeast Iowa
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: SLOBuds]
03/04/08 07:29 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
It's always been understood that you can drink a SMALL amount of really bad water, or a BIGGER amount of not-so-bad water and get by. It's when you drink the same water for forty years and it has a trace of xxx in it that you get into trouble. The trace over time becomes a concentration that is stored up in your body, and who knows what effect it has. So the secret to pollution is dillution.
CJDave
Post Extras:
|
|
GaryQWA
|
|
Silver Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 06/04/05
|
|
Posts: 117
|
|
Loc: Wherever I park the motorhome
|
|
Re: Well Shocking Multiple Times
[re: CJDave]
03/04/08 02:13 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
I had a lady call me one morning saying her husband, 14 year old son and her were hospitalized Sat afternoon after getting very sick after eating out Friday night. She and their son were discharged that morning but her husband was in critical condition in the hospital. He had had recent brain surgery and his immune system was weakened and could I tell her anything about bacteria testing on their well water that they had never had a problem with or a Coliform test on. I tested and found Coliform before midnight Monday night. Her husband had gotten worse and she wanted to know if the Coliform could be the cause. I didn't know but the hospital had been telling her that they couldn't find what type of bacteria and what they were giving him wasn't working, so if they didn't identify the type of bacteria, he probably wouldn't survive much longer. I told her there were many types of bacteria that a Coliform test wouldn't find and named some including heliobacter pulori. That is what they found about Wednesday IIRC and he was treated and released from the hospital a week plus later in very bad shape for some time. I installed and maintained a class A UV light with an intensity monitor before he came home and they did follow up tests until I lost contact with them years later.
So it depends on what and how much of it is in the water if one exposure is enough to do anyone in regardless of their health.
Gary Slusser
Quality Water Associates
Post Extras:
|
Previous
Index
Next
Flat
Threaded