Stinky Water

[Daniel Burns]

If someone could give me a hint on what happened I would appriciate it. My freinds had the water at thier cabin get stinky. So I tried the Bleach trick down the well head. Then after about ten minutes of running the faucets the cold water turned brownish. Like it was loaded with iron or something. Any Idea on why that happened? Thanks

[GarySlusserParticipant]

Bleach/chlorine is an oxidizer and oxidizers convert soluble (ferrous) iron to insoluble (ferric) iron which turns the water orange/red/brown; hence clear water iron to red water iron which you can see.

Gary
Quality Water Associates

[ElyJakeParticipant]

Thanks for the explanation! I appriciate it. So in other words once we run the water long enough to get all the bleach out, it will return to the clear water iron?

[GarySlusserParticipant]

Maybe… maybe not. Shocking a well can cause water quality, pump and plumbing problems that can be expensive to ‘fix’. And some of the water quality problems may not be able to be fixed with filters etc. and the well would have to be worked on.

But run the water off where you don’t care if it kills vegatation, not into a septic system, and it should clear up. Constantly runnning a well can also cause the same problems listed above, so run it awhile and shut it off and then repeat after an hour or two. And don’t run the pump dry which will cause air in the water and pump problems like overheating. You can suck the well down far enough to cause more dirty water that can become permanent.

Gary
Quality Water Associates

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