# Rotten Egg Well Water



## Mr Plumber (Oct 20, 2011)

I don't work on well systems a whole lot. The other day I was in a customers house whose water smells like rotten eggs.

When I asked them about it they said they just have been dealing with it for years. I took the rod out of the old heater but it still seems to smell on the hot and cold. 

Any tips you guys can suggest I can do to get rid of the smell. :thumbup:
Thanks.


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## PlumberJake (Nov 15, 2010)

http://www.water-research.net/Waterlibrary/privatewell/hydrogensulfide.pdf

I found this article a while back. It has some good info in it.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

Turn W/H temperature up to 140 degrees F. Leave it like that for a few hours. Cuation!! Don't let any children near the hot taps. Then draw that hot 140 degree water to all the hot taps and let it kill off the hydrogen sulfide bacteria.

Or, you can chlorinate the system. With bleach, you let it sit in tank and all hot piping for several hours, then flush thouroughly.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

My mistake. I didn't read the odor was in the whole house coming from the well. The W/H treatment will only kill the odor in the W/H.

What you need to do is treat the whole house.


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

Tommy plumber said:


> My mistake. I didn't read the odor was in the whole house coming from the well. The W/H treatment will only kill the odor in the W/H.
> 
> What you need to do is treat the whole house.


 As well you need to treat the incoming scoure, the well !


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## JK949 (Mar 18, 2009)

Did you replace the rod or just remove it?


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

It's really hard to get rid of the bacteria..... You can chlorinate the well numerous times and it may not work

The old methods use to be to either put silver in the well or lye 

It how the bacteria actually grows in a slime that chlorine has a hard time to penetrate the slime to kill the bacteria

Lye how ever is strong enough to eat right through the slime and kill the bacteria 

Now I would not consider drinking the water right away ..., you have to keep running it afterwards until the ph is close to 7

Sent from my portable office....yes I am at work


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## AWWGH (May 2, 2011)

Sounds like sulfur, but as I always say get a water test they are worth the few dollars.

First step I take is well chlorination, you may be able to eliminate the source of the problem.

If that does not seem to help a carbon filter would most likely be the next bet, depending on the levels of hydrogen sulfide you may be able to get away with just a block filter, a backwashing carbon filter, or even an oxidizing system.

Also once you do figure out the best solution I always like to bleach all the traps within the house, if this has been a problem for years you can actually have that smell linger within the traps.

And also as mentioned cranking the WH up will help kill anything within the water heater.


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

AWWGH said:


> Sounds like sulfur, but as I always say get a water test they are worth the few dollars.
> 
> First step I take is well chlorination, you may be able to eliminate the source of the problem.
> 
> ...


I totally agree, another two treatment techniques to add to the list would be aeration using an areator tank, or catalytic/centaur carbon. 

For sulfur removal I always recommend a backwashing carbon block filter using coconut carbon for the lower levels of sulfur and for medium levels catalytic carbon or aeration and for the higher levels I recommend aeration and a backwashing carbon block filter using coconut carbon.

sent from the jobsite porta-potty


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

Mississippiplum said:


> I totally agree, another two treatment techniques to add to the list would be aeration using an areator tank, or catalytic/centaur carbon.
> 
> For sulfur removal I always recommend a backwashing carbon block filter using coconut carbon for the lower levels of sulfur and for medium levels catalytic carbon or aeration and for the higher levels I recommend aeration and a backwashing carbon block filter using coconut carbon.
> 
> sent from the jobsite porta-potty


Is that fixing the problem or just covering it up

It's not a cure to the actual cause of the problem

Sent from my portable office....yes I am at work


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

OldSchool said:


> Is that fixing the problem or just covering it up
> 
> It's not a cure to the actual cause of the problem
> 
> Sent from my portable office....yes I am at work


It's a cure, sulfur is caused by organic material breaking down and creating h2s gas Aka sulfur- there's no way to prevent it, it's mother nature, so in order to remove that putrid gas from the water filtration is needed.

sent from the jobsite porta-potty


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

Mississippiplum said:


> It's a cure, sulfur is caused by organic material breaking down and creating h2s gas Aka sulfur- there's no way to prevent it, it's mother nature, so in order to remove that putrid gas from the water filtration is needed.
> 
> sent from the jobsite porta-potty


Sorry I got to disagree with you on that one ......

