How to Kill Bacteria in Well Water

Eliminating Bacteria From Water

If your family’s drinking water is sourced from a private well, you might want to check the quality of your water on a regular basis to prevent contaminants and pathogens from entering your water source. Contaminants like bacteria may affect the health of the household and the animals relying on the private well. Coliform bacteria are a group of microorganisms living in our soil, on plants, as well as on surface water. The bacteria are commonly found on animal manure and human waste. If you have livestock near your water source, there are chances of coliform bacteria, and other contaminants slipping into your well water. When coliform bacteria are washed into the ground by heavy rainfall, the quality of your drinking water changes and deteriorates. Although most coliform bacteria do not likely cause illness, the presence of bacteria in your water source is a cause for concern. Action must be taken right away to prevent further problems, especially to your health. Here’s how you can get rid of bacteria in your deep well.

Run a Complete Water Test

Testing for coliform bacteria and all possible disease-causing microorganisms in your well is important to protect your household and animals from potential health threats. Although difficult, time-consuming, and expensive, running a complete water test will help save lives, money, and effort. Conduct a thorough water testing for all possible contaminant in your well water.

Potential Dangers of Bacteria in Our Drinking Water

If you happened to drink bacteria-contaminated water from your well, you might experience diarrhea and vomiting. Some bacteria may cause dysentery which is an inflammation of the intestine. In serious cases, the individual will experience severe cramping and diarrhea with mucus or blood in the feces. Bacteria also carry roundworms and tapeworms that are responsible for chronic diarrhea. In case you’re experiencing symptoms caused by bacteria in drinking water, immediately contact your doctor for medical attention and treatment. If your drinking water is contaminated by disease-carrying microorganisms, do not drink and do not use the water until the source is completely treated. In case you need to use the water, boil it for 1 minute to get rid of the bacteria.

How to Eliminate Bacteria in Your Well

Since you’re now aware of what you’re dealing with in your well water, the next approach is to get rid of the contaminant before the situation gets out of control. The best way to eliminate bacteria in your water source is by disinfecting your well with a chlorine solution. Shock chlorination is an effective disinfection treatment method used to disinfect well water. Before you disinfect your well, you must flush the system first by allowing the water to run for 10 to 15 minutes before you start the disinfection process. Disinfect your well with a reliable household bleach with a chlorine concentration of 6% to get the job done. Avoid bleaches with perfume or additives as well as concentrated bleach products. Make sure that you mix the bleach properly with the well water to get the best result. Don’t forget to chlorinate the pipelines as well since bacteria-contaminated water passed through these pipes before the chlorine treatment. You should allow chlorinated water to pass through your pipelines to flush off the bacteria. Once you’ve allowed water to run off on each tap, allow the chlorine to sit overnight to get rid of the bacteria. Flush the chlorinated water out of the well on the next day so you can use the well water again. Turn on all of the faucets in your house to get rid of the bleach in your system. Once you no longer smell bleach in the water, you can shut off the faucets and use the water for washing and laundry. Unfortunately, you should not use the water for drinking and cooking until you’ve conducted water testing. If your recent water test says that your well is free of coliform bacteria or other pathogens and contaminants, you can now use the well water for drinking and cooking. You need to wait for 3 to 4 days though before you run a test on your well water.

Additional Protection with Water Filters

Protect your family with a whole house water filter and prevent chlorine, lead, mercury, and other heavy metals, bacteria, algae, and other contaminants from entering the faucets in your home. AquaOx’s whole house water filter is designed with the latest water filtration technology to make sure it removes potential contaminants in your private well water. It is most effective as a treatment against hydrogen sulfide which is a common contaminant in well water. If you think adding water filter systems is an overkill, you can’t go easy with water contaminants when it comes to the safety of your household. Get a bacteria filter today and keep your family safe from bad microorganisms, heavy metals, and other water contaminants found in private wells!