Shock a Water Well. WtF?

[ThePenIsMightier]

Pour a gallon of poisonous bleach directly into my drinking water well. Run the taps to circulate it through my system and let it sit. Run taps "for awhile" and then start drinking it again.

How The Fuck is this a thoroughly recommended and frequently used procedure!???!

If I'm drinking shit, I don't think cleaning my straw before I drink more shit is going to do much.

What do others know that I don't?

[spike98]

Pour a gallon of poisonous bleach directly into my drinking water well. Run the taps to circulate it through my system and let it sit. Run taps "for awhile" and then start drinking it again.

How The Fuck is this a thoroughly recommended and frequently used procedure!???!

If I'm drinking shit, I don't think cleaning my straw before I drink more shit is going to do much.

What do others know that I don't?

Bleach at very low concentrations won't be harmful however the very low concentration can also sanitize quite effectively. I do this in my RV fresh water tank every year to sanitize my water system. I add 1/2 cup for my 60 gal. tank.

[2Legit2Quit]

PEI life

[ExtraSlow]

I think the concept is that while the aquifer may have some low level of microbial contamination, it is more able to grow and multiply in the well itself and in the house plumbing due to warmer temps are higher oxygen levels. So "cleaning the straw" as you say, is actually a reasonably periodic bit of maintenance.

Now best procedure and chemicals for that process I will leave to experts. I've only visited properties with water wells, and the owners have never discussed their processes with me.

[Tik-Tok]

Why wipe your ass if shits going to come out of it anyways?

[AndyL]

Chlorine is used in all municipal water systems to keep bacterial and algae growth controlled...

Chlorinated water and all... Add a bit of ammonia and you get chloramine if you need that effect to have a longer half life...

It's not so crazy :rofl:

[tirebob]

Totally normal. Also helps with the build up of iron bacteria, which while not really a health hazard, it does affect water pressure performance etc and staining.

[HHURICANE1]

We just did it to our system. Iron was becoming a real problem. After the shock it's much better now.

[digi355]

Standard practice accross the water treatment industry. If you've ever drank water out of any sort of portable water tank (food trucks, construction offices, CoC temp water), the same practice is followed.

[zechs]

Pour a gallon of poisonous bleach directly into my drinking water well. Run the taps to circulate it through my system and let it sit. Run taps "for awhile" and then start drinking it again.

How The Fuck is this a thoroughly recommended and frequently used procedure!???!

If I'm drinking shit, I don't think cleaning my straw before I drink more shit is going to do much.

What do others know that I don't?

A gallon?

Not nearly enough for almost any well. I guess if it was 100% pure maybe.

And your fire hydrants in cities are attached to the potable water system. You know when they open them up in the summer? Thats to get chlorinated water to go to dead loops and areas with low flow.

Its pretty incredible how spotless just little amounts of chlorine keeps everything.

[mr2mike]

My dad does this at least once a year growing up on the acreage with well water. Finally had to yell at him to give everyone the heads up before he did it.
Concentration camp showers for a day or two.
Or I skipped until the smell dropped off.

- - - Updated - - -


Totally normal. Also helps with the build up of iron bacteria, which while not really a health hazard, it does affect water pressure performance etc and staining.

Keep telling yourself the toilet ring is "iron in the water" :devil:

I don't miss those days of heavy iron stains all over anything water related.

[killramos]

Where did OP run off too?

[mr2mike]

Where did OP run off too?

Robbing the Southland Leisure Center's chlorine supplies?

[ExtraSlow]

Mill River Aquaplex?

[mr2mike]

Maybe he's comparing his water with the Indus Arena shower water.
:barf:

[ThePenIsMightier]

Was busy. Chose beach over bleach.
I like ES's logic to some extent. AndyL should realize that I comprehend potable, chlorinated water... My issue is more with the similarities to #TidePodChallenge when experts literally say "just pour Javex into your drinking water come out hole". How about someone invent a consumer chlorine chemical that's a little more advanced than a jug of sodium hypochlorite with a picture of a t-shirt on it and laundry instructions beside it's skull & crossbones! It's a common issue.

So if it's all about my dirty, dirty, dirty pipes that are all hot & bothered and room temp & shit - why bother pouring it into the well?

[ExtraSlow]

I like ES's logic to some extent. That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. Sniff.

[mr2mike]

That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. Sniff.

Dirty pipes... You found your man in ES.
Unless it's hydrates. :angel:

[zechs]

So if it's all about my dirty, dirty, dirty pipes that are all hot & bothered and room temp & shit - why bother pouring it into the well?

Its not. Its about your well. In the comparison to a water treatment plant, the plant is the well, and its got lots of chlorine (among other things) added.

You dump a calculated amount of chlorine in for the spring and fall shocks, then you are supposed to circulate it from a hose faucet back to the well.

When you smell chlorine, then you flush it through your lines in the house individually to kill off any bacteria in there. Realistically, this step isn't for the actual lines, PEX isn't going to let stuff grow on it easily if the lines are ever used.

