New submersible well pump - tap water now has strong smell of paint thinner

[Christine Felker]

Plumber just replaced our submersible well pump (200 ft deep) after previous pump failed. Water from all taps now has a strong smell like paint thinner or noxious gas. It dissipates after a few seconds after filling a glass, making me think it’s a gas escaping rather than something like oil in the water. Plumber says he’s never encountered it before. Ran an outside hose to flush the system but pump stopped pulling water after 30 min. and then no water at any tap. Recovered overnight but smell is just as bad today. Could it be that they didn’t place the pump deep
enough and it’s causing some kind of off gassing? They didn’t measure the well or water depth before replacing - just put it at same depth as before. Also didn’t chlorinate so it’s not that. Not sure what to do.

 

[Valveman]

It is possible the old motor was oil lubricated and leaked into the water. Pumping it out is probably best. But if the well runs out of water in 30 minutes it may take a long time to clean up. You will just need to pump the well down as often as possible. Something like a Cycle Sensor would stop the pump when the well is dry, and restart it automatically in how ever long you set the restart delay. If it is really thinner or oil, Dawn dishwashing soap may help. But the suds make it hard to pump out.