Keep Your Private Well Water Running Smoothly and Tasting Great with These 3 Tips

Do you have a private well for your home water needs? If you have one for this, you are not alone. There are more than 15 million households across the United States who rely on their own wells for their drinking water and other water needs at home, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The problem with these wells is that they do need some upkeep to keep the water tasting great and the well running the way it needs to. Here are some tips from well specialists to help keep your well water running soothly and tasting great.

From time to time, you are going to have to disinfect your well. Water well specialists recommend you do the following:

1. You will need bleach to properly disinfect your well. The amount of bleach will depend on the size of your well. Talk to the well drilling services company that installed your well to get the amount that you will need.
   1. Add the bleach to your well. Take off the well cover and add the amount of beach needed.
   2. Flush your system. To do this, you need to take a garden hose that is attached to a tap that is outside of your house. Place the non-attached side in the well and turn on the water. The best thing is to leave this on overnight but this is not always possible. If you cannot leave it on all night, well specialists say that it should be allowed to run for at least four hours.
   3. Flush your indoor system. After the outside hose runs for four hours, turn it off. Go to each sink and faucet in your home (meaning you need to do this with your bathtubs, too) and turn on the water. One by one, go through your home and run the water until you can smell chlorine.
   4. Circulate the chlorine back into your well. You will need to do this for the same minimum (four hours) but overnight is the best thing you can go. This will help you make sure your entire water system has been properly disinfected.
   5. Put everything back. Take the hose out of the well, turn all the water off and return the well cap. Avoid using this water for a minimum of 12 hours. If you can go 48 hours, that is better.
   6. Get rid of the chlorine taste by running your system for several hours. You will know you are done when you can no longer taste or smell the chlorine.
   7. Test for bacteria. Wait about a week and then do a test for bacteria in your well. If you find any, you will need to repeat this. If after a few times of home disinfecting you may need to call in professional well specialists to do it for you.
2. Have your well inspected. At least once a year, you should have your well inspected by professional well specialists. You had your well put in so that you and your family would have access to good, quality and healthy water. The problem is that all wells are susceptible to bacterial contamination. You should pay close attention to your water well. If the water in your home starts to smell or taste different, you should test and disinfect your well. If you find that does not work, even if you are not due for your yearly inspection, you should have some professional well specialists come look at the condition of your water well. There may be problems that need to be worked on by the certified professional well experts.
3. Pay attention to you well. In between well inspections, check on your well. If you notice cracks in the lid or in the well itself, you should have them fixed or looked at by qualified well specialists. It is very easy for bacteria and mold to infect a well. At best, these contaminants can make your water taste and smell really bad. For the worst case scenario, they can make you very sick.

If you pay attention to your well, it will provide great tasting and healthy water for years.