Well shocking is not nearly as necessary on modern wells, its much more an annual requirement on steel cased wells. And uh, fuck mine, the water is always abysmal. But doing a proper shock twice a year helps a lot.

And it depends on your water source/aquifer. If you have a lot of organics, shocking will be a lot more necessary.

If you have rust issues, chlorine can help as it knocks the rust out.

So yea, I think that covers it all. Your well is basically a petri dish with almost perfect growing conditions in it. Treatment is necessary even if not drinking the water, as it will make your life miserable (skunky water, rusty water, salty water, etc) if you don't keep on top of chlorinating it.

Finally, I don't recommend paying someone to do it. This seemed like a good idea one year, total ripoff. Only difference is the guy had a tote of prechlorinated water to basically replace the water in the well. Did sweet f-all.

I figured I would add, since your water system is effectively closed, once rust/corrosion issues happen, it can be VERY difficult to fix that short of pulling a lot of plumbing.

[Maxt]

You just don't go pouring bleach down the well. You need to figure out the depth and volume of the well, and mix up a batch of treatment water to flood the well. The formula for strength is on the government websites. Rhe idea is to put enough volume back down to flood the surrounding rock to clean out the bacteria all around the well, and to clean out the well casing perferations. On bothe wells I have had, the Gpm of the wells increased after shocking. My old well was a 2 barrell flood, the one I have now is 3 barrels. I fill up the barrels over a couple days, then let the well stabilze, put chlorine in the barrel water, isolate the well, and dump all the barrels as quickly as possible down the well, then let is sit for a few hours. While the solution is still strong, I take a garden hose from the house, and wash the casing down from the top. I have a big cannister 2 micron filter I capture all the gunk in. I then let it sit for 24 hours before going back to normal usage. Its hard to do with a family, I usually did it on a Saturday and then took the family to Banff for the sunday so the well could sit. Some of the people I know with really bad water use those big square totes or rent a water truck.

[2Legit2Quit]

Invest in a UV light purification system

[mr2mike]

Maxt

Sound like ExtraSlow slow has competition for well servicing.
Your way sounds correct and makes sense.

[schurchill39]

I think we should also mention that pouring bleach right into the well will kill off bacteria meaning there will be less bugs to multiply in the future. So although the main benefit might be in the pipes, you're reducing the overall count at the source. #hydraulicfracturing101

[killramos]

I think he needs a good biocide squeeze. None of this rookie down the backside shit.

[schurchill39]

I think he needs a good biocide squeeze. None of this rookie down the backside shit.

I prefer to pretreat at surface then quick kill down the well but I've been accused of being a fancy girl before :dunno:

[Maxt]

There were some systems on the market that did continual chlorination on well water systems. Both my houses i've had on wells had poly B piping, so continual chlorination was not a good idea. I just do the shock once a year, and then flush the chlorinated water through the house mains and out through the sink that has a hose connection. I don't put the chlorinated flush water down the septic system, the septic tank needs the bacteria to work properly and loads of chlorine will sanitize the septic tank, which is what you don't want.
I used sodium hypochlorite at 12%, if using clothes bleach, you have to be careful it's not scented bleach, one of my neighbors used scented bleach and the scent stayed around for quite some time.

[tcon]

Pour a gallon of poisonous bleach directly into my drinking water well. Run the taps to circulate it through my system and let it sit. Run taps "for awhile" and then start drinking it again.

How The Fuck is this a thoroughly recommended and frequently used procedure!???!

If I'm drinking shit, I don't think cleaning my straw before I drink more shit is going to do much.

What do others know that I don't?

Bleach is highly concentrated chlorine in water.
As chlorine "kills" microbes / organics it is consumed, so the once it sits for a little while the free chlorine will drop significantly

It's safe bud, just don't drink bleach out of the bottle

[ThePenIsMightier]

Bleach is highly concentrated chlorine in water.
As chlorine "kills" microbes / organics it is consumed, so the once it sits for a little while the free chlorine will drop significantly

It's safe bud, just don't drink bleach out of the bottle

Apparently... I followed the recommended/combined advice from a variety of sources and poured half a gallon of poisonous bleach directly into my well with 5gal of water and then chased through each outlet until I smelled chlorine before shutting them off. Then the other half gallon with 5gal of water and let that sit for minimum 8hr.
Then I ran the hose until I couldn't smell chlorine out to the road so it wouldn't kill my clover and dandelion fiasco lawn and also not poison my septic tank. Then ran all taps until no smell. Took water sample about 2 days later and she's zeroes across the board.

