Time for a follow-up. I chlorinated that well, April 22nd: 3 quarts of Clorox into about 125 gallons in the well, circulated it well for over an hour, let it stand for 12 hours, ran it out into the woods for at least 1000 gallons; the first effluent was very orange indeed; gradually it became...
I've got a good well, 125 feet, refill 25 gpm, 85 feet of water; had the water analyzed several times, there's about nothing in it--very soft, slightly acid, small amount of iron (0.1 ppm). Had a new pump put in five years ago, soon after I moved into this now-18-year old house.
But about six...
Yesterday the termite inspector accidentally shut off my water pump. I got home from work, had no water, looked, found it, turned it back on; but now I find my filters on the water line at the sink are clogged with sediment. Can anyone explain why turning off the pump should stir up sediment...
That makes sense, from the (little) chemistry I remember; the chlorine would oxidize the metallic copper, converting it to, I suppose copper oxide; that would then be more susceptible to acid converting it on to copper bicarbonate. At least, it did in 1961...
Well, let's see. if it's CuHCO3 (and I really was curious about that) then it's coming from CO2 dissolving in the water, forming carbonic acid; which then reacts with the copper to form that deposit. But, as it does so, the acid is removed from that particular "pipe-full" of water. So, until...
"Just as old," yes; but I doubt "just as corroded." No one has ever done much living upstairs, just our kids when they visit. So the water has mostly just stood in those pipes.
Once the acid in that water has "eaten" all the copper it can hold, it should no longer be corrosive, I should...
A point to be considered, indeed; much depends then, on what shape my pipes are in; I hope to have that looked at shortly. One halfway measure: The upstairs bathroom having never been much used, the pipes up there might be in good shape now, and likely to remain that way; I could consider...
I'm reluctantly considering another approach: Ripping out the copper and putting in PEX. I'm on a crawl space, two story house, have one upstairs bathroom that is rarely used. How horrible a mess will it make to do this? My wife is not enthusiastic about the notion. What are things to consider?
Good thing I haven't provided my address! ;-)
I'm going back and forth like a metronome on this topic. One minute I favor hiring a plumber; the next I think I'll go for the security of a known vendor who will stand behind his work. I know a good vendor; I don't (yet) know a good plumber.
The pump approach is attractive, but access to it would be a problem; I'm going to have to go with the neutralizer. All the local vendors I have called want at least $2500 to install just a neutralizer, not including a softener. As bimr writes, there are lots of neutralizers for sale in the...
My pH is 6 or 6.1. Calcite should be able to fix that, I'm thinking. But if the carbonate injector would fit in my crawl space beside the pressure tank, it would save me having to put the neutralizer tank in my crowded garage. Do you have any links to injectors? It's not something I've heard...
I have exactly this same problem! I see neutralizing systems for sale, $800 or so for the tank and backwash control. Is this a DIY installation, or would I need a plumber to do the hookup? My neighbors have paid nearly $3000 for an installed similar unit--that seems like a lot for labor...
