OK. I searched and read sevral other posts on similar subjects but am still confused.
We are considering buying a property that has a well that when you draw cold water directly from well has a faint sulfur smell. Hot water from water heater is even worse smell. Some orange staining. A water test showed us we had lead, arsenic, and nitrates well under acceptable levels, test did not find coliform present but we did our own tests for hardness=17 GPG, PH=7.5, iron= .4 ppm, manganese=0, no iron bacteria, TDS=330 ppm and sample visually looks clear

but we didn't have a test done yet to test for hydrogen sulfide or sulfur bacteria as they need a fixative on-site to test for it, as the smell dissipates after a draw is taken. I am concerned because I've read that if the cause of the sulfur odor is the bacterial source, a water softener with salt can actually feed the bacteria and make it worse. I've also read that a chlorine shock of the well can fix the problem, but is that a temporary or long-term fix? I am also wary of buying what the local water guy wants to sell me since it seems a conflict of interest to test my water and then sell me something, and I have a history of being too trusting and getting ripped off. I simply do not want to buy a home where I'll take a shower and smell like sulfur or my home will smell or my fixtures and laundry will stain, but this deal is 7/8 finished and I really want to try to make it work if there is a solution I can trust and know what to expect. I am used to being able to drink my tap water. I've always had and don't mind hard water, but smelly water is another story. Will a charcoal filter help? How about an aerator? If you give an answer and need more info, I'll do my best to get it, but also please answer on if the solution you give me is a temporary fix or long term fix and if I need to do monthly maintenance or whatever to keep the long-term fix going. Again, I'm used to water I don't have to work for (turn on a tap and drink it--no buying/hauling chemicals into my home)

Hydrogen Sulfide has to be tested within 30 minutes of drawing the water. I don't know of a consumer test-kit available. How did you test for the other parameters?

Aerator will help with hydrogen sulfide, but can promote bacterial growth without disinfection. Iron will stain big-time at 0.4. TDS is fairly high, but under acceptable EPA standards of 500. What area is this in?

Odor can be bacterial either sulfur or iron. How did you test for iron bacteria? The easiest test for iron/sulfur bacteria is in the toilet tanks. Most people don't clean those. If you run your fingers over the inside of the tank and it is slimy, it is bacterial.

You can shock the well with chlorine. It is temporary. How long it lasts varies from well to well.

If I were treating your water, I would be looking at...
Ozone for disinfection and oxidation of minerals, followed by a small ozonated water retention tank, followed by sand and carbon filter, followed by a softener. The softener would be optional, but I would encourage it because it is pretty hard water at 17gpg.

I know you said that you didn't want water that you have to work for. Unfortunately, well water is prone to occasional maintenance. The high iron and hardness concentrate makes it even more so. But, the treatment equipment that I recommended here makes the water safer, and easier to maintain.

Most water treatment guys are going to recommend chlorine instead of ozone disinfection. Chlorine is a huge routine maintenance item and just a general pain in the neck. Ozone is self generating and requires maintenance once every couple of years or so.

I wouldn't run from the house because of that. It is an investment to start with, but it is certainly treatable. And, can be largely trouble-free if done properly. Make sure you find the right company to do it. I have been behind a lot of "softener salesmen", and had to totally rehab their messes. Look for a certified professional... CWTO, or CWTS, etc. Or, if you want to tackle it yourself, I can help you through it.
Al

OK. We have strong sulfur smell that doesn't disspate and red in toilets etc. We are considering this plan: 1. shock the well for any sulfer bacteria. I thought I'd read it had to be carefully calculated how much bleach to how much water and how long in contact, but the water guy here says do it ourselves, pour a gallon down the well, agitate it (how do I DO THAT?? ) and let it sit undisturbed/no water usage for 24 hours. Then open the hydrant and let it run until you don't smell bleach.
2. He wants to install a $3000 system that entails first a water softener with something in it called KDF and I think maybe also greensand? To take out specifically he says the sulfide and the iron and then make the slick feeling of softened water less and the taste not so bad
3. at the kitchen sink source he wants a reverse osmosis system to take out the taste from the softener that I object to. (which means I'll still have it in bathrooms and showers, but everyone tells me I'm crazy that I can taste anything funny in softened water anyway.)
4. we can't put an oxidizing unit on because of something having to do with the type of pump system we have on the well, which he says makes it a very good well pump (it's a small jet pump and then there is some add-on electronic looking gizmo on the wall beside it that does something to make the small jet pump not work so hard to maintain steady pressure (?I think?)
5. BUT THEN we have a 'friend' who tells us all we need is a charcoal filter unit that purges the stuff it takes out of the water and that unit ought to be about $1700 total and we don't need the softener and RO.

