Well Water Has Suddenly Gone Brown

[Travelover]

You have a galvanized tank with an air release?
Submersible pump?
That means there is a bleeder in the well.

I don't know if tank is galvanized, but it has an automatic air bleeder valve on the side. There is a valve that looks like a tire valve on top of the well cap.

 

[Travelover]

If there is a check valve (or even the foot valve) the springs can rust...

The check valve seems to be good as I can turn off the pump and come back a day later and still have pressure.

 

[/pine]

The check valve seems to be good as I can turn off the pump and come back a day late and still have pressure.

Didn't mean that it was necessarily bad...just that sometimes the rust/crust on a steel spring can break loose...
just an off the wall thought if there is no obvious cause etc...

Good Luck...

 

[Neal54naa]

does it look like mud? or does it look like iron ? muddy water could be a hole in the pipe from the well to the house. rusty looking water could be a hole in the drop pipe in the well (shooting water back in the well and keeps it stirred up). i would also advise waiting a couple of days , but i would advise you to run a hose outside preferably on a hard water line and let it run ....see if it clears up or gets worse . keep us updated please

 

[ponytug]

Another voice to wait a day or two to see if things settle, as sediment can break loose underground. I would also have a look around the water heater, walk the pipe back to the well, and just generally check on things.

Any obvious ground disturbances in the area?

I would run some into a clean bottle and let it settle. You might be able to tell if it is rust versus sediment.

If it persists, then you can start thinking about water testing, etc. Meanwhile, I would boil water before drinking, or switch to bottled water.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Travelover]

does it look like mud? or does it look like iron ? muddy water could be a hole in the pipe from the well to the house. rusty looking water could be a hole in the drop pipe in the well (shooting water back in the well and keeps it stirred up). i would also advise waiting a couple of days , but i would advise you to run a hose outside preferably on a hard water line and let it run ....see if it clears up or gets worse . keep us updated please

Thanks, good tips. I will let it ride for a while and update when I find out something.
If there was a hole in the pipe from well to house, wouldn't it leak down fast when well power is shut off?
Also there is no soft water line and when I run the sprinklers, it really moves a lot of water over the hours they run, so that seems like it would have the same effect as running a hose to clear it up.

 

[steve tym]

Dirty water calls an be the worst. Normally things just clear up on their own.
Kinda stumped by air valve on top of the well.
Back in the good old days, a bleeder in the well that would allow the water to run back (automatically opens when there is no pressure), an air valve (schreader or sniffter valve)

 

[steve tym]

(Finish the thought above) The sniffter valve opens and lets air in. When the pump starts, it pushes that load of air into the tank keeping it "balanced" The air release on the side of the tank lets excess air out.

 

[Valveman]

With a regular hydro tank there is usually a Schrader on a check valve before the water gets to the tank. However, as long as there is a check valve before the tank, it would not be uncommon for the Schrader to be installed on top of the well head tee. The check valve just may not have the extra holes needed for the Schrader.

If rain is causing the dirty well water, the well needs to be sealed properly. Rain should never affect well water if the casing is sealed to the earth as it should be.

Running sprinklers is not enough to clean up a well. The sprinklers will still be holding back 30-40 PSI. Taking the pipe loose at the well head or lifting it to pump directly from the pitless half will reduce the pressure to zero and the pump can produce quite a bit more water. This will pump out crud that would never come out when the sprinklers are running.

When pumping directly from the well head, if the water is coming up dirty, that would eliminate the tank as the problem. Either the well is sluffing off or there is a hole in the drop pipe stirring up the well. A well can also be stirred up if the bleeder system is not working, causing the tank to be waterlogged. This causes the pump to cycle on and off, which also causes the well level to go up and down, which makes for dirty water.

There are also a few inches below the intake line in a hydro tank where the dirt can settle. Sometimes the dirt gets deep enough that it just starts going out the discharge line.

 

[Egon]

What test are you thinking of specifically?

Coliform's, minerals, and suspended matter.