Contaminated well?

[LFRJ]

Hi all,

Well we have a potentiality grandiose and dangerous problem. Our pressure tank and well pump were on their way out. We opted to have them both replaced as they were over 25 years old and failing us on a daily bases - only resurrected by pushing the reset/over load button.

So we called this local Well Man", recommended. I had to go to the doctors, while he came by. My S.O. who was left in charge knows nothing about well/pumps etc. and left to his expertise. We have a fence 50 feet from the pump house keeping him and his truck/crane from accessing the pump house. My S.O. thinking on my behalf didn't want him to cut the fence in order to access the pump house, so the well man decided to proceed without the use of his truck and crane

Thanks to the fact that the old pipe was flex plastic pipe, he was able to pull out the old casing and pipe with brute strength and help from S.O., though it was 118 feet, by hand without the use of his crane. Good enough at that point. Now keep in mind our pump house is surrounded by chickens/ducks and their feces. . Okay for taking the old stuff out. But here’s what happened next:

He decided that the wiring attached to the casing needed to be replaced, but was concerned that he would have to draw new wiring across the littered lawn. S.O. suggested that tarp could be laid across the lawn to accommodate the new wire, and Well Man agreed that this would be a solution. They also laid the OLD casing along the tarp and S.O. proceeded to clean the old casing with bleach water while Well Man attached a new pump and new wiring. In the short of it, he decided to reuse the old worn plastic flex casing that had been hauled out and heaved onto a yard littered with fowl feces. Now, despite that my S.O. tried to wipe 118 feet of rusty, poop covered pipe, with a few gallons of bleach water, there is NO way she could have removed all the bacteria off the casing - although I know she tried. Anyway, Well Man administered some bleach tablets (equivalent to 1 1/2 gallons of straight bleach) into the well order to "Nuke" any contaminates in the well, then jammed the used plastic casing back And it's safety rope back into the well. He then, as contracted - replaced the pressure tank and other accessories.

Questions: The major one is the possibility of our well now being contaminated!!!! Keep in mind there is no cistern connected in the system (well pump to pressure tank that feeds the house). He did supposedly, "Nuke" the well with chlorine tabs and instructed us to flush the system and have it tested.

The second issue is - Isn't all that bleach going to be very hard on our brand NEW pump?

Of course we are much more concerned about the aquifer/well being contaminated. Bottom line, we just spent $3 to$4 thousand dollars and can't drink our own water until it passes testing, even though the Well Man is coming back tomorrow to re-do the entire job.

Question 3 – If the well is contaminated by duck poop, etc, is it fixable and of so, how?

Thanks in advance for you comments.


- R.j.

[ghmerrill]

I would think you are ok. The contaminants are in the water, not your aquifer. Pumping until the Chlorine is gone should do the trick.

[Bearfootfarm]

Don't panic.

Chlorine will solve any problems

WHY are you having it all done over?

[motdaugrnds]

I cannot understand why chlorine wasn't used in the beginning WITHOUT removing the old casing!

[OkieDavid]

You are fine! No cause for concern- heck give your SO a big old pat on the back for thinking to wipe down the pipe with bleach water. Shocking (or nuking as you said) is standard practice when opening a well and pulling the pump. Flush process is to run the line until you can smell chlorine and then let the system sit for 24 hrs. You guys will be OK.

[PNWest]

OK, I've got to say it.
Why on earth do you have your well surrounded by manure?
Of all the places that should have grass [for filtering] or a small house type structure to protect it, your well head is the most important.

After the pump replacement, you are not drinking water that is any less contaminated that you made it in the first place.

[mtman]

i would like to know how the heck do you pull out caseing by hand unless im missing something

[EasyDay]

Originally Posted by PNWest

OK, I've got to say it.
Why on earth do you have your well surrounded by manure?
Of all the places that should have grass [for filtering] or a small house type structure to protect it, your well head is the most important.

After the pump replacement, you are not drinking water that is any less contaminated that you made it in the first place.

Spot on!
A potentially recurring problem just waiting to happen.

[Beowulf]

Originally Posted by mtman

i would like to know how the heck do you pull out caseing by hand unless im missing something

Let me tell you, it ain't easy

When I was about 14, our pump went out for the first time after my folks bought the house about 5 years earlier. There was about a 25 foot cistern at the bottom of which was a pipe-encased modern well that went down another 225 feet. We hauled up 250 feet of galvanized iron pipe by hand with no other tools than a couple lengths of rope. We attached the rope to the pipe down in the cistern, pull up the pipe by the rope, then tie the rope to a cross-bar for breaks and to detach ten-foot sections of the pipe as they came up. I think we had about 5 or 6 teen-age boys and men and it took us most of the day to get it all out.

Needless to say, when we replaced the pump at the bottom end, we also replaced all that heavy pipe with a single length of pvc. A couple years later when the torque arrester broke, it only took two of us to pull up the pump to replace it...

Edit: doh - was thinking about pipe, not casing. Never removed a well casing by hand, but I don't think that the OP was referring to that either

In my opinion , unless surface water is getting in the well ( it shouldn't be ) the manure on the ground isn't a problem . If the system is thoroughly disinfected with bleach the water should be ok . Do have the water tested for bacteria . I also think the op misspoke & called the drop pipe the casing .

[LFRJ]

Thank you everyone. I feel much better about things. Well Man was here at 6:45AM to meet with me and discuss. Yes, I mis-spoke. The "casing" I was referring to was/is the drop pipe. The tank and electrical, etc is contained in a pump house. Our chickens and geese free range, so hard to keep the lawn completely clean.

I still think it was the wrong call to re-use the old drop pipe, and I believe the Well Man should have insisted it be replaced, but my S.O. was trying to protect me from extra work repairing a fence and pump house roof without understanding how critical it was that the crane get through, so kudos to her for doing the best she could. Hopefully our water will test clean and all will be okay. I'm definitely feeling easier about it after reading your comments.

Lesson learned on my part - reschedule the MD appointment and be here.

-RJ