Private Well, Mortgate, coliform

[sirenmoses]

Anybody got experience w/the above?

Running into the 8k deadline: spent 2 of 3 weeks off doing pre-purchase stuff, then bank wants nitrate and coli test. Clear in 07, I pulled samples Wens to expedite: pos for coli. :manybadwords:

Will do the 4 hr/120m trip on Monday to retest from a different faucet, after a 20m flow, w/ nytril gloves on; hoping well doesn't need a shock. Ain't nuttin changed in the past 3 yrs....

 

[titanpat57]

Shock it or put an in-line UV light on it..

I'd be curious why it's testing positive for the Big C

Maybe neighbors septic recharging well?

 

[sirenmoses]

Good question. After talking to the 07 inspector, its prolly faulty sampling on my part . edit: reviewing his paperwork, no mention of 'coliform', tho 'bacteria' could be the acronym.

Tell more about in-line UV please.

Wellhead is at the same elevation as neighbor's foundation, and 250'+ feet away. Won't hurt to ask tho.

Septic is 150'+ downhill from wellhead, was pumped/inspected for estate closing/purchase (owner of record passed away). Snow interrupted that process: hard to see a leach field under 3' of the white stuff.

The 2 lots upridge of me are unoccupied: held in trust, per the county assessor's website. Haven't seen/heard evidence of occupation, but the back half of this property is a 30% slope, so I don't hike it very often. Might be worth another look-see, if second sample comes back positive.

Prolly bad form to open carry up there, eh? "Snakes n bears" is a good answer to 'why', and the boomer doesn't need a leash, unlike my dogs...

 

[titanpat57]

It's a light that gets installed in the water line (very easy to do, some companies charge thousands to install this miracle "fix")

It should eliminate all, or at least 99.99% of total-E and C, but I don't think it hurts to shock the well anyway...kinda like a thorough cleansing before a colonoscopy, if you know what I mean.

About 20 years ago, with my first house, I use to test my water every year back then and it showed up with some issues. I also noticed my neighbors septic fields leeching out at the bottom of our common road. I asked him what was up with it and at first he blamed it on high water table, but then reassured me someone was coming "soon" to fix it. I was in the contracting business at the time and told him I would help him get an excavator and work with the town to get it fixed...nope...not good enough. So I press for a date, explain that I think his septic is recharging my well, and this is jepordizing our health, and again...a bunch of lip service.

Now I'm buying bottled water, months go buy, and ready to go off like the space shuttle, this dude does not give a s***. So I sneak over at 2 am and drop some dye into the uncovered tank (it was that way for months because he was going to fix it himself, to save money. Of course it starts to show up like a gulf coast oil slick in the bottom yard. I grab my camera at daylight and start snapping pictures and he opens the door screaming and hollaring for me to stop being such an a****** and a few other things and leave them alone..lol..ok.

Then he sees the green dye pool...

He wants to know how that got there ..yaddy, yaddy, blah blah...I'm gonna arrest you for tresspassing..I'm gonna sue you..needless to say he was very, very upset... I suggested maybe the contractor he "allegedlly hired" did it...


So I've had it, go buy a light, install it, shock my well once a month, and keep all my reciepts. I explain to dip**** I'm going to the town, then the DEC, then my lawyer..but in the interest of not taking his house for health damages to my family for 9 months, I wanted an exact date when it will be fixed.

His response was "go for it"!....wrong answer Scooter..


So ...

Monday I take off, go to the town, run out to New Paltz office of the DEC, and go see my lawyer. Town inspector comes out Tuesday, DEC officer comes on Wendesday, and by Friday when he comes home from work THE DEC HAS COMDEMNED THE HOUSE AND HE HAS TO MOVE TO A MOTEL....

Needless to say, I made sure he paid double when dealing with a contractor, that an inspector was there for most the job, and by then my lawyer had contacted him about drilling a new well for me, and liable for damages to our health. Ohh..he also had a hire an engineer that certify and approve the finished project. He comes crawling to me by the end of the first week out of his house, saying it was all a big misunderstanding, he lost all his savings...lol...almost had ME in tears... In the interest of maintaining a neighborly atmosphere...i also recommended a good banker...thinking he may need one once the lawsits start rolling in...lolol.

Anyways, to end this fiasco, he gets his septic fixed, I get all my money back, and this day he still won't look in my direction...hahaha

 

[MoJ]

It's a light that gets installed in the water line (very easy to do, some companies charge thousands to install this miracle "fix")

It should eliminate all, or at least 99.99% of total-E and C, but I don't think it hurts to shock the well anyway...kinda like a thorough cleansing before a colonoscopy, if you know what I mean.