It masking the problem not curing it

Sent from my portable office....yes I am at work


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

OldSchool said:


> Sorry I got to disagree with you on that one ......
> 
> It masking the problem not curing it
> 
> Sent from my portable office....yes I am at work


You can't cure an h2s problem it's within the aquifer system, certain aquifer formations have h2s problems, we have high lvls of h2s in our aquifer system in my part of fl.

sent from the jobsite porta-potty


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06703.html 

In most cases, chlorine is the best method of disinfecting irrigation, livestock and commercial wells. However, slime forming bacteria, such as the Pseudomonads, can form thick layers of slime within the well that bind with chlorine and inactivate it, essentially protecting the lower layers of organisms. *In these cases, oxidation with lye, ozone, hydrogen peroxide, steam treatment and physical removal are the only effective means of eliminating the thick biofilm of slime bacteria.* _E. coli _and _Salmonella_ bacteria do not form biofilms, but will live inside them and may be protected from chlorination. If you suspect slime forming bacteria, contact your licensed water well contractor or pump installer for assistance.


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

OldSchool said:


> http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06703.html
> 
> In most cases, chlorine is the best method of disinfecting irrigation, livestock and commercial wells. However, slime forming bacteria, such as the Pseudomonads, can form thick layers of slime within the well that bind with chlorine and inactivate it, essentially protecting the lower layers of organisms. In these cases, oxidation with lye, ozone, hydrogen peroxide, steam treatment and physical removal are the only effective means of eliminating the thick biofilm of slime bacteria. E. coli and Salmonella bacteria do not form biofilms, but will live inside them and may be protected from chlorination. If you suspect slime forming bacteria, contact your licensed water well contractor or pump installer for assistance.


Just because u clorinate the well doesn't solve the problem it just masks it for a little while then the odor returns. Unless you are using a metering pump and injecting chlorine into the well constantly, but then again that's doing the same thing as treating the water with a treatment system- removing the h2s from the water. And I discourage direct chloination of the well, if the water needs to be chlorinated it should be done outside the well where contact times can be controlled and chlorine lvls can be controlled.

sent from the jobsite porta-potty


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

Wateright water treatment works well with these problem water. Can be pricey, but cheaper than buying multi units and piping each one with space limitaion.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

Mississippiplum said:


> Just because u clorinate the well doesn't solve the problem it just masks it for a little while then the odor returns. Unless you are using a metering pump and injecting chlorine into the well constantly, but then again that's doing the same thing as treating the water with a treatment system- removing the h2s from the water. And I discourage direct chloination of the well, if the water needs to be chlorinated it should be done outside the well where contact times can be controlled and chlorine lvls can be controlled.
> 
> sent from the jobsite porta-potty


I think you are missing the point here.... in post 14 is a quote from the government website

I am not talking about chlorine ....

I am talking about curing the problem in the well by using lye to kill the bacteria....

I have done it before and the smell is totaly gone with out using any treatment equipment to cover or mask the previous smell.... the smell is totally gone....

This is only applied once like shocking the well


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## gitnerdun (Nov 5, 2008)

OldSchool said:


> I think you are missing the point here.... in post 14 is a quote from the government website
> 
> I am not talking about chlorine ....
> 
> ...


Sulfur smells are real common here in SW florida. The treatment has always been run it thru an areator in a fine mist to let the water "gas off".

I'm not sayin' chlorine won't work, but I do think the problem would just return. Besides that do you really want chlorine in the water all the time?

Could be that in colder climates an areator might freeze.

Rotten eggs for years is more than likely just sulfur. Have the water tested to be sure there is no bacteria.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

gitnerdun said:


> Sulfur smells are real common here in SW florida. The treatment has always been run it thru an areator in a fine mist to let the water "gas off".
> 
> I'm not sayin' chlorine won't work, but I do think the problem would just return. Besides that do you really want chlorine in the water all the time?
> 
> Could be that in colder climates an areator might freeze.


