[vrussell]

We purchased a property in NE Oklahoma that is on well water about a month ago. After it rains, the water turns very brown for several days and then clears up. Obviously there is a problem with surface water run-off entering the well.

We contacted the person we bought the property from and her comment was, "It does that everytime it rains. I just bought bottled water to drink and cook with until it cleared up." That was the first time we heard of any problems with the well. We then contacted the realtor and told her what the owner had said. The realtor stated that she had not known there was a problem, the owner had never mentioned it to her.

We have been unable to get any information on this well from the owner. We have a well guy scheduled to come out and see what our options may be. Water samples have been set to DEQ for testing and we are waiting to hear the results.

Shouldn't this issue been on the disclosure when we closed on the property? Do we have any recourse? Not sure what we can do at this point...
Suggestions? Thanks

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by vrussell

We purchased a property in NE Oklahoma that is on well water about a month ago. After it rains, the water turns very brown for several days and then clears up. Obviously there is a problem with surface water run-off entering the well.

We contacted the person we bought the property from and her comment was, "It does that everytime it rains. I just bought bottled water to drink and cook with until it cleared up." That was the first time we heard of any problems with the well. We then contacted the realtor and told her what the owner had said. The realtor stated that she had not known there was a problem, the owner had never mentioned it to her.

We have been unable to get any information on this well from the owner. We have a well guy scheduled to come out and see what our options may be. Water samples have been set to DEQ for testing and we are waiting to hear the results.

Shouldn't this issue been on the disclosure when we closed on the property? Do we have any recourse? Not sure what we can do at this point...
Suggestions? Thanks

Shouldn't the well filter take care of this? If it was toxic waste, I would understand, but simple dirt should be taken care of by the well filter.

[vrussell]

We have changed the filters out several times - sometimes twice a week and it hasn't helped. The well does have a small filter system. Are there filtration systems that are better than others? Types? Brand names? Still waiting to hear the results of testing. Thanks for the reply.

[Synopsis]

vrussell, I am certainly no expert, but it sounds like runoff from the rain is bypassing the filter somehow and going directly into your main line AFTER the water is filtered. To me, that is the only way the dirty water could get into your tap. I would look into how the water is draining. You may have a leak in the line after the filter. All in all, I think it is a problem that can be solved without a lot of hassle.

Anyone else on here have ideas to help out? GP, you seem to be knowledgeable in a wide range of topics; lend this good person a hand will ya?

[Goodpasture]

First of all get the health department to check the purity of the water. If you have runoff entering your water, there may well be some serious bacterial issues.

If there isn't a health issue that needs to be addressed, and all you want to do is clear it up add some filters.

You can pick up some filters for a 3/4 inch line for about $25.00 each at Lowes or Home Depot. they have replaceable filters for anywhere from $4 to $10 and they generally have 3 types. First is a sediment filter which is a polypropylene fiber filter......it looks like tightly wrapped string and is white. that traps the "mud" and sediment. Then there is a carbon filter which is gray or black. This traps small particulates and sweetens the water. Lastly there is the ceramic filter, usually a light gray. This will trap the last of the foreign matter. I think this system will even remove chemicals such as cholorine and flouride.

If you have a place IN the house where the water comes in, put in 3 of these filters. Put them in before the water is split between the hot and cold sides. Put the poly filter (sediment) closest to the well. Follow that with the carbon, follow that with the ceramic. You will experience a slight drop in pressure but it should keep the house water clean, and you can do this yourself for about $100.

An alternative (and far more expensive) is the Reverse Osmosis system (RO). this will turn sea water into fresh water and is the system used for most bottled drinking waters. Frequently such systems are put under the kitchen sink where only drinking and cooking water is treated. They will run several hundred dollars, but are available from appliance stores, plumbing companies, Sears, etc.

As I was writing this, if you are certain the well water is not being penetrated by run off (and your well should be deep enough, with your submersible pump really deep as well) and it seems there is some penetration of water into the water pipes to the house, go ahead and replace the water line. I have seen a lot of water lines that were made of poly pipe that deteriorated over the course of years and began leaking. But the water line, under pressure, would leak, not accept foreign material or runoff water.

It might be a good idea to call the state engineers office and find out who the driller was, call them and ask them how deep the well is, what problems they anticipated, and discuss with them a redrill of the well or repair/resetting of the pump. The engineers office should be able to tell you depth and quality etc.

but get at least a sediment filter in front of the hot water side of your water heater and double it's life expectancy.

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

First of all get the health department to check the purity of the water. If you have runoff entering your water, there may well be some serious bacterial issues.

