What to Do When Your Well is Covered by Flood Water
With the recent flooding in Colorado we are getting a lot of inquiries about what to do when your well floods.
Here is a one recent question:
“We were flooded so I had my drinking water tested just in case the well was contaminated. If came out that I need to chloronate my well due to coliform bacteria. I am looking for a company who can chloronate or install a chloronator for my well.”
We answered:
You might be able to find a local well or pump contractor to shock chlorinate and sanitize your well. Often they will do this type of well chlorination.
Also see our guide on “What to Do If Your Well Is Flooded”
What If You Want To Chlorinate and Disinfect Automatically?
If you need to install a chlorinator, there are several choices including pellet feeders that feed chlorine pellets down the well, or liquid chlorination.
Liquid chlorination using chlorine bleach, and a contact tank to allow time for the bacteria to be killed, is often the safest and lowest cost method. Here is more information on those types of systems:
Chlorination and the Stenner Pump Chlorinator System
Chlorine is a low cost and safe method of eliminating odors and bacteria, and it works great in oxidizing iron, manganese and other contaminants in water so they can be filtered out.
Although there are other ways to eliminate microorganisms and odors in water, chlorination is the most commonly used because it is low cost and effective. Often combined with filtration, chlorination is an excellent and cost-effective way to disinfect drinking water supplies, eliminate odors, and oxidize iron and other metals.
For easy and accurate chlorine injection we recommend a J-PRO pump and solution tank system. The chlorinator uses liquid chlorine bleach. The system is reliable, easy to install, very easy to use. It can be adjusted to get just the right amount of chlorine needed for the application.
The chlorinator can be adjusted so the chlorine levels are very low in the household (similar to city water) or a low-cost carbon filter can be installed to remove any trace of chlorine tastes and odors.
Contact Tank
A contact or retention tank provides optimal contact time after chlorine has been injected into the water.
By using a contact tank, the amount of solution needed is less and ensures that the solution being injected is thoroughly mixed and dissolved in the water. Most importantly a contact tank allows sufficient time for the bacteria to be killed after the chlorine is injected.
Chlorination injection and Contact Tank System with filtration for iron and odors. When considering disinfection of bacteria, the size of the contact tank is critical. In general, it is good to have 10 minutes of contact time ore more. So a well flowing at 10 gallons per minute, would have 12 minutes of contact time in a 120 gallon contact tank.
Gerry Bulfin
Gerry Bulfin is a licensed water treatment contractor and consultant based in Santa Cruz California and founder and owner of Clean Water Systems and Stores Inc. Gerry is a long time member of the National Ground Water Association, the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the Water Quality Association (WQA).
