Lycoming County Pennsylvania Flooding Private Wells

Lycoming County, Pennsylvania – Flooding Private Wells

With the significant and long-term rainfall events, we have areas that have undergone flooding.   If your area has been flooded and you use private water wells you must take some action to ensure that your water well is thoroughly cleaned and sanitized.    When water wells become inundated or a region floods, it is possible that the contaminated water may enter the water well directly via the well cap or indirectly through natural macropores  (i.e., spaces between the rock or particles of sand and gravel,  in the unconsolidated material or bedrock.  OUR suggestions are as follows:

1. Do not panic!
2. If you are not handy, we recommend that you contact a licensed professional well driller.
3. If you are handy and have power, we recommend that you inspect the area around the well and remove the well cap and shock disinfect the well.
4. We would recommend the well be purged to waste – do not purge the water into the septic system or back directly into the well initially.  When the well water appears clear, recirculate the water back into the well to wash down the sides of the casing.   Please make sure to by-pass any water treatment devices and water filters and do not run this water through your main plumbing of the home.
5. We then recommend that the well and main line be shock disinfected twice.  This is our website that contains information on how to shock disinfect a well and a link to a video that reviews the process and to the preferred chemical to use (Link to Amazon).  Please note- Some local well drillers has this chemical available.   If you can not get this chemical, it is ok in an emergency to use household bleach that does NOT contains scents, fragrances, or other additives.
6. After the well has been shock disinfected and purged one to waste, the second shock disinfection should be to the well and the distribution system of the home.  When you conduct this disinfection, it is critical that you remove all aeration devices, by-pass all filters, and remove any hoses or connections that have inline filters or screens, i.e., your washer hoses and you may want to consider raising the casing, adding a sanitary well cap, and adding a Well Seal.
7. When you believe you have shock disinfected the well properly, we recommend the following:
   1. Screen the raw untreated well water and the water from the piping of your home using a DIY Informational Water Testing Screening Test. (Link to TA – portion of the proceeds benefits the Keystone Clean Water Team)
   2. If the screening test is negative, we would suggest that you then contact a certified laboratory PA by county and have the water tested for at least total coliform and E. coli. using a method that gives you a physical count, i.e., an enumeration method.
   3. If the water is still positive for total coliform and/or E. coli, we would recommend that you shock disinfect the well and distribution system a second time, but use a longer reaction time and then retest using a certified laboratory.
   4. If you are in an area with farming or petrochemical storage or high use, we would also recommend an informational water screening test that includes trace metals, herbicides, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds  (Link to NTL – portion of the proceeds benefits the Keystone Clean Water Team).

PS: Adding too much disinfection chemical to the well is not wise, this can cause the release of arsenic and other trace metals into the water.

Recent Concerns:
Worms in Well Water
Forever Chemicals in Drinking Water

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