Water storage treatment/filtration questions

[Scott65]

Unfortunately I believe thats not true anymore. Thats what I'm finding out now. Thats why the chart that I had is now incorrect and my dosage is way too strong. If I remember correctly, the old number for the active ingredient (the chlorine) was 5.25%. Sorry if the picture is fuzzy, I just quickly googled it, but its now 8.25%:



Notice the yellow band stating Concentrated? Thats all I can find in the aisles now at walmart, lowes, home depot, etc. All stating the new 8.25% concentration. I'm not a math whiz, so I don't know how much to add now, but it would seem MUCH less

 

[phiferpharm]

I just had Culligan come in and do a water test at the house. It showed I had some well water issues - mainly hardness- and I went ahead and purchased a replacement system and it is working out nicely. They didn't charge for the test, so I wonder if having them test it for you would be worthwhile.

 

[CobyRupert]

Scott65, the water wells apparently were contaminated when we bought the place. We were living a thousand miles away near Galveston, Texas, and relied on a local realtor. Big mistake; Good Ole' Boy, scammer. But, trying to make the best of what we had, we're doing what has to be done, and that is fix what's broken. Yeah - we took the snake to court and got compensated...

We just ran a complete water test two weeks ago and the water came up completely safe. Still, I can't account for the kitchen water odor. Could it be the severe drought this year let the water tables go down to a level that had a sulfur stem?

But - Clorox is Clorox, i.e. bleach, no matter what label is on the bottle. And, Lesson Learned, a little bit goes a long way.

From what I understand, a sulfur smell or taste in only one faucet is a sign that it's the result of a reaction occurring in that segment of the piping, an not related to the well source. (example: I have a house and three apartments on one well. The water is terrific. However, there's been a case where one bathroom faucet of an apartment will have a sulfur smell when you first turn it on. Letting it run for a while clears the line until it shut off again for an extended period of time.

I can't recall what the exact chemical (or biological) reaction that causes the sulfur to be released, but I've seen info on how the sulfur is a by-product of a reaction that may occur in your pipes. (Here's a good resource View attachment RottenEggs.pdf

BTW: 1 tsp of Chlorox per gallon seem like a lot by an order of magnitude.

With some creative piping, couldn't an UV light system & (2)-3 way solenoids treat it on the way in and out?

 

[Scott65]

Yes, I see how I could very easily treat the water going in and out on my particular setup. I was just thinking if anything somehow got into the tank, it might grow and multiply. I don't know how bacteria works... I know that the odds are probably slim that something will get in, but I would say its possible. I filled this tank probably a week ago, maybe 10 days. I just checked it last night, I think I've only used around a third of it. So it has plenty of time to sit in there and collect "stuff". I realize that the UV would kill it on its way into my house, but if it grows in the tank could it "take over"? Maybe this is all a bunch of concern over nothing. I'm good at that!

I can tell you this. I had read once that the chlorine would dissipate after a few days/weeks/some amount of time of sitting in the tank. It will not. I've tried it sealed up or capped off. It bakes inside the tank and seems to actually get worse as far as smell. This may be different if I had the dose closer to correct, but with the larger dose, its almost like a runaway effect. It will get very potent if I don't run a sprinkler or something to try and use up some water and refill to water it down. Ha, see what I did there? WATER it down. Funny guy

 

[charlz]

About 1tsp/gallon of water is what is used to sanitize RV water tanks. (1/4cup per 15 gallons of capacity is the formula). You let this site for a few hours/overnight and then flush and refill with clean water. That seems like a lot if you are actually going to be using the water. I just did some quick searching and it looks like the various 'prepper' sites list a formula of 3 tablespoons to 55 gallons of water for disinfection and long term storage of drinkable water (they recommend changing the water every 6 months).


Make sure you use 'unscented' bleach as it has no additives.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

