Water Wells

[Newview01]

Had an old well tested today and sent a camera down.

Pretty corroded. Lots of iron bacteria. Probably clogged the perforations a lot. Considering original (was drilled in 79) flow rate was 50 gpm, now down to 15.

Filled a few buckets, seemed to be hair floating on the top. The well guy said if there isn’t 5’ of dead mice at the bottom, there is 8’. Makes sense to me as it never had a lid.

Question is, can it be shocked / cleaned, and reused? Or can it be shocked / cleaned / decommissioned, and can another well be drilled in the same aquifer with no bacteria risk? What are my options?

[CMichaud]

I am no expert but based on what you are telling me I would be inclined to try shocking it and see what happens.

From the condition you are describing and based on the age you probably run the risk of destroying whatever crap is built up inside which may be protecting what remains of its integrity

How deep is the well?

[Gifted Intuitive]

It can be cleaned. There is a machine that operates as a pressure washer and a hose will be lowered into the well. The pressure will blow debris about 30 feet above the well casing. When cleaned the water can be tested.

[Newview01]

The well was originally drilled to 100’, but now is only 92’.

Has not been used recently.

[Newview01]

Originally Posted by Gifted Intuitive

It can be cleaned. There is a machine that operates as a pressure washer and a hose will be lowered into the well. The pressure will blow debris about 30 feet above the well casing. When cleaned the water can be tested.

I don’t want to be there when that happens. What is the likelihood of the cleaned well not having any bacteria left?

[hal53]

Originally Posted by Newview01

I don’t want to be there when that happens. What is the likelihood of the cleaned well not having any bacteria left?

Bailing some of the fill out might be a better initial option to be sure you know what you're dealing with

[Grizzly Adams]

With all the circumstances mentioned, I'd abandon it and drill another. Obviously it must have been open for those mice to end up in there and who knows what kind of viruses they were carrying. Bad water can kill you and the structure of the well doesn't sound promising either. Casing is probably about gone.

Grizz

[roper1]

The well isn't that old. I'd try a pump test, maybe some cleaner, pump it again. Use a decent casing cover, should be good to go. 15 GPM still a fairly decent rate, 50 is a big well. The recharge rate might improve with use. Certainly cheaper than a new well. Good luck.

[Newview01]

We pumped for a good hour, water was still coming up hairy (from the dead mice) and black (from the iron bacteria).

I am leaning towards drilling a new well.

Was quoted $7k to decommission the old and drill a new to 120’, with plastic casing.

[buckbrush]

Has anyone here ever used a casing scraper on a water well to clean the perfs?

I was going to borrow one from work and try it on my livestock well, its 4 1/2" steel.

I don't see any problem with using an old well as long as possible but with the dead mice and a bad test I wouldn't even want to use it to wash with.

[reddeerguy2015]

Originally Posted by Newview01

We pumped for a good hour, water was still coming up hairy (from the dead mice) and black (from the iron bacteria).

I am leaning towards drilling a new well.

Was quoted $7k to decommission the old and drill a new to 120’, with plastic casing.

Peace of mind is nice.

7k isn't bad.

But, an hour is nothing. Let it run for 24 hours. Or at least 4 to 6 hours a day for a week or so. Then have it tested.

If you've got good flow, let it clean itself out. That's where I would start anyways. If you don't have to spend the money - put it towards something else.

[schleprock]

I would run septic pump or something similar and pump the existing well off for a couple of days if necessary to try and clean it out. With that high of a volume of debris, I would be worried that the bacteria and foreign debris might contaminate your new well if they are going to be quite close to each other.

[bagwan]

We had a hand dug well in the 40's that had a wood crib and wood cover with a hand pump in the middle. Location was in a low spot that spring run off ventured into. That run off went through where cattle watered in the winter etc. Every spring the top was removed and water baled and pumped out until clean.
No testing. Dead mice and other debris were found. My parents died from natural causes. My siblings and I drank the water and we're all 76 and over. Funny thing is we would go to my uncles farm about 2 miles away and their water would give us the trots. Go figure. I know this won't help your decision and I apologize for the derail. That same water would probably kill me today.

