Is water pressure and thick sediment after well shock normal?

[Clag]

Hello All, thank you all help and advice. Every so often I get the rotten egg smell in some or all faucets. When I moved here 2yrs ago, I purchased a whole house filter system, which I thought would help with the smell, but I was wrong and still experience it sometimes with no rhyme or reason. I had a company come out today today to shock the well and have had problems with water pressure since. I noticed this before the technician left, but he didn't seem concerned and suggested that I wait to see what happens after I finish the entire chlorination process (12hr shut down, etc.), but it has not improved.

When the technician came inside to check for the chlorine smell, he turned on the kitchen sink cold water first, which had good pressure to start. He then told me to turn on the rest of the faucets (2 bathrooms and laundry room), but when I did this, the kitchen water stopped flowing. Then within seconds, water from all of the faucets suddenly stopped too. The technician went outside and checked something in the well and then came back inside and checked the water pressure, which he said was good at 40, I believe. He said that we probably used all the well water and said to give it a few minutes. Eventually the water started flowing back to all of the faucets, EXCEPT the kitchen. The kitchen faucet was now barely dripping water, cold and hot. Also, although the cold water pressure was good in the other faucets, the hot water pressure was now very low. The other things I noticed was that the water in all of the faucets looked dirty and had those black specks that smear, which I experienced before installing the house filter. Strangely, there was also a large amount of black/brown gunk coming out of the bathtub faucet (see photos). This stuff looks and feels like potting soil or coffee grounds and doesn't smear like the black specks. There was so much that I was able to scoop it with a spoon. This is something that I've never seen before, even prior to installing the house filter. Nonetheless, since the technician didn't seem concerned, I figured all of this was due to the chlorination and would resolve once I finished the process.

After completing the entire process tonight and regenerating the water softener and filter, the hot water pressure is still very low and the kitchen faucet is still not running water, hot or cold. It's as if the faucet isn't even on. The only thing that improved when I hooked everything back up was the water no longer looks dirty, no black specks and it seems that the bathtub gunk is gone. I also made sure the faucet screens were cleaned, but that hasn't made a difference in pressure for any of the faucets or the kitchen sink flow. I can't even use the kitchen sink for water now.

By the way, I'm also curious if anyone experienced the water not smelling like chlorine after a well shock? Because, the chlorine smell never came through my faucets. I noticed this before the technician left, he also did not smell it, but said sometimes this happens. If so, how would I know that the water was treated if I can't smell the chlorine? This leaves me feeling like that I paid $200 for absolutely nothing.

Thank you again.



Thank you again for any and all input.

 

[Valveman]

Anytime you chlorinate it is going to cause dirty water to come up. Most likely the lines are clogged somewhere. It is best to pump the well out from the well head and not run the dirty and chlorinated water through the house to try and pump out the chlorine. May not have added enough chlorine if you didn't smell it. If there is enough stuff to use up the chlorine it never makes it to the faucets. Could be just the aerators on the faucets are clogged.

 

[Clag]

Anytime you chlorinate it is going to cause dirty water to come up. Most likely the lines are clogged somewhere. It is best to pump the well out from the well head and not run the dirty and chlorinated water through the house to try and pump out the chlorine. May not have added enough chlorine if you didn't smell it. If there is enough stuff to use up the chlorine it never makes it to the faucets. Could be just the aerators on the faucets are clogged.

Good morning, thank you so much for the reply. I cleaner the faucet aerators, but the problem still exists. Any suggestions on how to check and clear clogged lines? Also, would this be something that the technician should be responsible for correcting or par for the course and a problem that I’ll now have to pay a plumber to resolve? As for the chlorine, would it be reasonable to expect the technician to do it again, since it may not have made it through the lines?

Last, when you say “enough stuff to use the chlorine” are talking about all of the sediment that I saw? Meaning, all that gunk is sitting in the well? I’m just trying to understand how all of this works for future reference. Thank you so much for helping.

 

[havasu]

Personally, I'd call up the guy you used and tell him you are not satisfied, and ask for him to return and ask him these questions.

 

[Valveman]

Chlorine works on the organics, not the sediment. You need enough chlorine to eat the organics and still have a residual chlorine smell. Yeah, the gunk is using up the chlorine. But the gunk also turns into sediment and clogs the lines after chlorination. The well should be pumped out good after chlorination to keep the crud out of the house lines. Calling someone to help would be good if you can find someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[Clag]

Chlorine works on the organics, not the sediment. You need enough chlorine to eat the organics and still have a residual chlorine smell. Yeah, the gunk is using up the chlorine. But the gunk also turns into sediment and clogs the lines after chlorination. The well should be pumped out good after chlorination to keep the crud out of the house lines. Calling someone to help would be good if you can find someone who knows what they are doing.

Thank you again. He definitely didn’t pump out the well after. But he did come back out this morning and offered no resolution other than to tell me to call a plumber to unclog the lines. Not happy with that, but what can I do? So, I had a plumbing company come and they were taken aback that the well technician didn’t try to fix the issue. Now they are going to have to take apart the kitchen sink to unclog it and also flush the hot water heater. If flushing the water heater doesn’t resolve the pressure issue in the other sinks, they’ll have to take all the other faucets apart Tok, which is going to cost $250 each. I’m waiting for their office to call me with the price for the tank flush. Unbelievable.

