Pump the water until it runs clear to get rid of any groundwater in the well. Use a hose connected to an outside faucet so the flushed water flows to a nearby drainageway rather than into your septic system or public sewer.
Purge the Well
This is a simple step, where the nearest outside faucet is used to flush the water from the well until it runs clear. Be sure that the purged water is discharged such that the contaminated water will not flow back into the well.
Every well is different as far as how long it takes to clear. Some wells need only a few minutes, others can take days before it is back to normal. Very occasionally, intervention is needed, like a cartridge filter.
To remove sediment from your well water supply, you can try a separation filter, a centrifugal system, whole house filtration systems, or even a water softener system. Learn more about how a water test can detect sediment in your well water, and find the best system to help you purify your well water supply.
Chlorination disinfects your well by destroying unhealthy bacteria and microorganisms and removing dissolved iron, manganese, and hydrogen sulfide. It can be managed easily at home with common household bleach and food grade white vinegar.
Flush the well using a garden hose that is connected to the water supply being disinfected. Allow the water to run through the garden hose until you can no longer detect a chlorine smell. If the well is low yielding or tends to pump sediment (sand or fine particles), you should flush it slowly.
Very few wells will need more than one gallon of bleach. Using more bleach than necessary will not disinfect the water faster, may cause corrosion of the steel casing and will hinder the disinfection effectiveness. To calculate the amount of bleach needed, you need to know the well's depth and static water level.
Well Water
If you get your water from a private well, black and brown pieces of sand and silt may be present in your tap water. These are caused by minerals, soil or mud, or organic matter and are not harmful. You can treat black sediment by installing a sediment filter or a water treatment system.
The objective of well purging is to obtain a representative water sample with minimum disturbance of the water column. The well shall be purged until a minimum of two screen volumes has been removed and field parameters have stabilized.
It you suspect that your well point is clogged due to iron build up, you may be able to remove it with muriatic acid. By pouring the muriatic acid down the well point and leaving it, the iron build up will reduce and unclog your well point.
Open Your Faucets and Water Connections
Open every faucet in your home with a one-half turn of the tap to drain your water with an even flow and release air from the line. Start with the taps closest to your well's main water valve and work your way throughout your home.
When sampling a well, it is standard practice to pump out at least 3 times the volume of water that is in the well (called the “water column”).
The tanks should be flushed semi-annually to remove accumulated sediments by opening the tank drain valve. These sediments could harbor and shield harmful microbes from chlorination should the well and home plumbing system require disinfection.
Dark Brown or Black Well Water
Excess manganese or pipe sediment could be the reason for dark brown or black water.
Begin by pouring up to a whole box of baking soda down the drain, depending on the severity of the slime. Then pour in the vinegar, up to half a bottle. You should hear or see the fizzing. Let it react for about five minutes, then slowly pour the boiling water down the drain.
It is generally recommended to flush your well at least once a year.
Overall, hydrogen peroxide is more expensive than chlorine and works best when iron and sulfur are present in the water supply. Since it works faster than chlorine, no contact tank is required. Additionally, H2O2 is effective at a more comprehensive pH range, meaning that it is more effective on more types of water.
Natural Salts and Minerals. It should go without saying that, because well water comes from underground supplies, it is rich in many different minerals, including natural salts, calcium, iron and other minerals that will build up on the system. As minerals and salts build up, they obstruct the entire system gradually.
Generally, cleaning your well can cost anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. For example, a shallow well with no significant issues may only cost around $500 to $1,000 to clean.
Allow the chlorinated water to stand in the well and the entire water system for a minimum of 12 hours (24 hours is recommended). During this time the system should be considered unusable - with the exception of moderate toilet use.
Most well pumps are powered by electricity, meaning water won't flow when there's an outage. (But some wells still include one or more holding tanks that can supply water in the meantime. These tanks usually hold between 10-50 gallons of water.)