If your annual water test results show that bacteria is present. If you notice a change in the color, smell or taste of your drinking water, you should test for bacteria and will need to chlorinate the water if the test comes up positive. You should also determine the water constituent that caused the change in water quality and take measures to treat the water to remove anything unpleasant or unsafe. Your local environmental agency will be able to provide direction in this endeavor. If the well is new, or has recently undergone repairs, or new pipes have been added. If the well has been contaminated by flood water, or if the water turns muddy or cloudy after a rainfall. When you are preparing to abandon the well or if it is a well that is new to you.
Chlorine: Obviously you will need chlorine in order to chlorinate your well. You could use HTH chlorine tablets or granules, but this article assumes that you are using a 5% solution (or greater) of regular household chlorine bleach. Just be sure to use an unscented variety. You may need up to 10 gallons (37. 9 L) of bleach, depending on the volume of water within your well and the strength of the bleach. Chlorine test kit: A chlorine test kit can be used to precisely measure chlorine levels in the water, rather than relying on scent alone. These test kits are usually used for swimming pools and can be found at any pool or spa supply store. Make sure to get OTO liquid drops instead of the paper strips, as the paper strips only indicate chlorine levels in the range that is ideal for swimming pools. Garden hose: To recirculate the water in the well, you will need a clean garden hose. Some sources recommend using a hose with a 1⁄2 inch (1. 3 cm) diameter, rather than the standard 5⁄8 inch (1. 6 cm) size. If you can get the larger hose through the wellhead casing and past the wiring and piping, it may be a better option, as it will provide a larger flow of water. You should cut the male end of the hose at a steep angle.
To get the depth of water in your well, you will need to measure the distance from the bottom of the well to the waterline. First, shut off all power for the wellhead at the breaker. Remove the well cap or access the wellhead through the venting opening. Use a strong flashlight to inspect down the casing. Using a fishing line and a moderately heavy weight, drop the line into the water. The line will remain taut until the weight hits the bottom, at which time it will go limp. Once this happens, retrieve the line and measure the wet portion of the string with a tape measure. You can also mark the line at the top of the well casing and measure the total depth of the well, then subtract the distance from the top of the casing to the surface of the water within the well. This can be found by tying a short stick securely to the line, lowering the stick into the well, marking the line when it goes slack, and measuring the length of the line from the stick to your mark. Alternatively, a rough measurement should be stamped on a plate affixed to the slab poured around the well casing or you can contact the drilling company who constructed the well. They are required to keep records on all of the wells they’ve worked on in most jurisdictions. You can also check with the State Water Master or Governing Licensing Board of Well Drillers and Pump Installers. The number of gallons per linear foot is related to the diameter of the well casing. This number should appear on the well log. Drilled wells will usually have a diameter between 4 and 10 inches, whereas bored wells range between 12 and 26. Once you know the diameter of your well, you can use this table to figure out the gallons per linear foot of water within your well. Now that you have measurements for the depth of the water in the well (in feet) and the amount of water per linear foot in gal/foot), you can multiply these numbers by each other to get the total volume of water in your well. You will need to use 3 pints of 5% chlorine bleach for every 100 gallons (378. 5 L) of water in your well, plus an extra 3 pints to treat the water in the household plumbing.
During the chlorination process there is more chlorine in your water supply than a swimming pool, making it unsafe to consume. In addition, if you use too much water, the chlorine will end up in your septic tank and kill the bacteria necessary for decomposing waste. For these reasons, you will need to use bottled water for drinking and cooking, and refrain from using any sinks or showers. You should also try to keep toilet flushing to a minimum. [4] X Research source
The vent pipe should be located on the wellhead, it’s usually about 6 inches (15. 2 cm) in length and 1/2 an inch in diameter. Open the vent by unscrewing the pipe from the seal. Alternatively, you may be able to remove the cover from the top of the well, which may require removing a few screws.
You may want to wear protective gloves, goggles and an apron when handling the undiluted bleach. If any bleach should get on your skin, rinse it off immediately with clean water.
If the hose is not long enough to reach the well, connect additional hoses.
The running water from the hose forces the water at the bottom of the well to flow to the surface, distributing the chlorine evenly. This ensures that any bacteria in the well water will be exposed to and killed by the chlorine.
Pull the hose out of the vent and use the chlorine test kit to test for the presence of chlorine in the water coming out of the hose. Alternatively, you can run an outdoor faucet to see if you can detect the smell of chlorine in the water. If the chlorine test comes up negative, or you cannot smell chlorine in the water supply, continue to recirculate the water for another 15 minutes, then check again.
Don’t forget to test both the hot and cold faucets and also remember to run any addition outdoor spigots until chlorine is detected. You should also flush each toilet in the house once or twice.
To do this, attach as many hoses as you have outdoor spigots and tie the ends around a tree or fence approximately three feet off the ground. This makes it easier to monitor the water flow. Don’t run the water anywhere near the septic tank or leach field, as you don’t want to expose these areas to the chlorinated water.
Just make sure that the ditch does not lead to a stream or pond, as the chlorinated water will kill off fish and other animal and plant life.
Use the chlorine test kit for this, as you may be unable to detect small quantities of chlorine by smell alone.
If the well runs dry, the pump may burn out, and these can be very expensive to replace. If it looks like water pressure is dropping off, turn off power to the pump and wait an hour before resuming the run-off. This gives the well a chance to refill itself. Only stop the water flow when all traces of chlorine have been removed – this may take as little as two hours or much longer, depending on the well.