If there isn't a health issue that needs to be addressed, and all you want to do is clear it up add some filters.

You can pick up some filters for a 3/4 inch line for about $25.00 each at Lowes or Home Depot. they have replaceable filters for anywhere from $4 to $10 and they generally have 3 types. First is a sediment filter which is a polypropylene fiber filter......it looks like tightly wrapped string and is white. that traps the "mud" and sediment. Then there is a carbon filter which is gray or black. This traps small particulates and sweetens the water. Lastly there is the ceramic filter, usually a light gray. This will trap the last of the foreign matter. I think this system will even remove chemicals such as cholorine and flouride.

If you have a place IN the house where the water comes in, put in 3 of these filters. Put them in before the water is split between the hot and cold sides. Put the poly filter (sediment) closest to the well. Follow that with the carbon, follow that with the ceramic. You will experience a slight drop in pressure but it should keep the house water clean, and you can do this yourself for about $100.

An alternative (and far more expensive) is the Reverse Osmosis system (RO). this will turn sea water into fresh water and is the system used for most bottled drinking waters. Frequently such systems are put under the kitchen sink where only drinking and cooking water is treated. They will run several hundred dollars, but are available from appliance stores, plumbing companies, Sears, etc.

As I was writing this, if you are certain the well water is not being penetrated by run off (and your well should be deep enough, with your submersible pump really deep as well) and it seems there is some penetration of water into the water pipes to the house, go ahead and replace the water line. I have seen a lot of water lines that were made of poly pipe that deteriorated over the course of years and began leaking. But the water line, under pressure, would leak, not accept foreign material or runoff water.

It might be a good idea to call the state engineers office and find out who the driller was, call them and ask them how deep the well is, what problems they anticipated, and discuss with them a redrill of the well or repair/resetting of the pump. The engineers office should be able to tell you depth and quality etc.

but get at least a sediment filter in front of the hot water side of your water heater and double it's life expectancy.

You never disappoint sir.

[john l nelson]

Also might be worth looking around for a open or well or or cistern which could leak into the water sand. I have seen wells several hundered feet away contaminated that way. Sometimes the old wells were covered with a concrete slab but not pluged. Newer wells are sealed with concrete grout 2 or 3 feet below ground. I have dug down and checked a few. Some older wells used thin sheet metal casings, they do rust and fail. I know of a few which I could look down inside after a rain and see water squirting into the well. Before pitless adaptors, a rubber packing or seal was used to admit the pipe into the casing below ground level. Most of them leak and they aren't acceptable. If you have neighbors close check with them they may know something of the well or remember another well. Hope this helps.
John

[_redbird_]

Hate to weigh in on this subject because I have no idea what it could be.. but it does not sound good. When our well water became muddy intermittently, it simply meant the well caved in and we had to get a new well drilled.

The heater core on our water heater has to be replaced every 9 months due to the contaminants from crap pumped into oil wells to plug them. We have had our well water tested several times.

I say we have cancer water. Although it may not be true. But we have had too many farm animals including cows, horse and dogs die from cancer.

[vrussell]

Thanks for all the good information and replies everyone!

We are still waiting for the water testing results from DEQ and the well information from the state engineers to come back to us. In the meantime we are drinking and cooking with bottled water. According to one of the well drillers we spoke with, there have been several contaminated wells in the area (Locust Grove/Rose/Leach).

Goodpasture, your information on filter systems was very helpful. Hopefully we can get something along those lines that will work - if the tests results come back alright and the water is safe to use.

_redbird_ Where are you located? It is scary that so many wells are bad these days We have lots of "critters" also that are drinking the water.

As to the other questions that were asked... this is a well that was put in approx. 7-10 years ago. It does have a concrete "cover." The one sediment filter is between the well and the house. We have replaced that at least once a week. The water lines are schedule 80 and appear to be in good shape, no signs of leaks, etc. (We were in the excavation business for years and have experience in knowing what to look for as far as water line leakage goes.) The house was built in 2002 and water lines were put in then (so we were told). We talked to the neighbors and there doesn't appear to be any old wells that were on the property.

So, if the water tests OK, we will try the filtration system. Hopefully that will be the case. We will cross the other bridges when and if the need arises. We enjoy the property and it's ours now, so we will make it work! It is just frustrating to encounter this as we are moving in... Would have been nice to know upfront.

Thanks again!

[_redbird_]

We are in Hughes County. North of us in Lincoln County, a friend has e-coli contamination from cattle runoff and they have a serious filter process, in fact they have two or three.

We also had DEQ test our water. Good luck on your well water issues. And just drink bottled water like the rest of us.