Do-it-yourself well chlorination isn’t always the best idea – especially if you wait until winter

Chlorinating a well is a fairly straight-forward procedure. It helps, of course, if you know what you’re doing. In fact, it helps a lot.

There are many who don’t think that’s the case; they think they can get by chlorinating their own well without any difficulty. After all, what’s to it other than removing the well cap, removing the cap on the container of chlorine and pouring it into the well? Put the cap back on the well, and the seal up the chlorine container, if any chlorine remains, and – Tada – all done, right?

Not quite. You may get by that way for years. When friends come to visit, they’ll look at you in awe as you proudly proclaim, “I chlorinate my own well.” Some may be so impressed that they’ll ask you to come over and chlorinate their well, too.

The problem is that chlorinating a well isn’t quite that simple. If all you do is open the well and pour, you may later discover that you’ve created a costly headache that will come back to bite you.

The problem is that the pump and connectors don’t react real well to chlorine. If you need to replace a pump down the road sometime, your well technician is liable to look at you with a frown and say, “You chlorinated your own well, didn’t you?” That’s the moment when you’ll realize that there is more to chlorinating a well than open and pour.

Another question is when to chlorinate your well. Technically, you can chlorinate a well any time of the year. But, there are good times to chlorinate your well and there are not so good times. One not-so-good time is in the middle of winter. Why? Not only because it’s cold out and darn uncomfortable to play with water in that kind of weather, but also because, to do it properly, you’ll want to run your outside faucet after words to clear out any sediment the chlorine broke off the inside of the well.

If you’re planning to bill a skate pond in the backyard, that’s not a problem. On the other hand, maybe you’d rather not turn your yard into a skating rink.

It’s amazing how much sediment the chlorine can break loose in your well. If you don’t run it out the faucet outside, that sediment gets into your lines inside the house. You may suddenly find that you have clogged pipes.

Another reason to flush your well when chlorinating is if you have a septic system at your home. If not flushed, the chlorine could mount an attack on the bacteria in your septic tank. That bacteria is vital to breaking down waste.

Another problem, if you wait until winter to chlorinate your well is finding the well. That’s not, generally, a problem unless it’s covered by a foot or more of snow.

In any case, yes, you can chlorinate your own well and you can do it whenever you want. But, then again, you might just want to call in an expert.

To cap it off, the well cap was full of bugs

The well that provides water for your Bull Valley home silently operates day after day until, one day, it doesn't. The water is safe to drink until, one day, it isn't.

In both instances, the solution is to maintain the well supplying fresh water to your Bull Valley home. This means chlorinating the well annually. It also means checking the well pump, motor, electrical connections and water quality on a timely basis – also suggested on an annual basis.

While checking your well, one part you don’t want to leave out is the well cap.

Now, you might be thinking, “Well, the well cap is just a well cap; what’s so important about that?”

Think about it – what does the well cap do? The answer is in the name – it caps the well. Imagine if you didn't put a cap on your well. What would happen?

Without a well cap, your Bull Valley well is open to the elements, as well as to wildlife. Contaminants can freely flow into the well. Now, having the water tested is something you may want to do on a daily basis.

What this all comes down to is that the well cap is as vital as any other part of the well. If it doesn't properly cap (seal) the well, you’re inviting unsafe water into your home and, from there, into the bodies of you, your family and friends.

How does a well cap go bad? Have you hit it with the lawn more, kicked it while running across the yard or dropped a log on it? Any of these activities can jar the cap sufficiently to break the seal.

If the well cap is bad, you may open the well and turn the cap over to find a colony of bugs on the inside. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to assume this isn't good for the water quality.

Of course, you don’t just want your well cap checked; you also want your well checked in general. The point is to make sure this vital step isn't missed.