Treating our coliform infested well

Coliform bacteria! This sounds scarier than it really is. But we still were concerned when a water test showed that our well water contained these potential nasties.

Potential, because coliform bacteria are ubiquitous. Only certain types, like E. coli, can make you sick.

However, coliforms are used as "indicator organisms" for the possible presence of more dangerous bugs, as this helpful Oregon Department of Human Services bulletin discusses.

After we had our well pump pulled and replaced, we had our water tested. We do this every year. This was the first time coliform showed up. The lab only reported "present," not the estimated number, as that takes culturing (more time and expense, so not done unless you ask for it).

I did quite a bit of Googling "coliform bacteria well treatment" before concluding that we really should treat the well.

On the one hand, I read that 35% of wells in Pennsylvania were found to have coliforms, so this shows that they're usually harmless, since a third of people in that state aren't sick, so far as I know.

On the other hand, I kept seeing references to coliforms being a potential sign of much more serious (and less easily detectable) bacteria.

Not wanting to feel like I was taking my life into my hands every time I rinsed an apple (we use a reverse osmosis system for drinking water), yesterday a couple of guys from Sippel Well Drilling shocked our well. Not with electricity – with four cups of Clorox.

If you're thinking of treating your coliform infected well yourself, my advice is: Don't. Let a professional do it, the first time, at least. Once you learn the tricks of the trade, you can probably repeat the process on your own.

But there's little doubt that I would have messed something up, after watching the Sippel guys do their thing.

First, we needed to have an outflow installed on the pump housing. That's the valve on the left side of the photo. We didn't have a way to drain water directly from the well, and that's necessary (or highly desirable) for treating it.

The guys told me a story about going to a home where quite a few Clorox bottles were stacked by the well. The owners thought that more was better, which it isn't. Too much bleach can screw up your well. You need to know how much chlorine is needed, based on how much water is sitting in the well.

That's pretty easy to figure out, if you know some basic facts about your well. So step 1 is to pour bleach into the well. The guys didn't dilute it, though this often is recommended to avoid harming metal parts.

We shut off our house water, and bypassed our water treatment equipment. We didn't want to have bleach running into our septic system. Hopefully treating the coliform in the well, piping to the pressure tank, and the tank itself will take care of the problem.

Next a hose was connected in a loop from the newly installed valve back to an adapter that squeezed water back into the well, down the vent opening (on the right of the photo) where the bleach went in. The adapter was needed because the opening is so small.

This is a crucial step, because the bleach needs to be circulated in the well. Otherwise it'll just sit on top of the water. The Sippel crew ran the water until a high level of chlorine showed up on a test strip. That meant the bleach had reached the pump down at the bottom of the well.

Then we shut everything down and let the chlorine do its thing – eight hours minimum we were told; we decided to wait until the next morning, about 18 hours, partly because it was going to be easier to do the final steps in daylight.

Which were: (1) attaching a hose to the well housing valve and running water until it looked fairly clear, with no chlorine evident on the test strip, and (2) running raw water from a hose down at our house, to flush out the pressure tank and the pipe leading from the well to the tank.

There was quite a bit of magnesium (black flecks) showing up in the water at our house. So I decided to run our sprinkler system for a couple of hours, figuring that the system filter would catch most of the crud and that we might as well get some use out of the water we were flushing out of the well/pipes.

I suspect the flecks were dislodged from the piping somewhere along the line, given the strong air bursts after we started using the well again.

Things seem back to normal now. But with our complicated water treatment system and crappy well water, "normal" is always a precarious condition.

We were told to retest the water, both a raw sample and treated, in five days. This time we'll get a culture test done, so if we still have coliform bacteria we'll know how many.

It was a judgment call to not treat the house water lines. We might end up having to do this. But since it's a more complicated procedure and the chlorine could harm our septic system, we decided to start with a conservative bleach treatment – which also was the advice of the Sippel guys.

If you've got a similar problem, hope this description helps. We country homeowners have to stick together.

City folks don't realize what it takes to keep your own water and waste treatment system functioning, not to mention dealing with all the other complexities of rural life.

But a few hours ago a deer with two super-cute fawns wandered across our yard. Moments like those make memories of chorine and coliforms fade away. Fast.

Comments

[Bpaul]

Great post.

It's good that you were specific about the coliforms, they are indicators not pathogenic species themselves.

Also, E. Coli (italics) is in our gut all the time, and only certain strains under certain conditions go pathogenic -- which I find fascinating. It's like a truce in our gut LOL.

Bp

[Condor]

I lived in Oregon for years and owned three wells there. I rented a house with a well when I first arrived.

Being from the city I knew nothing about wells. There was a reverse osmosis system under the kitchen sink. The well was in a field where horses and other critters had grazed(and shat)for decades. Red flag.