[Dewey Cox]

Blow the well out, pump it for a few days, and then shock the sh!t out of it.
That’s what I’d do

[KegRiver]

I worked for one of the better water well drilling companies in central Alberta back in the 1970s and 80s.

Yes it can be shocked. 5 gallons of industrial strength chlorine was what we used back then, for a well plugged up with iron bacteria. Less for less severe situations.

I have never seen that sort of well contaminated with animal remains. I'm not sure what the best course of action would be to get rid of that, but I'm sure there is a way.

I have seen it in hand dug wells used for watering livestock. In such a case it was usual a larger animal, a hog or calf and the carcass was simply removed and the well returned to service without further treatment.
No issues arose because of this practice so far as I know but I doubt it would be considered acceptable today.

I would think that pumping for a couple of days ought to clean it out, along with one or two chlorine applications to kill the iron bacteria and any other bacteria that may be present.

I would dump down a couple of gallons of chlorine, wait a couple of hours and then start pumping. At first the water should look like liquid rust. That is the iron bacteria. That should clean out in a couple of hours.

I'd let it pump for 24 hours, then shock it again and pump another 24 hours or until there is no sign of animal remains in the water.

At that point I would have the water tested for harmful bacteria and for mineral content.
Depending on the outcome of that test I would use it with some caution or only for non food related applications.

A new well may be a more palatable solution but it would be a lot more expensive as well.

I don't know what a 100 foot well would cost these days but back when I was in the business it would have cost a couple of thousand dollars.
That was over forty years ago and changes in regulations and inflation would most like have increased that to over ten thousand today, just for the cased hole.

Flushing it may be a decent option. However, I have no experience with that method and do not feel that I am informed enough to offer an opinion on that option.

[ctd]

I would pump it for a few day, shock it, let it sit and then pump it again for few days.
Have it tested.

[6.5swedeforelk]

Iron bacteria propigates back into the ground's
water supply.

Just dumping in chlorine does little.

You should fill a large holding tank with water,
then wait until well water rises to static level.
Then chlorinate & dump tank back into well.

This will force the chlorine far back into
the surrounding formation.

[Grizzly Adams]

What does your wife think ? That is the important issue here. Mine sure wouldn't touch that water with a ten foot pole after seeing what you described.

Grizz

[buckbrush]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

What does your wife think ? That is the important issue here. Mine sure wouldn't touch that water with a ten foot pole after seeing what you described.

Grizz

If you've told the wife about the mice. You're drilling a new well.

[Red Bullets]

Here's lots of info on wells. It has sections on calculating how much and how to shock your well and plugging your well should that be the route you go.

http://aep.alberta.ca/water/educatio...ted-links.aspx

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by 6.5swedeforelk

Iron bacteria propigates back into the ground's
water supply.

Just dumping in chlorine does little.

You should fill a large holding tank with water,
then wait until well water rises to static level.
Then chlorinate & dump tank back into well.

This will force the chlorine far back into
the surrounding formation.

This, after you clean all the dead critters out, you gotta force the water back into the formation and you dominos with water weight on top. Just dumping chlorine in is not suffice. After run it for a few hours and re sample.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

What does your wife think ? That is the important issue here. Mine sure wouldn't touch that water with a ten foot pole after seeing what you described.

Grizz

Ya but after the proper steps are taken and the water tests negative for anything and all that can harm you, tell her you just saved approx 7k and supper is on you.
Country girl would be delighted or would have done that in the first place....city lady would have asked to drop the cash on a new ring.....

[curtz]

Originally Posted by Newview01

We pumped for a good hour, water was still coming up hairy (from the dead mice) and black (from the iron bacteria).

I am leaning towards drilling a new well.

