# Flushing new well



## Dutchofsc (Feb 23, 2014)

Hi. I have a new well and was wondering how people flushi it out / prepare for potable use. My well is a 6 inch rock well, 220 feet deep with 110 feet of casing, static water level of 53 feet wih a 1 horse pump at 80 feet said to produce (not pump) 75 gpm. I was told to pore some bleach and run it for a day or two. When I first started the water had a bit of a sheen on it, like an oil slick. Later that went away and I tasted the water. Tasted a bit muddy. A day later the water is clear but still has a hint of a taste that I can't describe. The well has been running all night, I'm about to drive out to the property to check on it shortly. 

How have people here prepared their new well for use? Is this a standard procedure? Thanks.


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## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

Yep that is how our well drillers do it here :sing:


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

you should add the bleach to a 5 gal clean never used bucket of water then add it to the well, buy a new hose and run the hose back into the well for 8 hours this way the well wont run dry while your mixing the bleach,unhook the hose, and run the water in your house all sinks, tubs, bathtubs, washer ect this cleans all the pipes, and run the water till you dont smell bleach and or you can get some bleach test strip/packets from the health department to test for bleach but your nose is pretty good. Any time you do any plumbing work you should always bleach the well.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

https://www.energylab.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ShockChlorinationBro.pdf

WWW


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## Dutchofsc (Feb 23, 2014)

Thanks for the info. I might do that just to be covered. I'll update how the water sample turned out in a few weeks. 


Sent from my iPad using Homesteading Today


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

The very first thing you need do is to ask your County Health Department to test the water. They will probably give you containers for you to put some of your well water in send off for testing. Since you stated your water has a "hint of a taste" you couldn't describe, this would be a must were it my well.

Then what we did with our well...as instructed by the County Health Dept...was to put one gallon of bleach into a 5 gallon bucket of water, pour that 5 gallons into the well and let it sit 24 hours. Then turn on all your outside (as well as inside) faucets *one at a time *and run each until the smell of bleach is gone.

Our well is only 79 ft deep, has a submersible pump 10 ft from the bottom and about 45 ft of water. It was dug and prepared for use in 1994 and we've used it for absolutely everything throughout 6 acres, i.e. home use, animal use as well as extensive gardening. Even during droughts we have never run out. (Maybe I'm just fortunate as last summer when my water stopped working and a plumber came out, the plumber had to pull up the well pump. He told me that pump only had a wire that needed repair, that the pump looked like a new one and that "you must have excellent water".) Hope your well works as good for you.


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## potter28 (Sep 10, 2014)

Whats you GPM (gallon per minute) for the well? That pump is huge for that depth, what are you supplying water to? A standard house well pump would not need to pump over 7GPM.


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## Dutchofsc (Feb 23, 2014)

75 gallons per minute. I upgraded to a 1 horse pump in anticipation of watering gardens and some animals. I figured might as well get the bigger pump in case I had a bigger demand I'm the future. I intend on using this well to supply the mobile home and the house I will build in the future. I knew it would be overkill, but overkill is never enough. 

I did the bleach down the well thing, and let the well run full blast for a day or two. I still have to take a water sample to the county, but I'm not in a hurry because we don't live there. The water tasted a little bit muddy at first, I let it run and it tasted just fine. I did not drink it, just tasted it. I plan on doing a complete water analysis before we move out there. 

Thanks for all the good info. The link from white wolf was very informative.


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## potter28 (Sep 10, 2014)

Bigger isn't always better. I've been a plumbing, heating contractor for over 30 years. Every faucet, shower head even the wall hydrants are flow rated by the good ole government, make sure you use yard hydrants as that is the only way you'll get the water youre looking for outside. Horsepower is for pumping depth of the water, not necessarily gpm, that's the pump end sizing. Hopefully you got a big gpm pump end because it wouldn't matter if you had a 5hp motor on that thing. Remember that at that depth youll have quite a bit of torque at start and stop on the pipe, I would use 200psi pipe or at the least 160psi, also youll need a big pressure tank or that thing will short cycle on and off which affects the longevity of the pump. IS it a constant pressure pump or plain submersible?


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## Dutchofsc (Feb 23, 2014)

It just a plain submersible. I figures I would have to push water horizontally when I put in irrigation lines. The piping is 160 psi schedule 80, threaded pipe. The pressure tank is not very big, for now. 

The good ol government knows what's best for us, even in plumbing fixtures. I have removed many a "flow restrictor" or "air rather" in the past. I'll look into getting yard hydrants, because I do want to use the flow. 

The pump is rated at 11 GPM, but looking in the chart, the flow curve and depth combination should give me 15. Pressure is great, set at 80 now. Will turn down a bit later on. 

Thanks for the great info and concern.


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