Maintaining your well is imperative not only to keep on top of upkeep and the potential need for repairs but also to ensure that the water that comes from your well remains safe to drink. A well can provide an important water source for many things such as drinking, cooking, and cleaning, but if the water has bacteria, mold, debris, or anything else in it to contaminate it, people can get very sick very quickly. Within this article, there are a total of 5 methods for proper maintenance for wells that should guarantee they remain a viable source of water for you and anyone else that might use them.
Disinfect
It
One of the first things to consider when it comes to well maintenance is the fact that you’ll want to try and kill any possible bacteria that could be living in your well. You’ll want to disinfect it at least once a year, especially if anyone in your household has become pregnant or has a compromised immune system. There are two common methods of disinfection used regularly across the country.
One is called shock chlorination, in which you add concentrated chlorine to your well water system in order to kill the bacteria living inside. A common method is simply to pour liquid bleach into your well water, the amount varying depending on the size of your well. This is important to keep in mind as you don’t want to add too much, just enough to get the job done. You can either do this procedure yourself or hire a service that could run you anywhere from $100 to $200 dollars.
The other method is known as Point Cleaning, which is essentially making sure that there are no clogs or blockages in your well, and if there are the removing and cleaning of those blockages. This is done by simply breaking up the blockage by hitting it with a rod long enough to reach the problem.
Both
processes have their benefits and downsides, but both are effective at
eliminating bacteria from the water.
Test
Your Water
About
every 3-5 years, you should make sure to get your well’s water tested. Not only
is this a vital part of keeping up with your well’s maintenance since it can be
the starting point to diagnosing any potential problems, but it also allows you
to make sure the water itself is still potable and reliably safe to use. The
results of your tests can indicate exactly what is wrong with your well,
whether that be it needs to be cleaned or it might be time to disinfect it. You
should also test the water regardless after performing any sort of maintenance,
especially maintenance that requires you to put chemicals in your water. You
want to make sure that all traces of any cleaning chemicals are removed,
otherwise, your water will not be safe to drink.
Test
Your Equipment
Another
important thing to do is calibrate your equipment. This includes testing for
leaks in the system, checking conservation methods, and making sure that the
pump will work if the electricity goes out. If you have a non-electric well,
then you are probably having issues with this already! Maintenance on these
wells means cleaning them regularly so that bacteria don’t get into the system
itself. During well drilling, it is also common to use a
bacteria treatment to clean the water.
Clean
It Regularly
Finally,
one of the most important things to do with any type of well is clean it
regularly! The reason being is that even people who have wells often don’t know
how to maintain them properly. Some examples of decent well maintenance
include: cleaning the hardware and casing, removing weeds from around it, and
making sure that nothing is plugging it up.
Make
Sure It Is Sealed
Check your well periodically to make sure that it is sealed. If the seal on the well has been damaged, then you risk water coming into contact with outside elements, and bacteria can enter. Some examples of ways that this happens include: an animal falling down the well if people fall down the well, or even heavy rains hitting it! Make sure to check your wells at least twice a year for safety purposes.
Wells can be a very important part of your home, and you should take care to maintain them as such. Doing so will help keep people safe and healthy. Have your well checked regularly, keep it clean, and disinfect it often.
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