What to do when your well water gets contaminated

[Hobbit]

Well, my life has certainly been interesting over the last month. We’ve found multiple ways our house is poisoning us, including that our well water is contaminated with bacteria. We don’t know what kind—only that it’s not E. coli. So until we get someone out to examine the well, repair anything wrong with it, and do a chlorine shock, we’re boiling all our water.

Now, I’ve been using this water to do water changes since I got fish. (We don’t know how long the well’s been contaminated.) And the fish never seem bothered. I’ve had some issues with new fish getting sick, but I don’t get new fish very often, and new fish often get sick anyway, so it’s hard to pin that to anything. I’ve also never had too much trouble getting a cycle started, either. Which seems somewhat suspicious now… 😄 

Everyone seems fine, including my very young platy and ricefish fry. Can I keep assuming the beneficial bacteria will outcompete anything nasty in the well?

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 7/24/2022 at 9:29 AM, Hobbit said:

Well, my life has certainly been interesting over the last month. We’ve found multiple ways our house is poisoning us, including that our well water is contaminated with bacteria. We don’t know what kind—only that it’s not E. coli. So until we get someone out to examine the well, repair anything wrong with it, and do a chlorine shock, we’re boiling all our water.

Now, I’ve been using this water to do water changes since I got fish. (We don’t know how long the well’s been contaminated.) And the fish never seem bothered. I’ve had some issues with new fish getting sick, but I don’t get new fish very often, and new fish often get sick anyway, so it’s hard to pin that to anything. I’ve also never had too much trouble getting a cycle started, either. Which seems somewhat suspicious now… 😄 

Everyone seems fine, including my very young platy and ricefish fry. Can I keep assuming the beneficial bacteria will outcompete anything nasty in the well?

I think you can assume that as long as you have LOTS of bio filter area. But it still isn't good right?!

How big is the tank? Is it practical to treat water change water by boiling or chlorine, then dechlore? Seems treating with chlorine might be the way to go, cheap and easy.

[Flumpweesel]

If it hasn't been bothering the fish don't panic, possibly avoid large water changes so the tank can keep up with things.

We had an issue on our mains water a few years ago so we had to boil but the said no threat to fish (I again did minimal water changes until all clear as it went on for a couple of months so no way I was boiling for that). 

You could get water from a friend if you wanted to be extra safe until you know what you're dealing with.

[Hobbit]

@Wrencher_Scott it probably isn’t great. But I do have lots of plants and bio filter area and I do minimal water changes anyway. I haven’t looked into adding chlorine to our water on a small scale, but I do know that if our well isn’t broken, they’ll have us do a chlorine shock—basically a one time treatment.

@Flumpweesel That’s good to know. Thanks!

[Brandon p]

I have well issues as well. I have to fill two of the big gray trash cans and let the water sit of a day at least. This has stopped my fish from dying when I do a water change. I don’t have e.coli but without letting  it gas off the fish will die fast. Not sure that will help but I can understand the trouble with a well. I don’t drink the water. I don’t boils the water because I worry that the minerals will be more  concentrated. Your have a bacteria so it’s a totally different ball game. 

[Flumpweesel]

So I've slept on this problem now and have you considered UV sterilisation, that's what my water authority did to remove the bio-contamination on our supply (once the source had been identified and stopped). I know it could be pricey long term but worth a consideration for the tank at least.

[Huckleberry]

On 7/24/2022 at 12:29 PM, Hobbit said:

Well, my life has certainly been interesting over the last month. We’ve found multiple ways our house is poisoning us, including that our well water is contaminated with bacteria. We don’t know what kind—only that it’s not E. coli. So until we get someone out to examine the well, repair anything wrong with it, and do a chlorine shock, we’re boiling all our water.

Now, I’ve been using this water to do water changes since I got fish. (We don’t know how long the well’s been contaminated.) And the fish never seem bothered. I’ve had some issues with new fish getting sick, but I don’t get new fish very often, and new fish often get sick anyway, so it’s hard to pin that to anything. I’ve also never had too much trouble getting a cycle started, either. Which seems somewhat suspicious now… 😄 

Everyone seems fine, including my very young platy and ricefish fry. Can I keep assuming the beneficial bacteria will outcompete anything nasty in the well?

Well contamination is tricky, it can be nothing or serious. If the bacteria test was taken the wrong way it can give you a bad result, in example if you touched the sample bottle to the faucet you used to take the sample, that can give a bad test result..  To do a proper test you'll have to 1. Chlorinate the well. Run chlorinated water through all pipes in house, then let it sit for 24 hours( this kill all bacteria in the pipes)2. After it sat, use water as normal or run it hard to remove all chlorine from system then take test. Don't touch lip of sample bottle with anything. An ultraviolet can be installed if bacteria is still present, youll have to change bulb every year. Also a  sanitary well cap, the height of casing, or run Off can be a factor. Worst case scenario is the well is compromised underground but there are some fixes. Your local well guys should be able to help you out. 

