I think my experiment is done. I ran water outside seemingly forever, until I smelled bleach. I wasn't the strongest smell, but it was bleach. I then came inside and flushed toilets and ran taps so the bleach would get into the "entire" system (minus the dishwasher and washing machine). I then ran water through two outside faucets for another while (on to the gravel driveway) until I didn't notice the smell, came inside and flushed/ran water to get the remaining bleach out. I then changed the filter on the system (for sediments). It was a dark red/brown all through the thickness of the filter! Usually it is just dirty with a bit of fine sand at the bottom of the cartridge housing. Anyway, I hope it was a success. Thanks again for all the info. Bill

Our situation is exactly the same- foreclosure, sat for over 2 years, private well, with a new pump installed just prior to closing. We have a sulfur smell and high iron. We were told that sulfur smell could be remedied by getting rid of the iron. So... just last week we had 4 different contractors out to try to figure out what we should do. I know, that's a lot, but they all had different things to say. Only one suggested shocking the well before considering adding water treatment equipment. He described shocking as a slightly more involved process than what dave_mn did. After the chlorination he wanted to recirculate the water, and said the process would take 3-4 days total and we'd be unable to use the well during that time. He also stated that the risks included over-chlorination and possibly burning out the well pump if the well ran dry while he was shocking it. But our well casing is smaller than what is now standard, so I'm not sure if that was a factor. He was going to charge us $300. The other three guys recommended various combinations of water softeners, iron filters, and other equipment, ranging from $2200 - $3500. All said that shocking the well would only get rid of bacteria, not iron. All four of them agreed that shocking was more of a short-term fix to get things back to a more "natural" state since the well had been unused for so long. The consensus seemed that we should run our water for an extended length of time to run out all the old accumulations before we put too much weight in the water sample results. Keep us posted on what you decide. Thanks!

Bottom line....you cannot shock an artesian well, which is exactly what you have. The bleach will be expelled from the well too quickly to be effective unless you use fairly massive amounts of it. I think that you should try to determine if the water itself is the problem or your system is. Since water free-flows out of the well casing, take a sample of that water and have it tested. If it tests OK, then you need to cleanse your water system. In order to do this, you would have to pump bleach down to the bottom of the well while taps are open in the kitchen, bathroom and outside to cause the pump to come on while the chlorine is being injected into the well. That way, the pump will suck in chlorine and water and force that mixture into the pressure tank as well as all the piping. Once you can smell chlorine coming from all the faucets, then shut the taps off and leave it overnight. Use the water for a few days to allow the chlorine to get flushed out of the system completely and then test the water from a sanitized tap again. At this point, you should be getting unchlorinated well water. IF...........after having this water tested again under the most scrupulous of water gathering procedures, the water tests contaminated; then you are going to have to install water purification equipment to protect you, your family and guests. Chlorinators or UV lamp units are the most common methods. While neither is cheap to buy or maintain, your only other alternative is the constant boiling of water and that's a huge pain.

I grew up on a dairy farm. Some farmers tested their wells regularly. Most never did. We boiled any water we drank but that was because my mother instinctively didn't "trust" well water for consumption. Otherwise, water out of the tap was used for everything else including consumption by farm animals. No ill effects. The fact that your seller didn't have the well tested doesn't mean that there haven't been repairs to the pump/well. Two separate issues: is well/pump in good condition; is water contaminated (you know it is but shock chlorination will more than likely clear that up). Just talk to the pump and well company that tested the water. Or hire your own pump and well guy and have him do a thorough inspection and tell you what the probable source is and potential effects. It may or may not be a deal breaker for you. But this is not an uncommon problem.