Why in the hell is everyone thinking I am saying to chlorinate the well !!!!!!!

I am saying to put the *lye *to it or *sodium hydroxide* !!!!!!


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## gitnerdun (Nov 5, 2008)

OldSchool said:


> Why in the hell is everyone thinking I am saying to chlorinate the well !!!!!!!
> 
> I am saying to put the *lye *to it or *sodium hydroxide* !!!!!!


 
Why?

The OP says the water has smelled like rotten eggs for years.

That says sulfur. Where did you see symptoms of bacteria?

Educate me, I am a sponge.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

gitnerdun said:


> Why?
> 
> The OP says the water has smelled like rotten eggs for years.
> 
> ...


The cause of the sulfur gas is from the bacteria growth in the well
* 
Sources
* 
Iron bacteria and sulphur bacteria are naturally occurring
organisms in the environment.​*Iron bacteria​*​​​​combine iron (or manganese), present in water,
with oxygen. The iron bacteria may form large masses of an
orangey-brown slime.
There are two categories of sulphur bacteria: sulphur
oxidizers and sulphur reducers. *Sulphur-oxidizing bacteria*​*
*chemically change sulphide present in drinking water into
sulphate.​​​​*Sulphur-reducing bacteria *live in oxygen-deficient
environments. They break down sulphur compounds present in
water, producing hydrogen sulphide gas in the process. Of the
two types, sulphur-reducing bacteria are the more common.
Bacteria may be introduced during drilling or servicing
of a well or when pumps are removed for repair and laid on
the ground. Iron bacteria and sulphur bacteria can also exist
naturally in groundwater. Iron bacteria are more common than​
sulphur bacteria, because iron is more abundant in groundwater.


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## AWWGH (May 2, 2011)

gitnerdun said:


> Why?
> 
> The OP says the water has smelled like rotten eggs for years.
> 
> ...


 I believe what OS is trying to say is that water treatment of any type is not the first option. Eliminate the source of the problem first if it is at all possible. 

We all live in different areas and I are going to have different ways to treat these problems.


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## gitnerdun (Nov 5, 2008)

I hear you. I only know the smell here and how it is treated. Freshly drilled wells have sulfur here. Drank the stuff for years no bacteria illnesses here.

So, tell me, when we run sulfur water thru an aerator the smell goes away, but maybe there is bacteria remaining? 

When I sell water treatment I have the water tested. When there is sulfur, an areator is suggested. Bacteria has never been brought to my attention. I would think if it were present, someone would be sellin me some sort of treatment for it.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

gitnerdun said:


> I hear you. I only know the smell here and how it is treated. Freshly drilled wells have sulfur here. Drank the stuff for years no bacteria illnesses here.
> 
> So, tell me, when we run sulfur water thru an aerator the smell goes away, but maybe there is bacteria remaining?
> 
> When I sell water treatment I have the water tested. When there is sulfur, an areator is suggested. Bacteria has never been brought to my attention. I would think if it were present, someone would be sellin me some sort of treatment for it.


That type of bacteria is not harmful to humans.... that is why no one is concerned...

It is more of a nuisense than anything....

They have found in some cases that E coli does live in the gel or slime or sulfur type bacteria.... this is a concern that normal chlorination will not reach the E coli...

Lye however is strong enough to penetrate the slime/ gel to kill all bacteria....

It is funny that some how this knowledge got lost a long the way....


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

Here the sulfur smell comes from h2s gas trapped in the aquifer system due too decaying organic matter. We have a bad sulfur problem here in swfl, but it's easy to treat. 

sent from the jobsite porta-potty


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## gitnerdun (Nov 5, 2008)

So is it possible that my stinky irrigation well water could be treated one time and no more smell?


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

gitnerdun said:


> So is it possible that my stinky irrigation well water could be treated one time and no more smell?


