They've Chlorinated My Well :-(
icediver
one item: After two weeks, my drinking water still tastes
like Chlorine! "Chlorination is a standard procedure that
is required by the Wisconsin Well and Pump Installation
Code any time a well is entered for service," I was told.
I expect the good taste of my well water to return some day,
but when? And is this Chlorination requirement standard in
other states too?
fiche
icediver wrote in message
<21ee0662.02050...@posting.google.com>...
"Turn on an outside faucet and leave it open for 72 hours straight before
attempting to drink or wash with the water.It is OK to flush the toilet
during this period."
That was a hardship,especially having to deal with the faucet
output,but I am pretty well convinced that without a thorough flushing like
that,getting the chlorine out of the system with normal usage cycles would
take a long long time.
Steve Dunlop
other place where the water won't make trouble, and run
the water until the chlorine goes away. Might take 24 hours
or more.
All the well service co's around here chlorinate after
maintainance, whether because of law or conscience
I don't know. It has to be done for the water to remain
safe, since the repair is hardly conducted in an aseptic
environment.
--
Steve
"icediver" <iced...@chorus.net> wrote in message
news:21ee0662.02050...@posting.google.com...
jimbe...@mindspring.com
taste after I did a chlorine shock. I ran the faucets a bit but my
well seems to have 4 hours or less of capacity so running it for days
on end is not an option. Where I used to live we could run the well
for weeks and never run it dry. While it may not be a requirement, if
your well is contaminated with coliform, a knockdown of chlorine can
kill the nasties. Nothing like drinking lots of water on 90 degree
days while building a house to hydrate only to squirt out the wrong
orifice.
iced...@chorus.net (icediver) wrote:
Jim B.
JMartin
Run your water through a blender for half a minute or so before
drinking. The air takes the chlorine taste away. Stirring it up
briskly does too, but not as well as the blender.
Ecnerwal
> I expect the good taste of my well water to return some day,
> but when? And is this Chlorination requirement standard in
> other states too?
It's Standard Operating Procedure - kills off any cruddy little beasties
that got on the pump & piping when the well-boys put together, set it
down in the dirt, used the same wrench they used on the last overflowing
toilet job, etc...
As a new well, hard to say how good your water will ultimately taste
anyhow - I've had wells that were nearly distilled water quality, and
wells that were beyond unspeakable (and certainly not
drinkable/cookable) with iron & sulfer. Aside from running a lot of
water to help flush it out, a quick drinking water solution would be a
charcoal filter, or just boil up a large pot and stick it in jugs for
the duration. Not a bad idea to fill some jugs up and store them away
somewhere, to have when the power goes out or the pump up & dies.
John Kanes
: New well pump installed 4/16/02 and I'm happy, except for
I used to live in a rural environment (Western Canada). Water quality
varies a huge amount from place to place with the major problems being
iron bacteria (is there brown stuff in your toilet tank?) and hardness
(calcium carbonate).
Shock chlorination is a procedure designed to combat iron bacteria. I
used to do it spring and fall. The procedure involved pouring 2 gallons
of ordinary household bleach straight down the well, followed by another
two gallons mixed with about 250 gallons of water (talk to a water
hauler). The latter step was to "flush" the chlorine out into the
aquifer as much as possible. Next you run all your taps in the house
until you smell chlorine to make sure the chlorine travels throughout
your water system. Don't overdo this, the chlorine will retard the
action in your septic system.
Leave the system for 12 hourss or so, then run a garden hose into a
ditch to clean the chlorine out of the well and pipes. The chlorine
taste used to be gone in a week or so. It was no worse than many city
dwellers get in the spring during spring run off time - its just a small
problem for a short time.
The benefit of the procedure is that "iron bacteria" within the water
system are killed. Without doing this the brown sludge will gradually
build up in your pipes, lowering your water pressure.
This procedure is recommended by several provincial departments of
Agriculture in Canada. I'm pretty sure it will be recommended by State
departements down in the US too, contact your Ag rep.
I don't think that this procedure has anything to do with coliform,
ecoli or any other such contamination - if you have such a situation you
should stop drinking the water from that well until the problem is
solved. To do otherwise is very risky.
Water quality is a big problem in rural areas. Most people have iron
filters, water softeners (big ones) and still suffer from inadequate or
poor quality water. If you don't have these problems consider yourself
fortunate. In any event - don't worry, the chlorine taste will be gone
very soon.
pika
well is created/repaired by a licensed contractor. The same old story that
if one does it themselves there is no requirement enforced but if it is done
through proper channels then one must follow set procedures. It is amazing
that you still have chlorine residue after this period of time but it could
be the result of an overzealous application by the contractor. Normally one
is advised to "free run" the pump (dumping water outside) for 24 hours after
chlorinating: yes, I know, not good for the lawn, soil or earthworms, but
better them than your family consuming it plus it will keep the chlorine out
of your septic and gray water systems if you have such. Good luck, the
problem should clear up soon.
"icediver" <iced...@chorus.net> wrote in message
news:21ee0662.02050...@posting.google.com...
Gary Slusser
"icediver" <iced...@chorus.net> wrote
It takes time and water use to get rid of it and yes, many states
require the process.