 

[Clag]

Personally, I'd call up the guy you used and tell him you are not satisfied, and ask for him to return and ask him these questions.

Thank you for the reply.

Chlorine works on the organics, not the sediment. You need enough chlorine to eat the organics and still have a residual chlorine smell. Yeah, the gunk is using up the chlorine. But the gunk also turns into sediment and clogs the lines after chlorination. The well should be pumped out good after chlorination to keep the crud out of the house lines. Calling someone to help would be good if you can find someone who knows what they are doing.

Thank you for the reply. I did call him and he technician come back out this morning, checked the faucet aerators (which I’d already done) then suggested I call a plumber to unclog the lines and left. Of course I’m not happy with this, but what can I do? So, I had a plumbing company come and they also weren’t happy that the technician didn’t try to fix the issue. Now they will to have to take apart the kitchen sink to unclog it and also flush the hot water heater. If flushing the water heater doesn’t resolve the pressure issue in the other sinks, they’ll have to take all the other faucets apart too, which is going to cost $250 each. I’m waiting for their office to call me with the price for the tank flush. A simple $200 well treatment is now turning into hundreds of dollars.

 

[Clag]

Anytime you chlorinate it is going to cause dirty water to come up. Most likely the lines are clogged somewhere. It is best to pump the well out from the well head and not run the dirty and chlorinated water through the house to try and pump out the chlorine. May not have added enough chlorine if you didn't smell it. If there is enough stuff to use up the chlorine it never makes it to the faucets. Could be just the aerators on the faucets are clogged.

And I forgot to mention, I went out and got some water test strips and tested the water before he came and and there isn’t a trace of chlorine, so I think you are right that he didn’t add enough chlorine. When I told him about the test, he suggested that the test strips are wrong.

 

[FishScreener]

What is the status of your filter system? It may be completely clogged. A whole house filter should have prevented anything large enough to clog from getting past it.

 

[Twowaxhack]

What type water pipe do you have ? Copper, plastic, steel ?

 

[RS]

The last time I shocked a well I stuck the pump, ended up changing it! But it cost me less than $300, because I do all my own well work! It seems so many of the people that you hire to do work are so totally incompetent, I dread the day I can't do my own repairs!

 

[Aggie83]

Needs more chlorine for sure. I use one gallon per hundred feet of depth of well. Always use an outside hose Bibb to flush after it's done so gunk goes outside. You can do a shock treatment yourself pretty easily.

 

[Valveman]

I also circulate vinegar to lower the ph before adding chlorine, which makes the chlorine work much better. But yeah, it can turn stuff lose and stick pumps with all the gunk.

 

[JEG in Raleigh]

Not commenting on your obstruction problem, but I want to suggest something regarding the smell that started the problem. I have a well and I've had the sulfur smell problem too over the past 5 years. At first, it was pretty much out of all my faucets, but later, after trying some different treatments, only out of some faucets. From what you say, that seems to be the case with your problem too. I have a pretty extensive filter/softener system. I have a softener, Katalox Light backwash filter, catalytic carbon backwash filter, cartridge sediment filter, and UV bacteria filter.

First I tried chlorinating the well (did that several times) and it seemed to work for a week or two, but then the smell came back.

Then I tried chlorinating my piping. To do that, I removed the cartridge from my cartridge sediment filter, partially filled that chamber with bleach and then opened all the valves and let that chlorinated water flow through all the pipes. I used chlorine test strips to verify that chlorinated water was coming out of all the faucets. I then let it sit for several hours. Then I turned the water back on and let it run for maybe 5 minutes out of each faucet to flush the system. I then replaced the cartridge in the filter housing. This also seemed to work for a couple of weeks before the smell returned.

Finally, I installed a hydrogen peroxide injection system with a dosing pump that turns on with a flow switch. This solved most of the smell problem, but I still, to this day, have a periodic rotten-egg smell at my 2 master bath sinks, another bath sink, and the washing machine. What I discovered is that when I stick my schnoz down in the sink, the smell seems to be coming out of the overflow holes near the top of the sink. When I run the water, the smell actually gets worse coming out of those holes, as if the flow of water down the drain sort of pushes the smelly air up and out of the overflow vent holes. The water itself is not stinking.....it's the air coming out of the overflow holes. The 2 sinks in my master bath and the sink in the other bath where I have this problem are all identical and they are all no-name porcelain sinks that were installed as part of my quartz countertop fabrication by that fabricator. I am now guessing that the overflow channel is of a poor design and somehow water is pooling in an internal recess and bacteria is forming and stinking. This might not be a problem with a chlorinated municipal water supply but it is with my non-chlorinated well water. I now make a chlorine solution with bleach and water in a spray bottle, put the spray nozzle of the bottle on "mist" and spray that solution into the sink overflow holes once a week, and it completely solves my stinky water problem. I also pour a cup of bleach into my washing machine drain about once a month and let it sit overnight and do a wash cycle with a cup of bleach once a month, and I do not have stinky water problems with the washing machine anymore.

