How to Open a Water Well to Add Bleach and Kill Bacteria

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By Julia Fuller
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Open wellhead to add bleach

If your drinking water test for bacteria came back positive for Coliform or E. coli then you will need to add bleach to the well to kill the bacteria. In order to add bleach to your well water you must open the wellhead to gain access to the well water. How do you open a water wellhead to add bleach and kill bacteria?

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Wrench

Step 1

Remove nuts and bolts

Use a wrench to loosen all four bolts holding the cover on the wellhead of your well. In the picture, the cover of our wellhead is gray.
Step 2

Remove the bolts one at a time holding your free hand below the cover so the nuts will fall into your free hand.
Step 3

Lift the cover off from the wellhead. It should lift off easily.
Step 4

Add the recommended amount of bleach for the size and depth of your water well.
Step 5

flush with water after adding bleach

Flush the well with fresh water to help the bleach mix into the water supply.
Step 6

Run water through all of your household faucets for several minutes until you smell the bleach odor. Then turn them off and allow the bleach to set in the pipes for several hours. This will kill bacteria lying in the fixtures in pipes. Run water out for several hours before retesting.
Step 7

Disinfect the faucet where you will collect the water specimen. Use bleach or heat to disinfect and use a faucet as close to the holding tank as possible to reduce risk of contamination from plumbing.
Step 8

Replace the wellhead cover, bolts, and tighten nuts. Bolts only need to be finger tightened, making access easier.

Comments

painthorse42 said

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on 10/3/2009 5*! Very good advice! I don't have well water as of now, but in the future when living on a farm, I'm sure I will have it & can use this advice! Thanks!