I bought my current home four years ago as a short sale that had sat empty for at least eighteen months. Before I made an offer I went down to the county offices and got the drilling record for the property which gave me the name of the driller, depth of the well, depth to first water, date it was drilled, and the flow rate when they tested it. I ran a flow test and had the water tested, and it came back as hard and contaminated with coliform bacteria. My well guy said that was pretty common when water sits stagnant, and after the purchase he fixed me up with some chlorine tablets to take care of the problem. I tossed a half dozen of them down the well casing and another half dozen into the 2500 gallon green plastic storage tank, let it sit a few hours then ran the water until I could smell the chlorine at all the faucets. I let that stand for 24 hours, then flushed it out until it came out clean. I asked my well man about a treatment system, and he suggested a reverse osmosis filter with charcoal canisters and UV light on the kitchen faucet. That takes all the chlorine out along with any bacteria that may have re-entered the system. He also suggested I get a floating chlorine dispenser as is used for swimming pools to mount under the access cover for the tank. I throw a couple chlorine tablets into it every six months or so and it's not strong enough to cause a chlorine smell. It has prevented any growth in the tank and I can easily see down through the seven feet of water to the bottom of the tank. I haven't had the water tested again so I don't know if there is bacteria in it, but I drink mostly from the filtered water in the kitchen and no one's been sick here since I moved in. We took care of the hard water problem with a water softener, the kind that uses a resin bed and needs to be recharged with a saline solution every so often. I put 300 pounds of salt into the hopper a couple times a year and no longer have issues with hard water leaving white crusty deposits on my fittings or ruining my valves. Not a cheap solution, but not outrageously expensive to guarantee good tasting and safe water.

 

[crash325]

"Clorox" is jut a brand name & you pay for it. My friend gets his by the case at A discount club. (Sam's I think).

For a 1,000 gallon tank about 1 pint should be about right.

I made a mistake on his big tank size, they are about 5,000 gallons each. 1 Of those is what he adds a gallon too. The 1,000 gallon is the pressure tank, but that is the tank the water is tested out of.

If you add a pint & water smells or tastes bad. cut the amount down. While experimenting you may want a few gallons extra for drinking & cooking.

I don't know a thing about putting bleach down a well. My water comes from the same aquifer as his & is not treated in any way. IT'S drank, cooked with & everything else.

Long way from water to pour concrete. :laughing:

 

[Scott65]

Hope I didn't misunderstand earlier about "clorox is clorox". I understand that is a brand name. I was only trying to point out that now there seems to be a difference in concentration, not between products or anything. The concentrated label is applied to all brands now as far as I could tell. Even the generics.

The extensive filtration and water softener setup is really the way I would like to go, but given my circumstances, I can't do that at the moment. I'm hoping to find a way to chlorinate just enough to make it safe, but not have to filter it back out. Otherwise I would have no problems with putting one of the chlorine dispensers in it. That had already crossed my mind as I used to have a hot tub and it was a very handy tool to have. Long story short, I just bought the property, the house thats on it needs to be gutted and remodeled so the wife and I are living in the motorhome while this is happening, thats why I can't have such an extensive setup right now. Its not an ideal situation, I don't suggest anyone try it, lol. But the price was good, I've wanted to get out of city living for quite some time, so I couldn't hardly say no. Thats another reason the water hasn't been tested yet. It was a very spur of the moment buy. There was no time for testing, I just needed to have water. And haven't had much time since then to get it tested either. I realize it isn't a lengthy process and I need to just take the time to do it...

 

[dave1949]

Back to these spiders floating in your tank water ... I would try to make an airtight seal for the lid using a rubber gasket or something.

If spiders can enter, then your tank water is exposed to whatever is blowing around, and some bad things can be dust-borne. Even if harmless they could contribute to an off taste in the water.

You need an air vent for air to escape while filling, and to enter while draining/using water, but it could have a low micron filter that would catch most stuff. By comparison, a normal well and pressure tank does not expose the stored water to the air except in the well casing which is capped but not airtight. The exposed storage time in the tank is a weak sanitary point I think.

 

[Scott65]

Yes I agree, thats why I was trying to figure a way to chlorinate while it sat in the tank rather than just while it was traveling in the pipes. The tank has since been sealed up. That was part of the "long story short". When we first moved out, the tank was sitting at a second house on the property with no well. I moved the tank and accompanying pump to the larger house that we will remodel and inhabit to take the load off of the well pump. At the time I was in a hurry. I rigged up enough fittings to fill the tank with a hose and connect the bottom outlet to the pump, the pump to a garden hose, the hose to the motorhome. The upper opening in the tank is where the critters were getting in. I have since run pvc pipes underground, sealed the holes, and connected everything as it should be. So its all air tight. Just gotta get the chlorine part down to a better science.

This does bring up another question though. This tank appears to be the same one that is sold at Tractor Supply. Its shown as a 16" replacement lid. It was missing the small center screw in piece, which contains the spring loaded breather. I've had to tape over this portion. The replacements are like 40 bucks. I would imagine if I could find the right piece, that middle piece would be more like $5 or $10. Anybody have any idea where to find it?