Occasionally I would drink water from the hose I used to water my horses. I was not bright enough to put two and two together..reverse osmosis under the sink + animals shitting around well can = bad water.

One night I got real sick with nausea, systemic pain and malaise. I ended up in the hospital. The doctors could not diagnose my symptoms. I ended up doing all these tests with barium to see what was wrong with my gut. They were looking for cancer, but instead found a healthy intestine.

"The good news sir is your intestine looks entirely normal. The bad news is, we don't know what's wrong with you".

Not being totally devoid of intelligence despite my willingness to drink out of a horse hose, I suggested to the doctors to check for parasites.

"No, that couldn't be it. Your symptoms don't match that."

I consulted with an alternative practitioner who was quickly able to diagnose a parasitic infection similar to giardia and my recurring attacks of this mystery illness abated with his treatment.

Moral of the story.. Don't assume water coming out of a hose is fit to drink, or that the diploma on your doctor's wall is proof he is competent.

Have your well tested regularly not only for bacteria and protozoa but toxic metals and chemicals also. Groundwater flow patterns shift and can move through strata with pollutants not previously detected. You never know when Farmer John or Meth-cooker Bill up the road has decided to turn his property into a toxic waste dump spoiling the ground water for miles around.

[Frank King]

not treating the whole system (house and garden pipes) leaves the coliform in the pipe system. You need to run the clorine up to each faucet and let sit for 24 hrs.
some clorine will get into the septic. after a week or so start the yeast treatment to be sure your septic gets going again in case it was harmed.
Great post

[Sharon F.]

Interesting. We have had coliform bacteria in our wells (2) for at least 3 years. It only started after a farmer started using natural fertilizer on the top of the hill. Anyway, I noticed from research I did, none state anything about the septic system. Good to know and thank you. We tried digging a shallow well (one is 130 feet only 3 years old,and one is 132 feet deep 40 years old)in another part of our yard, but that was even worse.

We are getting an ultraviolet light as we feel the Clorox treatment won't help us much.We have been hauling water from a spring a few miles away (yes, we tested it and it was good water)but not being spring chickens, we feel the light would be easiest for us. Our water is also hard as a rock, so we need a softener system too. (Our bodies can't take the beatings from our water anymore. LOL)

[KALE]

Very nice to know that coliforms are food in our drinking water and thus how it will be treated.

[Claudia]

Excellent information, and I thank you for taking the time to detail all this. I just got test results back and was told that our well has coliform bacteria in it (scared the crap out of me - pun intended).

I was going to try to do the bleaching myself, but I will follow your recommendation and contact the well company that installed it for us.

Again, thank you for the info, actually makes me feel better and not be so freaked out over it.

[Rio]

Great article, thank you for sharing, we're in the process of purchasing a home and the water test came back with coliform in it, good info to know.

Cheers,

Rio

[CG]

Nice blog! I have a friend that has been looking for a local company to do some bacteria testing in Monterey.

[Richard Hansen]

I have a shallow well - 18'- located at 9700 feet elevation that we use for our cabin. we use an external well pump that goes into our cabin with a pressure bladder tank. the well is a cistern style configuration about 10' in diameter and about 20' deep with a 10" perforated pipe surrounded by 3/4" washed sewer rock. It is filled by an aquifer at about the 14' level. the standing water level in the pipe is about 4' deep. Water testing shows some coliform bacteria present so we do not drink it. What is the best way to purify the water so that we could drink it safely?

[Anca]

Thanks for posting in such detail. Very helpful.

[lorraine redman]

I know this is an old post, but I didn't read anything about a filter pack behind the casing.(liner) Filter pack does just that through gravel or in the case of your well a fine sand covering AT LEAST the screen. 1/8" slits in the casing is rather large for silt. Putting a filter pack behind the casing may not be possible NOW. Maybe putting it INSIDE the casing (pump temp. removed) completely covering the casings 1/8" slits should help. Also slowing the pump down so its not pulling so much silt and water in should help. Then, finally, after putting the filter pack IN the casing dont hang the pump all the way down on the filter pack. This is all -IF- you have a generous, high volume well. If not-- i guess slow the pump down. Don't suck the water out/silt in so hard.

[Ann Morgan]

I live in Maryland and was getting ready to sell my house. The lender required water testing well from inside hometo see if water was acceptable. Home Land Environmental came out (which also has their own lab ) tested it and it failed. They reported that cap needed replaced and clorination needed and 80% sure all would be fine--- after I paid them $525 dolllars

I waited 24 hours to then drained chlorine out of pipes. They retested and said it failed again. Need another chlorination, which 50% it would fix it, and recommended a UV light to be installed at main water area.

Little did they know I chlorinated it once before they came the 1st and ran the chlorine out hoping all would be no problem. So to chlorinate it a 3rd time Im not so sure about.

So many systems out there to rectify bacteria but so costly. Any recommendations on the problem?

Ann