You should call up the folks that suggest/require this procedure and ask
them about chlorine byproducts. They'll say "there shouldn't be a
problem". Ask them for the research data to support that theory and then
set back and watch them dance around the issue.
I can remember when the same types supported spraying DDT everywhere for
all kinds of reasons saying there was no harm done or any problem with
it's use. Chlorine use for water treatment is being replaced with other
types of biocides but, pouring it down wells is still the 'norm'.
Gary
Quality Water Associates
Steve Dunlop
and binds rapidly with soil particles (rendering it inert) when it
is dumped on the ground.
The only problem is aesthetic.
Steve
"pika" <pi...@frontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:ud3avg5...@corp.supernews.com...
jimbe...@mindspring.com
know carcinegin (sp?) Carbon filters are supposed to absorb that
harmful chemical.
Maybe not an unbiased viewpoint but there is some controversy over
chlorine. Plenty of other articles in a google search.
http://www.seventhgen.com/html/facts_about_chlorine___dioxin.htm
"Steve Dunlop" <dun...@bitstream.net> wrote:
Jim B.
Gary Slusser
"Steve Dunlop" <dun...@bitstream.net> wrote
> The chlorine in the water does not make it hazardous to drink
> and binds rapidly with soil particles (rendering it inert) when it
> is dumped on the ground.
>
> The only problem is aesthetic.
Depends on the creation of Trihalomethanes (THMs), chlorine disinfection
by-products, created when organics exist in the water being treated.
Most are considered carcinogenic and are limited to x ppb.
Gary
Quality Water Associates
> Steve
Steve Dunlop
considered safe for drinking would not have organic
compounds in it in quantities to produce an unsafe
concentration of trichloromethane, and even in the
event that a good deal of organic debris was introduced
during maintenance, it would have been flushed out by
now.
As I recall the amount of organic material required to
produce dangerous THM levels during chlorination is
quite high, and the THM level is relatively unaffected by
the amount of residual chlorine (and hence chlorine odor).
--
Steve
"Gary Slusser" <qwas...@ptd.net> wrote in message
news:ozFA8.1688$oy2....@nnrp1.ptd.net...
Gary Slusser
"Steve Dunlop" <dun...@bitstream.net> wrote
> Well, yes, that occured to me, too. But water from a well
> considered safe for drinking would not have organic
> compounds in it in quantities to produce an unsafe
> concentration of trichloromethane, and even in the
> event that a good deal of organic debris was introduced
> during maintenance, it would have been flushed out by
> now.
A...... solids sink to the bottom of the well and will not be "flushed"
out with normal pumping but... without timely ongoing testing (which
frankly, doesn't happen with residential wells), how do we jump to
considering the water from a well as safe? Most say it's good water when
it doesn't smell, taste bad or have anything floating in it. If we
consider anything we should be considering it unsafe until proven safe,
especially due to a need for shocking and us/them not knowing anything
about organic content being present or absent.
> As I recall the amount of organic material required to
> produce dangerous THM levels during chlorination is
> quite high, and the THM level is relatively unaffected by
> the amount of residual chlorine (and hence chlorine odor).
Where did/do you get that from? I'd like to read about that. Ever heard
of Tannins, Coliform bacteria problems etc. in well water? They and
others are found very frequently. You sure you know how the recovery of
a well works? Rock wells included? If that water is bringing in
organics, or we don't know it isn't, who's to say there will be no
disinfection by-products created or to what extent? Considering that, we
should opt for testing (for THMs) to know for sure, otherwise we assume
something that's probably wrong.
When an MCL is set at say 1 ppb(illion) or a fraction thereof.... I
think it takes very little to exceed it. We aren't creating THMs with
the residule, it's the initial oxidation, residule Free chlorine is
what's left after all oxidation has taken place. Oxidation of organics
creats the disinfection by-products and it takes very little of them to
have a problem while supposedly solving another. This is such a large
problem for water companies across the country that they (many) are
converting to chlormines and other disinfectants as we speak.
Chlorine as we know it for water treatment and other uses is on it's way
out, it is being found to cause more and more health problems. The idea
of pouring a poison down a well seems to be a bit dumb to me, especially
when no testing is done before or after to determine the probability of
creating other problems or without treatment for possible problems
afterward.
Just last night I read of two studies of women found to have increased
blood levels of THMs after a normal shower in chlorinated 'city' water.
That research was funded by the AWWA (American Water Works Association),
the EPA and others while being done by North Carolina University. The
data was released in some journal just recently if not yesterday. The
two separate study groups were in Texas and somewhere else I can't
recall. Some levels rose 1000 times over their background levels. And I
always thought (considered?) shower filters for chlorine removal were
for sissies and were toys... although I knew of the skin absorbing
chlorine while showering.
Next we'll be talking about the adding of ammonia to chlorine for the
production of chloromines to reduce the production of THMs by chlorine
alone. Sounds appealing huh. I wonder how long it will be before someone
will be bottling it for folks to shock their wells with.... maybe
they'll be tellling them to mix X ammonia with xx bleach and pour it
into the groundwater in their back yard huh. Now if it were me saying
folks should do that, I wonder if everyone would still be blindly
following the suggestion as they do with government agencies. I
seriously doubt it, they'd THINK first. As they should.