A plumber charged about $200 for this earlier and within a week we had dookie back in the water so I'm going to manage this myself moving forward. I'm getting syphon hose and an easier system going so I don't have to struggle to pour a 5gal pail into a tiny hole and some other things to make it easier. Hopefully with more regular treatments, I can use way way less chlorine and keep ahead of the E.Coli and Coliform. :barf:

I still can't believe that the options are either "just use Javex" or "go get some creepy pool chemical pucks" for fucking potable water that human children drink, but whatever... Directly across from me, my friend's got shocked twice by TehExPeRt PlUmMer in order to pass and when I just tested his again, it also failed. Is there a truer statement in life than "using a 'professional' just means you paid them to do it"?
It's a weird thing, but I can come to terms with it. The water here is the most succulent, delicious water I've ever had in my life, ever. It's amazing! This is such a strange place.

[cidley69]

We are on a well, with slow output at 1 GPM. We have a 500 gallon cistern in basement. Had a Wolfe Mountain tank cleaning company over to wash cistern, and he showed us a pink slime growing in cistern, that was from iron bacteria.

Aside from doing chlorine shock, which was done, they recommend getting a whole house water treatment system.

The product they used for shocking was a powdered chemical called Stereline.

Does anyone have one of these system? There's a variety of types at a range of costs, wondering what the least expensive option that will still be effective.

Any suggestions or real experience with different types of treatment?

Costco advertises a system from Kinetico, any experience with this brand, would you recommend it?

[ThePenIsMightier]

We are on a well, with slow output at 1 GPM. We have a 500 gallon cistern in basement. Had a Wolfe Mountain tank cleaning company over to wash cistern, and he showed us a pink slime growing in cistern, that was from iron bacteria.

Aside from doing chlorine shock, which was done, they recommend getting a whole house water treatment system.

Does anyone have one of these system? There's a variety of types at a range of costs, wondering what the least expensive option that will still be effective.

Any suggestions or real experience with different types of treatment?

Costco advertises a system from Kinetico, any experience with this brand, would you recommend it?

I have a fairly simple filter upstream of a UV light that is supposed to help with minor issues. They're not cheap and the UV bulbs have limited life that needs to be managed.
The chlorine shocking should be killing iron bacteria issues along with anything else.

[suntan]

Dose makes the poison.

[tirebob]

We are on a well, with slow output at 1 GPM. We have a 500 gallon cistern in basement. Had a Wolfe Mountain tank cleaning company over to wash cistern, and he showed us a pink slime growing in cistern, that was from iron bacteria.

Aside from doing chlorine shock, which was done, they recommend getting a whole house water treatment system.

The product they used for shocking was a powdered chemical called Stereline.

Does anyone have one of these system? There's a variety of types at a range of costs, wondering what the least expensive option that will still be effective.

Any suggestions or real experience with different types of treatment?

Costco advertises a system from Kinetico, any experience with this brand, would you recommend it?

Are you able to let me know what you paid to have done what you are talking about? Did you notice a flow improvement?

[cidley69]

Are you able to let me know what you paid to have done what you are talking about? Did you notice a flow improvement?

The service cost $650 plus a $1.75/km fuel surcharge (ours was 60 km distance charged). This was for cistern pressure wash, flush, treatment with disinfectant, and a final flush. They added Stereline to well and cleaned the water softener resevoir for no additional cost.

There was no noticable difference in flow, but with having a cistern, we have no flow concerns to start with, water pressure in the house is really strong.

Do you use water tratment? What type?

[2Legit2Quit]

The home we moved into a month ago has a slow producing well, there's a cistern setup in our utility room and for the water setup there is a Kinetico water softener setup as well as a peroxide injection setup in place.

I need to talk to the companies that installed the gear to get a better understanding but this is what is in place here

https://westcountrypumpandfiltration.com/peroxide-injection/

[tirebob]

The service cost $650 plus a $1.75/km fuel surcharge (ours was 60 km distance charged). This was for cistern pressure wash, flush, treatment with disinfectant, and a final flush. They added Stereline to well and cleaned the water softener resevoir for no additional cost.

There was no noticable difference in flow, but with having a cistern, we have no flow concerns to start with, water pressure in the house is really strong.

Do you use water tratment? What type?

That is exactly what I wanted to know! We have a storage cistern in the basement too that the well pumps into, then the house is fed by a second pump after the fact. I think our water pressure is fine but sometimes I question if there would be improved flow because we too get a bit of iron bacteria buildup.

We have a deep (almost 300 foot) reliable well and other than the iron bacteria our water is perfect otherwise year after year (tested), and since iron bacteria is not an issue for consumption what-so-ever, and the taste (at least for us) is completely unaffected we have never bothered with a water treatment system, but I do want to have a good clean done through the cistern and all the pipes. What you did sounds about right!

[SkiBum5.0]

Not sure if they service your area but I highly recommend Titan Water Systems. We have a well (12gpm), followed by a pressure tank, then into iron filter, and finally a softener. All installed and maintained by them. They’ve been great

Edit: by great I mean he is always available by text to answer the stupidest questions, brings in big blue filters and O-rings I can’t find anywhere, and even helped me when choosing new hot water system.