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[Allegheny]

For a long time we had a filtration system on our main line water to take care of iron, and iron bacteria. The water pumped out of the well, passed thru a chlorine injector (a large plastic trash can in our basement, filled with water and a gallon of chlorine bleach. The chlorine injector was mounted on a special lid for the trash can, so nothing could get into that water. From there, the water went into the holding tank which was as tall as our water heater, but not as large. This tank held a large bag of small pellets, which grabbed the iron in the water. This system had to be back flushed every 3-5 days to stay efficient, and the pellets had to be replaced every 3 months. None of our household drain water goes into our sewer system; it drains into a special line that carries run off water from the mountain behind us. Only toilet contents go into our sewer. When we had this filtering system, we ran the back flush drain into our garden, as that was nearly 50 gallons of water wasted in every preset flush of that system.

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Redtop, it is really interesting to read about the different types of systems utilized in other parts of the country.

Since this disruption I have often wondered why there isn't some kind of screen system that filters the water before it gets into the house or holding tank to remove particles. I would gladly clean it manually.

Our water tested pretty good for PH, iron, it is a little hard. We had salt water softener years back and quit using it because of my concern for our septic. I wish we could divert our gray water from entering the septic.

My sister did that when she built their home, but I don't think code allows that anymore. I grew up with spring water..(it was an open spring) and I never remember my dad being concerned about coliform bacteria although I am sure it was present. It was the best water.

[gardenman]

My neighbor had a new well drilled about ten years ago and it took multiple chlorine doses to finally get it to pass inspection. He was about ready to kill everyone involved as the process went on forever. It was weeks (maybe months) before he finally got it cleared. Towards the end they were putting many gallons of chlorine into the well in an effort to get it cleared. Pretty much every day he was dragging in big five gallon water bottles from the store until he had usable water. I'm not sure if it was retested now that it wouldn't still test positive, but they got it to test negative long enough to get state approval. Just be forewarned it may not be a fast process.

[Allegheny]

gardenman, that is interesting.   His well's water source may have been contaminated, so it would be almost impossible to get an acceptable coliform bacteria level if that was the case.

We only know that ours tested positive, they didn't analyze it further.  Before I do anything I need to have it retested to reveal the specifics and whether or not it exceeds acceptable standards.