Black Soot / Slime in Well Water

[CTbiker]

I have a strange issue I'd like some advice on.

I have a well that is 12 years old, and the water has a rotten egg odor to it, or at least it did before I shocked the well with hydrogen peroxide this weekend. I bought the house about 6 months ago, and the water was tested for safety at that point.

After the shocking the odor went away.

When I ran the water for about 100 gallons (measured with 5 gallon pails) the water will run black, and the slimy black coating will coat the toilets and anything else.

It will remain black for about a minute then go clear-ish again. Any idea what could be causing this black soot/slime and/or how to solve it?

I have read about people shocking the well, blowing it out with air to clean it, pumping it dry and letting it refill, installing whole house filters, etc. - I'd prefer to target the source of the issue - anyone successfully solved something like this?

Thanks for your advice and input!

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Iron reducing bacteria. Chlorine would have been a better choice for shocking the well.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[CTbiker]

Iron reducing bacteria. Chlorine would have been a better choice for shocking the well.

Thanks for the response! A couple of follow up questions:

1) I read that peroxide was a safer alternative to chlorine - what makes it a better choice for shocking the well?

2) Do you think after I eliminate the bacteria that the smell/soot will be eliminated as well?

3) Should I anticipate some sort of ongoing maintenance such as shocking the well every 6-12 months?

4) After I shock the well and kill all the bacteria, whats the best way to remove the soot from the well/welltank/water heater/ etc?

Thanks so much for helping with my issue.

 

[Reach4]

I used laundry detergent and phosphoric acid, in different rounds, when cleaning the old water heater when I moved in. I also added a filter to prevent new stuff from forming.

I sprayed into the hole for the anode and to check fullness as I did the multiple flushes. I replaced the eaten-away anode with a powered anode.

Click Notifications up top to to get to PMs.

 

[CTbiker]

Thanks Reach4, My water heater does not have a serviceable anode rod, but I suppose just draining it a few times would do the trick.

I have seen the air-blown well cleaning videos, but at $900 for the service that's a bit rich for my blood.

Is there anyway to clean the well out effectively? Maybe an inexpensive filter through a garden hose and circulate the water back into the well for a few hours?

 

[Reach4]

Is the problem hot-only?

There are people who DIY clean the well bore with a big compressor, but they also DIY pulled the well pipe and pump. During my DIY well sanitization, I recirculated water through a big blue filter (not that inexpensive). I picked up a little rust probably knocked loose by the chlorine, but maybe some came from having the 3.75 inch pump pulled out of the 4 inch casing and reinstalled after the casing extension. A lesser filter would have done the job fine. This filter can serve as a backup housing in case I get a failure on one of my whole-house filters.



The bottle on top of the pitless hanger is vinegar-- one of three that I used. The red container is what I had used to pour in sodium hypochlorite granules around the pitless hanger into the casing.

 

[CTbiker]

Well shock, filters installed, still some murky water..

Thanks for contributing your experience! Could I ask a couple follow up questions?

Is the problem hot-only? There are people who DIY clean the well bore with a big compressor, but they also DIY pulled the well string.

What does "pulled the well string" mean exactly?

It is both hot and cold, I shocked the well with peroxide and just installed 2 10" sediment filters inline (whole house filters). They are really collecting debris now - but some of the rust color is getting through. I have two 5 micron filiters in there now and ordered a 1 micron for the second stage that should arrive tomorrow. I did not have any rust color until I peroxide shocked the well - I guess the iron in the water was clear until I oxidized it.... I think I liked it better the other way

The bottle on top of the pitless hanger is vinegar-- one of three that I used. The red container is what I had used to pour in sodium hypochlorite granules around the pitless hanger into the casing.

[/QUOTE]
What is the vinegar for? I bought a chlorine tablet well shocking kit and am going to hit it again this weekend with the filters in place, hopefully circulating the water will clear a lot of the sediment out although I feel its unlikely to make a dent in the issue. Any other advice?

Thanks again!

 

[Reach4]

Thanks for contributing your experience! Could I ask a couple follow up questions?


What does "pulled the well string" mean exactly?

I used the wrong term. I meant to refer to the stuff dangling down the hole normally suspended by the pitless adapter or well seal. I now know the well string is actually the casing and connectors for casing, and pulling that would be ridiculous. My experience is very limited.

It is both hot and cold, I shocked the well with peroxide and just installed 2 10" sediment filters inline (whole house filters). They are really collecting debris now - but some of the rust color is getting through. I have two 5 micron filters in there now and ordered a 1 micron for the second stage that should arrive tomorrow. I did not have any rust color until I peroxide shocked the well - I guess the iron in the water was clear until I oxidized it.... I think I liked it better the other way

Ick .... rhymes with ferric. Your heavy rust (ferric iron) may be a temporary thing.

You would probably benefit a lot from the proper backwashing filter. It can filter out particles, such as your rust (ferric iron), but it can also do reactions to make things still in solution, such as ferrous iron. A mechanical filter cannot filter our the ferrous iron in solution. Some used a chlorine injector, a contact tank to let the chlorine react to turn ferrous iron and more into particles, and a backwashing filter to remover particles plus the chlorine and more. I have a catalytic carbon filter for iron and sulfur. It has limits, but it works for my water. I also have big blue 20 x 4.5 filters following that, but they looked clean after 13 months.

Some use a system that injects air to oxidize the iron before filtering.

What is the vinegar for? I bought a chlorine tablet well shocking kit and am going to hit it again this weekend with the filters in place, hopefully circulating the water will clear a lot of the sediment out although I feel its unlikely to make a dent in the issue. Any other advice?

http://www.moravecwaterwells.com/disin_test.htm explains the use of the vinegar plus other techniques.

For chlorine shocking, I suggest using test strips to know you have enough residual chlorine. Peroxide is probably quite effective with the right concentration, but how do you know you have the right concentration? I expect it is significantly more expensive to have enough . With the chlorine, you need to run the well for a good while after enough contact time to get rid of the chlorine.