Was quoted $7k to decommission the old and drill a new to 120’, with plastic casing.

That's a good deal, If it was me I would go that way.

[Sundancefisher]

Contact a few drilling companies...they may have an answer.

Seems shallow enough to get a suction hose assembly down and clean it out. Near wellbore contamination should be fixable at that depth. You need to get carcasses out then shock heavily then flow back.

Iron is likely in the water...not the corroded pipe however if you want perfect you could drill a new well.

Problem is you still need to clean out this well...shock and cement it to prevent contamination from this well impacting a new well. As you draw water to another hole you will pull water from this other well.

Unfortunately you just can't ignore the first problem.

Is this well for drinking water or for agricultural use?

50 gal/min is a nice well. 15 gal/min is ok also.

Getting a new well drilled is about the price you mentioned and drill timing is not usually a problem. What is the problem is a 6-12 month wait for provincial review and approval. If producing in the same aquifer they may or may not make you abandon the first well. You could claim the first well as an observation well.

Good luck.

I am onto drilling my second well this year.

[Newview01]

Great info.

We will not be using the current well for drinking.

Our quandary is:

To tie in to the water co-op is minimum $18k + $90 a month, and will be only be enough for household use (no watering flowers, lawn, etc.) So in order to get water for irrigation, we would need tie into the irrigation district, get a pond for storage, at which point we would be at another $20k.

If we can get a well going, we could have free water, and enough for everything. But we don't know water quality. Waiting on test results.

Seems to be a no brainer. But convenience of outside water supply is worth something as well.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by Newview01

Great info.

We will not be using the current well for drinking.

Our quandary is:

To tie in to the water co-op is minimum $18k + $90 a month, and will be only be enough for household use (no watering flowers, lawn, etc.) So in order to get water for irrigation, we would need tie into the irrigation district, get a pond for storage, at which point we would be at another $20k.

If we can get a well going, we could have free water, and enough for everything. But we don't know water quality. Waiting on test results.

Seems to be a no brainer. But convenience of outside water supply is worth something as well.

Well water can be great and can be a pain.

There is maintenance.
There is quality
Some areas have problems with methane (coal seam aquifer contact), sulfur (shock need or contaminated naturally or not aquifer), iron (big problem for some. I had red hair staying a summer at one place. Smell is unmistakable but you get used to it. Stains everything.

Benefit is steady free supply less power and maintenance costs.

The water co-op is dam expensive. Yikes.

The water well should be fine even at 15 gallons a minute for yard watering. 50 would be super. Just need to look into pump pressure and draw down rate. You may want to pump into a surface tank depending upon application.

[Big Grey Wolf]

Big Iron Drilling have a patented Continous Chlorination System. I would agree with the previouslu recommended double shock with chlorine then install continous system. Water will always be safe then.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by Big Grey Wolf

Big Iron Drilling have a patented Continous Chlorination System. I would agree with the previouslu recommended double shock with chlorine then install continous system. Water will always be safe then.

need to somehow get the dead animals out of the well.

[leeelmer]

I had a similar problem.
I was told by the water testers, to pour 5 gallons of shocking chemical into the well, then run a hose from the pump back into the top of the well so you are circulating, for 24 hours.
Then let sit for 24 hours, then pump for 24hour at least 100feet away from well with your discharge.
Then wait 2 days, pump for 12 hours then let sit for 12 hours then pump off for 20 min then test your water quality.
This fixed ours and has been working for 5 years since.
It was almost the same situation as yours

[Opalsasquatch]

Originally Posted by Sundancefisher

need to somehow get the dead animals out of the well.

^^ this first

Then pump it like crazy. Then when I shock a well I like to have 250 or 500 gallons of heavily chlorinated water in a tank. Pump the well near empty if possible, and fill the casing to the top with chlorine and let the head pressure go into the formation.

I usually do this on a weekend my family isn't home so it can stay like that for a day or so before I pump the well out.