[gardenman]

Your well water could be contaminated with the beneficial bacteria your tank needs. You just don't know until you know the specifics. Very little water is absolutely pure.  Much of the bacteria in the world isn't overly harmful. In the not-too-distant past, open wells and streams provided our drinking water. The number of bacteria and viruses we're exposed to daily would blow your mind if you thought about it too much. (The experts say there are 380 trillion viruses inside each healthy human.) We have a gazillion (well, 39 trillion) bacteria living in our bodies. (Give or take a few.) We're all walking, talking petri dishes full of things that we manage to coexist with on a daily basis. I had an idea for a sci-fi story once where a broad spectrum anti-viral drug was developed, and we found out too late that our intelligence was caused by a virus and that by killing the virus we became more primitive and animalistic.

[Hobbit]

Yeah... My husband has gut issues and is immunocompromised both from those and from the meds he’s taking for them. A UV system might be the safest way to go. We actually just had one put on our HVAC system to kill mold spores in the air. Usually I’m all about letting our systems be exposed to good microbes, but that might not be an option for us anymore. The fish though… They might be fine!

In terms of testing, we actually had a lab come out and take the test, so presumably their worker did it correctly. Unless we have them come out and order a different test, we won’t get any more info about what exactly’s in the water.

The testing report did confirm that we have a little bit of nitrate in our water. My husband was like, “Look, I thought you might be interested in this info!” And I was like, “Oh, I already knew that. 😁”

@gardenman great idea for a sci-fi book, by the way!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/24/2022 at 12:29 PM, Hobbit said:

Well, my life has certainly been interesting over the last month. We’ve found multiple ways our house is poisoning us, including that our well water is contaminated with bacteria. We don’t know what kind—only that it’s not E. coli. So until we get someone out to examine the well, repair anything wrong with it, and do a chlorine shock, we’re boiling all our water.

Now, I’ve been using this water to do water changes since I got fish. (We don’t know how long the well’s been contaminated.) And the fish never seem bothered. I’ve had some issues with new fish getting sick, but I don’t get new fish very often, and new fish often get sick anyway, so it’s hard to pin that to anything. I’ve also never had too much trouble getting a cycle started, either. Which seems somewhat suspicious now… 😄 

Everyone seems fine, including my very young platy and ricefish fry. Can I keep assuming the beneficial bacteria will outcompete anything nasty in the well?

I keep two of these in my emergency kit.  If the power goes out and there's a water problem, we have a solution.  This product is designed for people that go out into the wilderness and it allows them to safely drink directly from lakes, ditches, etc.

https://lifestraw.com/products/lifestraw

 

 

I know that we planted tank people don't like charcoal, but could charcoal be an option in this scenario where it is known that the water is contaminated?  Do a good ol' default charcoal cartridge that comes with basically every new filter purchase?

Edited July 25, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Flumpweesel]

Mould can be lethal so glad you go that sorted you'll probably both start to feel a bit better once it's had a good chance to clear things up. Living with mould can just wear down a body over time.

Hopefully once you know what you are dealing with on the water side.  

I'm very surprised by how many people on here have wells they are pretty unusual in the UK

[Hobbit]

Surprise! That happened faster than I thought. We just had the company come and chlorine treat the well. If I have to do a water change, I’ll be doing the sit-in-bucket method like all you with city water! 😄 (I have dechlorinator too.)

[Brandon p]

Sounds like a positive step! I wish you the best. 

[gardenman]

On 7/25/2022 at 1:48 PM, Hobbit said:

Surprise! That happened faster than I thought. We just had the company come and chlorine treat the well. If I have to do a water change, I’ll be doing the sit-in-bucket method like all you with city water! 😄 (I have dechlorinator too.)

Did they give you instructions on flushing the well after the treatment? My neighbor had it done, and they told him to flush the well for 48 hours after the treatment. He had to let the chlorine sit in the well for a while then flush it all out. Each time he did, the bacteria came back, and they had to repeat the cycle. After the fifth or sixth time he opted not to flush the well (though he told them he did) and that killed the bacteria, and he got a clean test afterward. His electric bill doubled during that period as the pump was running a lot. He could have filled two or three good-sized swimming pools with the water he pumped out of that well. He never used the water for drinking after that. 

[Hobbit]

Yeah, we were told to have it sit 24 hours and then run a hose into our ditch for 4-5 days, day and night. 😕 It’s a good thing we don’t live in a drought area. If the bacteria comes back, we’ll just add a sterilizer to our system—UV or reverse osmosis or something. I think we’ll end up doing that regardless, since my husband has immune issues. And our electric bill is probably shot anyway because we’ve been doing mold remediation for the last few weeks. It’s kinda a mess over here.

Are you sure your friend didn’t get the test while there was still chlorine in his water? 😬