Nope not possible, the smell comes from h2s gas trapped in the aquifer system.

sent from the jobsite porta-potty


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## gitnerdun (Nov 5, 2008)

Too good to be true.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

Mississippiplum said:


> Here the sulfur smell comes from h2s gas trapped in the aquifer system due too decaying organic matter. We have a bad sulfur problem here in swfl, but it's easy to treat.
> 
> sent from the jobsite porta-potty


And what do you think is eating the decaying organic matter....

the result of microbial activity, or compounds of iron, manganese or sulfur. For instance *hydrogen sulfide commonly occurs in well water as a result of decaying organic matter and the activity of sulfur and iron bacteria.*


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

The joy of living in Florida?


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

rjbphd said:


> *The joy of living in Florida?[/*QUOTE]
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

H2S or hydrogen sulfide is a fairly common problem. Treating the well by either shocking it with chlorine or chlorine injection will get rid of the smell but the chlorine is very corrosive and hard on the pump and the well casing if the casing is steel. chlorine injection after the pressure tank is a better idea and then a backwashing carbon filter to take the chlorine odor from the water after that.


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## gitnerdun (Nov 5, 2008)

Interesting


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

So, something like this.


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

Chlorine injection should be a last resort IMO, due to cost, maintainence, and the fact that chlorine produces byproducts after disinfection that can cause cancer over long term exposure, and there is equipment out there that can do just as good of a job as chlorine injection. Exception to this- when there is harmful bacteria present in the water, then chlorination and even post uv disenfection is a must. And like others said you must install a backwashing carbon block filter after the injector and contact tank.

sent from the jobsite porta-potty


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

Tommy plumber said:


> So, something like this.


 All that equipment while one unit can handles most of the problems in single pass. I know as I have well water with 54 grains hardness, 5.5 iron bacteria and ton of sulfer... installed it back in '95 and now bleeding alittle iron, I can live with that.


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## AWWGH (May 2, 2011)

Mississippiplum said:


> Chlorine injection should be a last resort IMO, due to cost, maintainence, and the fact that chlorine produces byproducts after disinfection that can cause cancer over long term exposure, and there is equipment out there that can do just as good of a job as chlorine injection. Exception to this- when there is harmful bacteria present in the water, then chlorination and even post uv disenfection is a must. And like others said you must install a backwashing carbon block filter after the injector and contact tank.
> 
> sent from the jobsite porta-potty


Just about everything these days is a carcinogen. Caffeine..Alcohol... http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Classification/ClassificationsAlphaOrder.pdf

Chlorine injection works well, it helps with the oxidation process and can be removed with a carbon filter.

http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Classification/ClassificationsAlphaOrder.pdf


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

That's the baby Tommy, We install probably close to 50 of that set up a year. Then we add softening and iron removal also fairly often.


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

Our general treatment setup consists of an aerator and softener, we will install a CBF if there's high levels of sulfur still present after the aerator. 

Btw we didnt install that system just retrofitted it with a CSV on the well pump and areator pump. 
And replumbed the softener cause it was plumbed wrong 










sent from the jobsite porta-potty


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

The south is different than the north in their methods of treating water. There is a huge difference. When I was in Ohio we discovered water with sulfur smell typically the well casing was reasonably shallow. Drilling deeper was the answer. In some areas we set pump at 100 feet and still others over 300 feet to get to good water. The freezing temps took the option of an aerator tank away unless you wanted that smell in your basement.

Here in Florida I have found shallow wells at 7 feet and an aerator is necessary. I am going to one tomorrow where some idiot installed a filtration system backwards and the mineral bed is now in every faucet and shutoff. 

My take in Michigan would be to drill a deeper well otherwise it will be a constant battle


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## AWWGH (May 2, 2011)

Richard Hilliard said:


> The south is different than the north in their methods of treating water. There is a huge difference. When I was in Ohio we discovered water with sulfur smell typically the well casing was reasonably shallow. Drilling deeper was the answer. In some areas we set pump at 100 feet and still others over 300 feet to get to good water. The freezing temps took the option of an aerator tank away unless you wanted that smell in your basement.
> 
> Here in Florida I have found shallow wells at 7 feet and an aerator is necessary. I am going to one tomorrow where some idiot installed a filtration system backwards and the mineral bed is now in every faucet and shutoff.
> 
> My take in Michigan would be to drill a deeper well otherwise it will be a constant battle


We have wells as deep as 1600ft in my area. Deep or shallow still get sulfur here in the deep ones too. But all in all sulfur is not a major issue here. We get tons of iron here.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

AWWGH said:


> We have wells as deep as 1600ft in my area. Deep or shallow still get sulfur here in the deep ones too. But all in all sulfur is not a major issue here. We get tons of iron here.