About 20 years ago, with my first house, I use to test my water every year back then and it showed up with some issues. I also noticed my neighbors septic fields leeching out at the bottom of our common road. I asked him what was up with it and at first he blamed it on high water table, but then reassured me someone was coming "soon" to fix it. I was in the contracting business at the time and told him I would help him get an excavator and work with the town to get it fixed...nope...not good enough. So I press for a date, explain that I think his septic is recharging my well, and this is jepordizing our health, and again...a bunch of lip service.

Now I'm buying bottled water, months go buy, and ready to go off like the space shuttle, this dude does not give a s***. So I sneak over at 2 am and drop some dye into the uncovered tank (it was that way for months because he was going to fix it himself, to save money. Of course it starts to show up like a gulf coast oil slick in the bottom yard. I grab my camera at daylight and start snapping pictures and he opens the door screaming and hollaring for me to stop being such an a****** and a few other things and leave them alone..lol..ok.

Then he sees the green dye pool...

He wants to know how that got there ..yaddy, yaddy, blah blah...I'm gonna arrest you for tresspassing..I'm gonna sue you..needless to say he was very, very upset... I suggested maybe the contractor he "allegedlly hired" did it...


So I've had it, go buy a light, install it, shock my well once a month, and keep all my reciepts. I explain to dip**** I'm going to the town, then the DEC, then my lawyer..but in the interest of not taking his house for health damages to my family for 9 months, I wanted an exact date when it will be fixed.

His response was "go for it"!....wrong answer Scooter..


So ...

Monday I take off, go to the town, run out to New Paltz office of the DEC, and go see my lawyer. Town inspector comes out Tuesday, DEC officer comes on Wendesday, and by Friday when he comes home from work THE DEC HAS COMDEMNED THE HOUSE AND HE HAS TO MOVE TO A MOTEL....

Needless to say, I made sure he paid double when dealing with a contractor, that an inspector was there for most the job, and by then my lawyer had contacted him about drilling a new well for me, and liable for damages to our health. Ohh..he also had a hire an engineer that certify and approve the finished project. He comes crawling to me by the end of the first week out of his house, saying it was all a big misunderstanding, he lost all his savings...lol...almost had ME in tears... In the interest of maintaining a neighborly atmosphere...i also recommended a good banker...thinking he may need one once the lawsits start rolling in...lolol.

Anyways, to end this fiasco, he gets his septic fixed, I get all my money back, and this day he still won't look in my direction...hahaha

nice

 

[Mace]

sample directly out of the well head

Let the sample port run for HOURS before you take the sample
DON'T touch the sample container to the sample port

 

[Toyo FJ40]

If you do get a UV light make sure you get the size you need. UV lights have restrictors on the inlets to keep the water flowing at a rate that the light can kill whats in it. Most common sizes are 7 gal per min and 12 gal. I tend to use the 12 gal because your less likely to get a pressure drop if you run multiple fixtures.
The only time I do 7 gal units is for the sale of a house.
The bulbs only last 12 months and run about $100 to replace.

 

[Michael Hanson]

Any cattle or chicken farms in the watershed area? Mike

 

[VFRMAN]

Didn't read all the details, but did you burn the tip of the faucet with a torch/match to sanitize the tip after running the water for a long time? And take out the screen inside? I have to take samples for every lake place I sell and you'd be surprised how many bad tests you can get from shoddy or too-quick testing methods. Maybe you have bigger issues, but I've been burned a few times by crappy samples. Good Luck.

 

[sirenmoses]

Update

Shocked, sampled, passed. Yippee. Closed on 29th, meeting w/tax guy today. gonna use the 8k to re-roof w/metal, (which snags a 30% materials rebate) and pay off at least the small credit card, after I pay a month ahead on the mortgage.

Irony is: mortgage folks read the control page as my test, so the paperwork moved through anyway. Completed the process in case pwk ever gets a review, and for my sense of well-being (no pun intended)

To reply to previous posts:
Didn't touch 2nd sample jar to port, but didn't run for hours either. It's the desert man, wasting water is a mortal sin!

No livestock of any kind above the wellhead. For miles. Just deer and turkey and bear.

Didn't sanitize or check for screen in faucet: good ideas.

 

[Brentbba]

Good news!!