The problem is also that this is a manufactuired home with every space already accounted for and no basement or attic. We are in hard-freezing area. Well house is above ground, small with a heater, not able to house the softener. We'd actually need to spend even more $ building a pole building (which we need anyway but considered it a luxury to add on in a few years not as soon as we move in to make the water--in our opinion--potable. Then would we also have to heat the pole building or just the room where the softener sits? Someopne suggested we put it somehow ihnto our pit set crawlspace. Can it go in there or do we need to build something separate?

And, what is the space or freezing needs for "small ozonated water retention tank"

I'm confused. Is any of what these guys here are telling me the same as what you are tleling me but in different technical language? Or am I getting an expensive sales pitch or a cheap solution that won't work? HELP!

I live on The Gulf Coast and some of our well water smells like rotten eggs,( hydrogen sulfide ) WE use the Aeration Spray System shown in figure #3. to control the smell but we keep it outside. Youi have colder weather so it might not be usable for you.
Click on;Hydrogen Sulfide in Drinking Water, AEX-319-97 to learn more about sulfur smelly water and how to control it. Good luck, Tom

First... "Shock the well", amount depends on the size of the well, depth of the well and the water level in the well. Usually, 2 gallons of chlorine is plenty (4 gallons of household bleach, which is 1/2 as strong as pool chlorine). You pour it down through and inspection plug on the well seal, or sometimes there is a disinfection port attached to the casing and capped. After you pour it down with a funnel, then you chase it down with some water from a hose or pour at least as much water with your jugs.

Then, turn on each faucet in the house individually until you get chlorine smell from each cold faucet. Now, do the same on the hot. The first hot one will take awhile since you have 30 or 40 gallons stored in your heater. Now, let everything set for at least 2 hours. The bleach will clean the lines, heater, pressure tank, well, etc. You don't have to flush inside, you can do it outside. But, you don't get the lines and water heater clean if you don't flush it inside.

Then flush everything to purge the chlorine. When he said to agitate the water, he meant to let the pump cycle on and off during the flushing. This causes the water table in the well to move up and down. Most pumps will cycle if you only flush with 1 or 2 faucets running.

You don't want to stay in the house while you are flushing. It will smell pretty bad, and can cause you respiratory issues. It is best to have the windows open when you do it.
Al

Speedball1's idea of the aerator is a good one. However, if you do this, you still need ozone, or chlorine to disinfect. I see people put those things on all of the time without disinfection. I have cleaned some totally gross aerators over the years. One had 6" of green slime in the bottom, and about 100 frogs. And, this poor family was drinking the water. EEEWWWWHHHH! :eek:

Your friend is probably incorrect about the charcoal filter. It may work initially, but not for long. There is a special type of catalytic carbon that may work without being oxidized first with either chlorine, aeration, or ozonation. There is also a couple of other self oxidizing minerals such as manganese dioxide aka Pyrolox, and Birm is another. However, these are very touchy as to whether they will work. And, for how long? I would be concerned about using either of these with a jet pump. A strong backwash rate is necessary for these filters' longevity.

The softener sales guys statement about KDF removing the slippery feeling is something I have certainly never noticed. And, am skeptical if that is the case. There is a KDF product that is made for softener, but as far as I know, it should not affect the "slipperiness". Again, I'm concerned about insufficient backwash rate on KDF with a jet pump.

BTW, the slippery feeling is because the soap has been truly rinsed and left your skin feeling smooth. With hard water, there is a small amount of soap left on your skin, which leaves it a little tacky. If you don't believe it, try putting some soap on a glass. Rinse one side with softened water and the other with hard water. You'll see what I'm talking about. Another thing is that you will need to adjust the amount of soap you use for everything. You will be able to use 50-75% less soap. One of the biggest ingredients in laundry soap is a softening agent, known as zeolite.

The kitchen sink RO is not really necessary if you do all of the other treatment. You could use a good carbon block under the sink.

