Help! New well has poison smelling water

[beppington]

Semi-Update: Last night I poured a 2-gal-bleach/ 2-gal-water solution down the little 1/2" access hole on top of the well casing's top plate. Then I ran the water until I could smell bleach coming out, which wasn't easy since 1) I was holding the hose with my hands which smelled like bleach already, 2) the bleach solution was even more dilluted since it was poured into the aquafer water in my well casing, having to make its way 20' down the casing to the pump & then back up the plumbing, into & thru the tank, & out the hose, & 3) remember the water was already stinking of pesticide, so distinguishing a very dilluted amount of bleach coming thru with the already pesticide-smelling water was kind of a guess, like "I think I smell the bleach now, not sure."

I'm headed down to the property right now to flush the bleachy water out & smell the results.

 

[TheGoose]

Remember to flush your casing with freshwater. That chlorine you just poured down there is not good on metal if you have any metal pipes etc. It tends to stand on the top of the casing and really corrode anything it can find, wires included.

My advice is to make sure that you cannot pump more than your well produces and then let it flow for DAYS if necessary. Be sure to use enough flow to keep your pump running, the worst thing you can do is run one sprinkler and let the pump cycle on/off for days. You want your pump to run continuously. I wold hang around for an hour or two just to make sure you never run the pump dry and then let er rip.

Good luck.

 

[beppington]

Update: I finally got my well water tested by the county health dept. The sheet they returned me says:

Total Coliform: A
The "Satisfactory" box checked

Whatever that means. Soooo ... I called the health dept guy & reminded him that I'm the guy who called about poison-smelling or pesticide-smelling well water, & he remembered me. We talked for a while, & he confirmed that bacteria-wise the water's fine. I explained that the smell is extremely strong & disgusting for a few seconds, but that 15-20 seconds later, it's all gone. All he could tell me is that he & another guy will meet me at the site next week to experience it in person.

I foresee no actual fix for pesticide-smelling well water - Do you?? Will I have to have another one drilled nearby?? Would it even do any good???

 

[boomer1025]

There's a good chance if you drill another well close by you'll end up with the same thing. If it were me, I'd spend the money and find out exactly what chemicals are in the water. The lab tests arn't cheap, I'd check with your county extension office or a local college about which labs are able to perform the tests.

 

[dave1949]

Update: I finally got my well water tested by the county health dept. The sheet they returned me says:

Total Coliform: A
The "Satisfactory" box checked

Whatever that means. Soooo ... I called the health dept guy & reminded him that I'm the guy who called about poison-smelling or pesticide-smelling well water, & he remembered me. We talked for a while, & he confirmed that bacteria-wise the water's fine. I explained that the smell is extremely strong & disgusting for a few seconds, but that 15-20 seconds later, it's all gone. All he could tell me is that he & another guy will meet me at the site next week to experience it in person.

I foresee no actual fix for pesticide-smelling well water - Do you?? Will I have to have another one drilled nearby?? Would it even do any good???

Don't know if this applies to you at all, but I had a nasty smell appearing when I ran water at the kitchen sink a while back. It would disappear as you say. Turned out after sniffing here and there, it was something rotting in the drain trap. Running water would displace the smelly air there and cause it to rise.

Put some drano in and problem solved. I assume something lodged in the trap and wasn't rinsing through. We don't have a disposal.

Probably not your issue, but thought I would mention it.

Dave.

 

[dmccarty]

Is the smell around other faucets in the bathroom sinks and tubs? How about outside faucets? Does it stink with the hot water and/or cold water?

Have you smelled your toilet? :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing: I mean the tank of course.

If those places do not stink that is a clue.

Later,
Dan

 

[JimRB]

My shallow well near Atlanta had a good growth of coliform after it was put in. A shock of bleach fixed that. A few years later I did another big shock. I dumped a few gallons of bleach in it. Ran the garden hose back to the well until I smelled bleach from the hose and washed down the well casing. Horses were not happy as it killed stuff and the water was nasty brown for a while.

Iron Bacteria in Well Water - EH: Minnesota Department of Health

I have used Waters Agricultural Laboratories - Home Page for basic water testing in the past. I suppose they can test for lots of stuff if you call them.

My water also was acidic. Water tasted a bit bitter running through copper pipes. I ended up installing a calcite filter to bump up the ph.

 

[beppington]

Don't know if this applies to you at all, but I had a nasty smell appearing when I ran water at the kitchen sink a while back. It would disappear as you say. Turned out after sniffing here and there, it was something rotting in the drain trap. Running water would displace the smelly air there and cause it to rise.

Put some drano in and problem solved. I assume something lodged in the trap and wasn't rinsing through. We don't have a disposal.

No kitchen; No kitchen sink; No house :laughing: No disposal ... Just a well.

 

[simonds]

I have run into a few wells with a problem like this after a well has been idle for some time. They got crud built up on the inside of the casings. We have always did the bleach or chlorine thing, leave it sit for a day or so then flush it out good, but don't over do it and run your well dry. It may take a couple applications. The ones we did all cleared up and were back to normal as they were before they set idle. Don't know if your's will or not, but that would be my first approach. Worth a try.
Clayton, General Contractor of new homes for 42 years

 

[beppington]

Another health dept guy says it might be "iron bacteria" Iron bacteria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Never heard of it :confused2:, but WOW that sounds about like it. Notice their mention of "oily" or "petroleum". I still say it's a "pesticide" or "poison" smell, but hey maybe we're on to something here.

The mention of "slime" or "slimy" reminds me - I had forgotton that when the well was first finished & I first connected a garden hose to the well, opened it up & let it run for a while, when I went to shut it off the hose had a a rusty slime running down it to the ground. It was very slimey & got rusty slime all over my hand. Now that it's dried it's hard as a rock & ain't comin' off. I had a nozzle on the hose with the nozzle hooked over a branch spraying into the air, so some of the water was running down the hose - That's where the slime was/ rust is.

Meeting health dept at the site - More to come - Stay tuned.