Anyway, that's what has worked for me.....the hydrogen peroxide injection plus that periodic bleach treatment on the 3 sinks and washing machine.

 

[Clag]

What is the status of your filter system? It may be completely clogged. A whole house filter should have prevented anything large enough to clog from getting past it.

Hi there, sorry I didn’t realize that I got more message until now. I have a springwell whole house filtering system, which the contractor turned off and bypassed along with the softener during the chlorination process, which to my understanding is why all the sediment and dark water came through the faucets. Should the filtering system have remained on?

 

[Clag]

The last time I shocked a well I stuck the pump, ended up changing it! But it cost me less than $300, because I do all my own well work! It seems so many of the people that you hire to do work are so totally incompetent, I dread the day I can't do my own repairs!

Hi there, sorry I didn’t realize that I got more message until now. Yeah, this has turned into a nightmare. At this point, I wish I had the knowledge to at least troubleshoot and make repairs myself. Or at least the ability to rule out some things before paying someone. I have no problem paying for services, but it annoys me to no end when I do and get crappy service, then end up with a worse problem. I did have a plumber to flush/drain the hot water to tank, in case that was the problem, but the issues persist. Water pressure is low, has bubbles and is spitting out the faucet, fluctuations in pressure and particles of sediment still. This is now nearly a month later.

 

[Clag]

What type water pipe do you have ? Copper, plastic, steel ?

Hi there, sorry I didn’t realize that I got more messages until now. From what I understand, at least according to the plumber who flushed my hot water heater, it seems I may have both plastic and copper. I know for certain when I got a new water heater a couple of years ago, the plumber used plastic and while in the crawl discs with him I noticed a lot of the shouts plastyc running around down there. But I suspect, at the least to one of the bathrooms where I am having the worst pressure issue, there , may be more copper.

 

[Clag]

Needs more chlorine for sure. I use one gallon per hundred feet of depth of well. Always use an outside hose Bibb to flush after it's done so gunk goes outside. You can do a shock treatment yourself pretty easily.

Hi there, sorry I didn’t realize that I got more message until now. I figured as much, but when I mentioned it to the guy he insisted that he used enough. So that was $200 down the drain.

 

[Clag]

Not commenting on your obstruction problem, but I want to suggest something regarding the smell that started the problem. I have a well and I've had the sulfur smell problem too over the past 5 years. At first, it was pretty much out of all my faucets, but later, after trying some different treatments, only out of some faucets. From what you say, that seems to be the case with your problem too. I have a pretty extensive filter/softener system. I have a softener, Katalox Light backwash filter, catalytic carbon backwash filter, cartridge sediment filter, and UV bacteria filter.

First I tried chlorinating the well (did that several times) and it seemed to work for a week or two, but then the smell came back.

Then I tried chlorinating my piping. To do that, I removed the cartridge from my cartridge sediment filter, partially filled that chamber with bleach and then opened all the valves and let that chlorinated water flow through all the pipes. I used chlorine test strips to verify that chlorinated water was coming out of all the faucets. I then let it sit for several hours. Then I turned the water back on and let it run for maybe 5 minutes out of each faucet to flush the system. I then replaced the cartridge in the filter housing. This also seemed to work for a couple of weeks before the smell returned.

Finally, I installed a hydrogen peroxide injection system with a dosing pump that turns on with a flow switch. This solved most of the smell problem, but I still, to this day, have a periodic rotten-egg smell at my 2 master bath sinks, another bath sink, and the washing machine. What I discovered is that when I stick my schnoz down in the sink, the smell seems to be coming out of the overflow holes near the top of the sink. When I run the water, the smell actually gets worse coming out of those holes, as if the flow of water down the drain sort of pushes the smelly air up and out of the overflow vent holes. The water itself is not stinking.....it's the air coming out of the overflow holes. The 2 sinks in my master bath and the sink in the other bath where I have this problem are all identical and they are all no-name porcelain sinks that were installed as part of my quartz countertop fabrication by that fabricator. I am now guessing that the overflow channel is of a poor design and somehow water is pooling in an internal recess and bacteria is forming and stinking. This might not be a problem with a chlorinated municipal water supply but it is with my non-chlorinated well water. I now make a chlorine solution with bleach and water in a spray bottle, put the spray nozzle of the bottle on "mist" and spray that solution into the sink overflow holes once a week, and it completely solves my stinky water problem. I also pour a cup of bleach into my washing machine drain about once a month and let it sit overnight and do a wash cycle with a cup of bleach once a month, and I do not have stinky water problems with the washing machine anymore.

Anyway, that's what has worked for me.....the hydrogen peroxide injection plus that periodic bleach treatment on the 3 sinks and washing machine.

Hi there, sorry I didn’t realize that I got more message until now. Thank you for the info. Once I get the rest of this mess fixed, I’ll try that if the smell returns. I will certainly not trust anyone to shock it again, because this has turned into a nightmare.

 

[Twowaxhack]

This might not be a problem with a chlorinated municipal water supply but it is with my non-chlorinated well water.

It’s not as likely with chlorinated water but still possible.