Treating A Well For Total Coliform

Many state health departments provide well water sampling kits for the homeowner to test the source of drinking water.

Treating a well for total coliform.

Of course you do need to be careful and take precautions as it can be dangerous when you are handling chemicals like chlorine. Treatment solutions before taking any treatment action the original source of contamination should be determined so changes can be made to prevent the contamination in the future. If your water tests positive for total coliforms and positive for e coli there s a fecal contamination source which could be a leaking septic system or agricultural runoff containing animal waste. Research shows that total coliform including e coli is present in 16 1 of private water wells in alberta.

In water coliform bacteria have no taste smell or colour. Next a hose was connected in a loop from the newly installed valve back to an adapter that squeezed water back into the well down the vent opening on the right of the photo where the bleach went in. Hopefully treating the coliform in the well piping to the pressure tank and the tank itself will take care of the problem. How to treat drinking water for bacteria.

Poor well construction or poor maintenance can increase the risk of groundwater contamination. If total coliform bacteria are found to be present then additional testing for fecal coliform bacteria or e. They can only be detected through a laboratory test. Because the origins of fecal coliforms are more specific than the origins of the more general total coliform group of bacteria fecal coliforms are considered a more accurate indication of animal or human waste than the total coliforms.

Coli may be warranted. I understand i can use an ultraviolet light filter to kill the bacteria or i can install a chlorinator. Fecal coliforms are the group of the total coliforms that are considered to be present specifically in the gut and feces of warm blooded animals. The canadian drinking water quality guideline for total coliforms is none detectable per 100 ml.

Once you have determined that your well contains the coliform microbes you will need to chemically treat the water. University extension offices as well as commercial businesses also provide testing kits for a small fee. If you are thinking of shocking a well for coliform but are intimidated then i hope this article has shown you that it isn t as scary a thought as it seems. Recently back in dec of 2014 parkland county leduc and sturgeon county residents using well water were advised by alberta health services to avoid drinking their water due to other sources of contamination.

How to treat my well water for coliform bacteria i just bought a home on well water and found out the well has coliform bacteria. Testing for coliform bacteria is generally less expensive than testing for other pathogens such as viruses.