Q: My daughter is selling a yard site near Portage la Prairie, Man., and part of the mortgage requirements for the buyer is a water test. The test came back four percent coliform.
My daughter and her family have drank this water since they moved there. When the test came back at four percent they shocked the well by putting three gallons of Javex into a tank of water, dumping it in the well and letting it sit for about 24 hours.
Then they pumped the well (dry, by mistake), waited for it to fill up again and then took another water sample. This one came back at 12 percent – unacceptable.
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Can you tell me why it would be worse after shocking the well? Is there a solution to this to reduce the count? The water test is part of the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s requirements and if it doesn’t come back acceptable, the buyers will not get the mortgage.
A: Coliform bacteria are caused by human or animal sewage entering the water supply.
Coliform tests can vary, depending on the time of the year, water temperature and the amount of waste that is entering the well.
I recommend no one drink this water. To control coliform bacteria you will have to install a continuous chlorination system, which can be installed in the basement downstream of the pressure tank.
Coliform bacteria cannot survive in water with a minimum chlorine residual of one part per million.
Q: Our well water has been excellent, but in the last couple of years it has been getting black with rust-coloured sediment. I have to strain the water to bathe. If you squish the particles in your fingers, it resembles oil.
There is also a rusty colour to the white cloth that I use to strain the water. According to tests, we have no iron and the water doesn’t stain white clothes.
If I use Calgon in the washer, I have no problem using Javex. I shock chlorinate the well once a year in the spring because it was suggested that we have iron bacteria. We used to water 50 cows through the winter and didn’t seem to have this problem, so I don’t know if the shock treatment or the flushing afterward is the solution.
Is there a test for iron bacteria and can we buy the kit or do we have to send it to the lab? We did a home test (Enzone) to make sure the water was suitable for spraying crops and all was well with chlorine, total hardness, Ph, nitrate-nitrite and iron.
A: The easiest test to determine whether you have iron bacteria is to examine the toilet tank.
First flush the tank. If you notice a reddish brownish slime that adheres to the toilet tank walls, most likely you have an iron bacteria problem.
If you notice black staining, you could have a manganese bacteria problem. To kill iron and manganese bacteria, a continuous chlorination system will have to be installed and have a minimum of one ppm of a chlorine residual after a contact tank. You can also buy an iron bacteria test kit from Droycon Bioconcepts in Regina.
If you have a specific water problem and would like advice, write to the Water Clinic, attention Philip Stadnyk, 850-47th St. E. Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 0X4, e-mail philip@thewaterclinic.com or phone 800-664-2561. Stadnyk is president of the Water Clinic and a member of the Canadian Water Quality Association. His views do not necessarily reflect those of The Western Producer.
