Iron Bacteria

[cmb1998]

I have a fairly shallow well (58ft) on a piece of property that is on a river. The well is a couple hundred feet from the river. It was drilled about 6 years ago and has been a problem since the day it started pumping water. The water has a smell of manganese and a high iron content. The well pumps 22 GPM, PH is 6.4, and the water is fairly soft. I have a pellet chlorinator at the well head, then the water comes into the house through a sediment filter, into a backwashing calcite filter, into a back washing greensand filter, into a back washing carbon filter, into a softener (with iron removing softening media) and finally through a 5 micron polishing filter. When everything is working I get great water.

My issues with the well are primarily related to a thick slimy build up I think is IRB. I have shocked the well 15+ times over the years and finally bought a pellet chlorinator that chlorinates the water at the well head. So the water in the well casing is chlorinated but I still get a thick slimy build up in the sediment filter (20 micron) that plugs them up after 15 – 20 days (with very light usage) and all my control heads keep getting plugged up with a rust colored sediment. I have had several people look at it and every time I seem to end with a new backwashing filter that doesn’t resolve the issues.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Chris

 

[Mialynette2003]

Do you have a constant readable amount of chlorine at the pressure tank? If not I would recommend an injection chlorinator with retention tank.

 

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[Gary Slusser]

I have a fairly shallow well (58ft) on a piece of property that is on a river. The well is a couple hundred feet from the river. It was drilled about 6 years ago and has been a problem since the day it started pumping water. The water has a smell of manganese and a high iron content. The well pumps 22 GPM, PH is 6.4, and the water is fairly soft. I have a pellet chlorinator at the well head, then the water comes into the house through a sediment filter, into a backwashing calcite filter, into a back washing greensand filter, into a back washing carbon filter, into a softener (with iron removing softening media) and finally through a 5 micron polishing filter. When everything is working I get great water.

My issues with the well are primarily related to a thick slimy build up I think is IRB. I have shocked the well 15+ times over the years and finally bought a pellet chlorinator that chlorinates the water at the well head. So the water in the well casing is chlorinated but I still get a thick slimy build up in the sediment filter (20 micron) that plugs them up after 15 – 20 days (with very light usage) and all my control heads keep getting plugged up with a rust colored sediment. I have had several people look at it and every time I seem to end with a new backwashing filter that doesn’t resolve the issues.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Chris

I take it you have a pellet dropper on the well casing that drops a pellet every so often when the pump is running, right? Or is it water powered?

Do you have a rock bore well or a screened well in sand and gravel? If not a rock bore, I doubt you'll be able to keep enough chlorine down the well before it goes off into the sand and gravle away from the well.

If you get the right amount of chlorine down the well, you won't have bacteria, iron, manganese or slime etc. in the water past the chlorinator but you should have 'sediment; from oxidized iron and manganese and chlorine in the water.

Then you should have the carbon filter, AN filter and softener in that order past the pressure tank with no need for the greensand filter. As it is you never want to mix potassium permanganate and chlorine...