Brown rusty water after chlorination

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Pat OT

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Hoping someone can help. We are selling our house. Water tested + for coliform. Followed directions to chlorinate our well and then dechlorinate. It took a very long time before the chlorine washed out. Now our water runs brown or is rusty. Without use (a few hours) it seems to clear up temporarily only to run discolored again. We have a drilled well. We have always had a little rust in the water that was corrected with a cartridge filter. Could we have run the water too long and we're 'at the bottom of the well' and it's not rust but dirt? Could the chlorine somehow damaged our plumbing? The problem started last thursday. We called the water testing company and they suggested we try not using too much water to' let things settle.' Hoping someone has some encouraging words.
 

Pat OT

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Rusty water after chlorination...

We poured about 2 quarts of bleach diluted in about a 2 gal bucket down the well. We opened 4 faucets in the house for about 20 minutes. We went to the store, bought pool chlorine test strips. Tested the water...no chlorine was showing as present. Added 2 more quarts of bleach, followed by letting the water run from 2 faucets for about 20 minutes. We could smell the bleach and it tested as being present. We did not use well water the rest of the night. In the morning (about 9 hours after bleaching) I opened the faucets to start the dechlorination step. At that point the smell was pretty overwhelming...to the point where I opened the windows. After running the water in 3 faucets about 30 minutes, the water had a strong odor and was testing 'high' on the dip strips. We ran the water every 1 1/2 hour in 2 faucets for 15 minutes until early afternoon. Just to complicate the matter, our septic had been inspected the week before and we were told that our leaching fields were flooded. We were expecting the town and an excavating contractor to come out in two days so I was getting concerned about letting all this water go through our system. In the afternoon, we hooked up a garden hose and let the water run into the lake (about 100' away). We ran the garden hose 4 more times for about 30 minutes (spaced about 3 hours apart). The chlorine tested as clear, however I could still detect a 'bleachy' smell. The next morning I noticed the water wasn't clear. From then on it's been intermittent somewhat not clear to so brown you can't see through the water. Any thoughts?
 

NHmaster

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The well casing and the pipe all accumulate rust over the years. When you poured the 2 gallons down there you knocked a bunch of it off. It can take several days to clear it up. Try running a hose for about an hour twice a day.
 

GrantK

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Where to hook up the hose?

The well casing and the pipe all accumulate rust over the years. When you poured the 2 gallons down there you knocked a bunch of it off. It can take several days to clear it up. Try running a hose for about an hour twice a day.

I'm having the same exact problem after chlorinating my well, I've done this before but never had a problem with the water clearing up.

Where do you recommend hooking the hose up to run the water?
 

Allen Meyers

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I'm having the same exact problem after chlorinating my well, I've done this before but never had a problem with the water clearing up.

Where do you recommend hooking the hose up to run the water?
If you have a sample tap at the pressure tank that is the first choice. It is code to have one in most states. If not as close to the tank as possible. Let it run at least all night. Do not turn it on and off.
 

GrantK

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Tap

If you have a sample tap at the pressure tank that is the first choice. It is code to have one in most states. If not as close to the tank as possible. Let it run at least all night. Do not turn it on and off.

I do have a tap at the pressure tank, I'll hook up there and let it run.

Thanks!
 

Gary Slusser

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If you have iron in the water, it is normal to cause rusty water when shocking a well because the chlorine oxidizes the ferrous iron into ferric iron which is rust.

In many instances it is best to not run any more water than you have to to get rid of the chlorine. That allows the rust particles to settle to the bottom of the well, below the pump's inlet. That's if you have a rock bore well and not a screened well.
 

Hiren

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Hi All ,
I really need expert advice.... I have a iron bacteria and manganese problem in well. i live in North New jersey. Our area is known for iron problem. I tested well and it came 0.3 ppm iron and 0.256 ppm manganese... we had very bad odor and color issue. I added 3 qt. clorox diluted with 15 gallon (5 gallonwater + 1 qt bleach)... let it seat for 3 hour in well then circulate water 30 minutes back to well with the hose. Then waited 24 hour . Second day i started to flush water out of well from garden spigot. I ran water almost 2 hours...water still look dirty, red, muddy. Please help. What should i do... Well depth was 120 feet and 6" casing diameter.
How long it will tale to clear water....when should i start to use for shower etc......
 

Reach4

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When I sanitize my well, I eventually use a about 8 quarts of 8.5% chlorine bleach and about 8 quarts of vinegar. However I don't put in in all at once. I use test papers to see if more is appropriate. After some time, my chlorine level drops and pH rises, as my solution is consumed doing its job. My well depth is a little deeper than yours , but my casing is only 4 inch... so per foot, your well has 2.25x the volume of mine. However the static level comes into play. https://terrylove.com/forums/index....izing-extra-attention-to-4-inch-casing.65845/ is my writeup.

Once the chlorine levels are down and the pH is near normal, you can start putting the water on the lawn, rather than in the ditch where you are less concerned about vegetation. Overnight might be appropriate. Maybe not.... so you can pay attention in case the well runs dry.
 

Hiren

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Thank you all for the response and guidance...after a total 4 hours of flushing finally, water got cleared...
 

Valveman

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Thank you all for the response and guidance...after a total 4 hours of flushing finally, water got cleared...

Four hours is nothing. Sometimes it takes days or weeks. Sometimes it does it worse when you start up, so you do it like four hours everyday until it clears.
 

art boline

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I shocked my well tonight and since then, my water is very black, and very low pressure. My well has about 120 of water in a 6 inch casing. I used a gallon of bleach and poured it straight in with about 4 gallons of water. I ran the water through a hose for about 10 minutes and when I didn’t smell anything, I poured about another 4 pints in directly. I thought I could hear some gurgling deep in the well. Any idea why I don’t
 
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