Please refer to my original recommendation. You can use chlorine instead of ozone. They both do the same thing. Chlorine is just more maintenance.
Al

Thank you thank you. I am examining all your answers just now. (I didn't get updates this post) Speedball, thank you, I had located a quite a few extension office write ups about this already and although it only confuses me more, I feel at least a bit smart knowing I'd looked there, too, as you'd suggested. Al, I have to read your answers more slowly to figure out how I apply what you've told me to what resources I have here w/ the water guys here. Thank you so much for your attempt at thoroughness. Glad someone else types as much as I do to really explain something. It helps. I am going to have to find out exactly what that other thingy is on my jet pump to give you that info it is supposed to keep the jet pump at constant pressure, I think? Or make it more efficient? BTW this is a shared well. If I do the well and at my house do the pipes and hot water as you describe (and tell them not to use the water while we're doing this) and the other homeowner does not, does the water (sulfur bacteria) in any way come back down through their pipes back to our shared well? Or must both homes perform this simultaneously? And so does that affect the amount of bleach? The well is 60 ft, is lined, 6" diameter and has static level at 10 ft.
I'm going to try to figure out how to post a photo of the well house pump for you in case that helps any.

Now I also have a cousin who tells us not to soften our water because it takes out good stuff like calcium. Thought I'd just ask your opiion on that... he's also gone vegan and back again a few times and is always on some new health kick... He recommended something called a DOG?

I figured what you said about the charcoal filter would be true. The place that sells that one also sells male enhancement pills and weight loss programs...

I haven't liked the idea of the aerator Speedball suggested and similar things because it makes me think that then I'll have to smell rotten eggs as it off gasses the byproduct in the vicinity of wherever I put that unit, right? Does it go inside or outside? Either way doesn't sound very nice.

When you say I still need to disinfect are you saying I need to still do the shocking or that I need to periodically repeat the shocking or that I need an on-going disinfection unit in whatever I install? I think you said ozone for disionfection so is that in a unti and then the "small ozonated water retention tank" is another unit? Can you give me any more info about that? Does it affect water flow or how much water I can use? Do you have a link or trademark name?

Quote Al: "Again, I'm concerned about insufficient backwash rate on KDF with a jet pump." I'm afraid I don't understand what this means.

"How did you test for the other parameters?" The water guy did the test. The sulfur we did a smell on site.

Yeah, I knew about the real reason I feel 'slick' with soft water. Everybody tells me it's the hard water soap scum I'm feeling w/ hard water and I do know I'd need to adjust things like shampoo and detergent usage. I've just spent 40+ years with hard water and it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks...

But I will also need to get more specific decription of the KDF thing for you.

BTW I realized I woudn't want anything that required maintenance down in my crawl space, so I've nixed that option.

Your neighbor's water shouldn't cause the sulfur to come back into your water. A gallon would probably be enough, but put 2 anyway. You don't want to do it, and not get a good kill. Better over-kill than under. Since you're going to the trouble, maybe your neighbor would want to flush their pipes too.

In one way your cousin is right. It does remove calcium, and magnesium. However, that is easily replaced with a vitamin supplement. The benefits gained far outweigh what is removed. Another benefit is that if there is radiation in the water, often a softener will remove it.

Al

Most minerals require oxidation to be effectively removed. Ozone or chlorine injection are the top methods to do this because they also disinfect as well. The best treatment to remove your sulfur smell is oxidation/ disinfection/ filtration with a backwashing carbon filter. The softener is to remove all of that hardness to prevent scaling and build-up on pipes, water heater, fixtures, dishwasher etc.

Whether you use ozone, or chlorine, you have to have a retention tank for mixing the water with disinfection. That way it has time to oxidize and kill bacteria.

KDF is very heavy mineral. It requires a significantly higher gallon per minute backwash rate compared to a softener alone. I have had some systems that have been installed, and seemed fine. Then a few months later, had odor issues because the well just wouldn't give a good enough backwash rate to get the KDF clean.

I use Del Ozone, and Ozone Pure Water. The Del is better, the OPW is cheaper. It does make it harder to do ozone with the cycle-stop valve that it sounds like you have installed.

Al

Please tell me more about the ozone thing. Is it 1 or 2 units? Where does it go on the system? Does it affect being able to draw water fast enough for heavy use? How do you determine size requirements (of unit) for home? What is pyhsical space needed [how big is/are unit(s)] for it to be installed? Do you have a link or trade name for it? And physically how is it removing the hydrogen sulfide--if it is that--or the sulfur bacteria--if it is that--and does it or just the sand/carbon filter remove the iron? Or would only the softener remove the iron?