So what type of pipe do you use to drop a submersible 1,600 ft

Furthest here is around 400 ft

Sent from my portable office....yes I am at work


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## AWWGH (May 2, 2011)

OldSchool said:


> So what type of pipe do you use to drop a submersible 1,600 ft
> 
> Furthest here is around 400 ft
> 
> Sent from my portable office....yes I am at work


Steel pipe. We can use a schedule 120 with brass or galvy couplings down to about 700ft. 

Anything 800+ft is rare though.


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## AWWGH (May 2, 2011)

AWWGH said:


> Steel pipe. We can use a schedule 120 with brass or galvy couplings down to about 700ft.
> 
> Anything 800+ft is rare though.


And yes the steel is 21fters


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

We use scdh. 80 PVC here with brass or galvy couplings. But Alot of halfassers get away with using scdh. 40 which is against code. but since there's no way to inspect the scdh. Of the drop pipe The inspectors never catch it.

sent from the jobsite porta-potty


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

Mississippiplum said:


> We use scdh. 80 PVC here with brass or galvy couplings. But Alot of halfassers get away with using scdh. 40 which is against code. but since there's no way to inspect the scdh. Of the drop pipe The inspectors never catch it.
> 
> sent from the jobsite porta-potty


Never seen sch 40 pvc threaded pipes, only use sch 80 and pvc couplings made for drop pipe.


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## gitnerdun (Nov 5, 2008)

Mississippiplum said:


> We use scdh. 80 PVC here with brass or galvy couplings. But Alot of halfassers get away with using scdh. 40 which is against code. but since there's no way to inspect the scdh. Of the drop pipe The inspectors never catch it.
> 
> sent from the jobsite porta-potty


Since you mentioned code requirements, where do we reference this from? I don't recall this in the plumbing code.


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

gitnerdun said:


> Since you mentioned code requirements, where do we reference this from? I don't recall this in the plumbing code.


 You would have to look in well code book .


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## AWWGH (May 2, 2011)

rjbphd said:


> Never seen sch 40 pvc threaded pipes, only use sch 80 and pvc couplings made for drop pipe.


They used sch 40 drop pipe a lot around here years ago. (Before ny time ) my old man says it came plain ends and they would have to glue a male end on and a female end on the pipe. 

Real brittle stuff, we replace it when we pull it out.


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## AWWGH (May 2, 2011)

Mississippiplum said:


> We use scdh. 80 PVC here with brass or galvy couplings. But Alot of halfassers get away with using scdh. 40 which is against code. but since there's no way to inspect the scdh. Of the drop pipe The inspectors never catch it.
> 
> sent from the jobsite porta-potty


We generally use sch80, just 120 for deeper settings


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## gitnerdun (Nov 5, 2008)

rjbphd said:


> You would have to look in well code book .


 Genius:blink:

Which book in FL


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## AWWGH (May 2, 2011)

gitnerdun said:


> Genius:blink:
> 
> Which book in FL


All pump installations are covered by plumbing code here. Nothing is separate.


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

AWWGH said:


> All pump installations are covered by plumbing code here. Nothing is separate.


Not here, seprate code book for plumbing, well pump , well construction and then at least but not last, septic and septic field.


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

Right in the Florida plumbing code book





















sent from the jobsite porta-potty


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## gitnerdun (Nov 5, 2008)

Thanks Mississippi, I guess I never noticed that.


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## [email protected] (Apr 17, 2012)

I would get a sample of the water and get it tested that will tell you what is in the water and let u treat it accordingly. Would entail putting in a water softener system most likely with filters to treat whatever needs (hard water,iron,etc).


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