Plumbing / Well ?????

[MinnesotaMike]

I needed to replace my bathroom faucet the other day and because the knucklehead that built the house didn't put ANY shut off valves anywhere in the house I had to shut off at the pump. I have a well system.

So, I get the faucet on and turn on the water at the main.

I get the usual sputtering and then a bunch of black water, not thick just black. I am assuming residue on the inside of the pipes. Is there a way to get the residue cleaned out of there? I read on a different thread about some pipes bursting because they weren't possibly grounded.

I do know that I need to chlorinate the well because the water is terrible, we've bought water for the past 10 years.

Anyway, is there a way to clean the inside of the pipes?

Thx,

Mike

[blockhead]

as an ex well driller I believe you almost have it figured out. Chlorinating the well will help. When you do this run the house fixtures enough to get chlorine into the house plumbing and leave it sit for a few hours or so before flushing it out. Pressure surging, as you did by shutting off the valve at the well and releasing and then re-pressuring the house plumbing will also help flush out the pipes. WARNING: some pipes build up hard scale others just a soft sludge. Scale can and likely will plug faucet screens and even get stuck in valves. Sludge once broken loose in one section of plumbing may require a large volume of water to allow for all sludge to work its way out. Either of these problems if severe enough may also cause pipes to plug.

[nobody05]

Do you think the majority of the built-up is in the line from the well to the house? but yes first step would be to chlorinate the well and go from there!

[PurpleFloyd]

Some owners in this area use a hydrogen peroxide system to keep the pipes clean.

[Tom7227]

FYI you can get good instructions on how to chlorinate a well from the U of M Extension Service HSOforum.

[Down Deep]

Be careful when messing around with a well. You could foul things up if you don't do this right. Professional advice would be advisable. Check with you local county and see what they offer. I had a plumber do the same thing. I still had his money so getting it fixed wasn't much of problem.

[MinnesotaMike]

What went wrong???

[Surface Tension]

I do mine once a year after Spring thaw.

Disinfecting Your Well, Shock Treatment Here

[Tom7227]

I had a problem because I failed to properly flush the casing. My pump failed - it was at least 25 years old. When the well guy tried to pull it he couldn't get it up easily because the casing had rusted. He said that it could have been because of my failure to properly flush the well after pouring the chemical down the casing. He managed to get the old one out but spent a day and a half at it. That's why I recommended checking and using the info that Mr. DeLuca has given the link to.

[krinkle]

So what do you think all that black sludge was. My guess would be rust from galvanized water lines or possibly resin from the water softener. The plumbing pipes in your homes should have a certian amount of build up on the inside of the pipes. With out this the water will attack the pipe and form pin holes in it. I see in certain parts of town like Fridley and Edina where copper pipes dont last very long at all due to this.

[Tom7227]

Cooper pipes get bacteria growing on them when it's well water. When you do anything to the system is drains down and then when you turn it back on it breaks some of the black material loose. I suspect that the chlorine in most municipal water keeps it from forming.