When I was in grade school, I walked to and from school with several of my friends. One day, we came across a bird with a piece of plastic litter wrapped around its beak. I had my friends stay and watch him while I ran home to tell my parents. They called the local Wildlife Protection Agency, and a nice worker came and helped remove the plastic from the bird's beak. The worker then stayed after and answered many of my questions about how litter can affect wildlife. I then became a very young environmental enthusiast and, over the years, have been eager to share my tips for protecting the earth and wildlife with others. I decided to create a blog to share many of my tips on, so come back often to learn many ways you can help the Earth easily every day!
Wells are holes in the ground created to tap natural water. They are an excellent choice if you live too far away to access city plumbing and city water. In essence, most wells function just fine without any major issues, so long as you provide maintenance for wells to keep them poison-free. If your well is unwell, well then you need to treat it. Here is how you do just that.
Smell Your Well
Take the cover off of your well. If you are blasted in the face with a stink that stays with you, a well maintenance technician is going to have to examine the length of your well to see what has either dropped or seeped into it. If the cover on your well is already off because someone took it off and did not put it back, there is a very good chance that wildlife fell into the well and has been slowly decomposing. The enormous amount of bacteria carried by some wildlife (e.g., raccoons, opossums, rats, etc.) can seriously make you ill and can even be fatal if it is the right kind of bacteria.
Have Your Water Tested
If your well water suddenly obtains a very foul odor, you might want to have it tested. Smells that smell like gas, rotten eggs, kerosene, or rotten flesh are all good indications that something is not right with your well. If people in your home have also had a lot of health issues and all seem to be getting sick, that too is a good indication that something is not right. A well maintenance technician will test the water for the more common contaminants to see if any of those contaminants are the problem.
Treat for Bacteria, unless the Source is Decomposing Animals
In almost all cases, the foul-smelling bacteria can be killed and your water can be treated to make it potable again. However, if the smells and bacteria are a result of decomposing wildlife in your well, you will have to dig a new well. Retrieving the dead and rotting carcasses is just not a feasible option.
What is more, even if most of the pieces of the rotting carcasses could be retrieved, the amount of bacteria present and the idea of "drinking" dead animals is quite unappealing. Talk to your well maintenance company to see who they would recommend to dig a new well. Then close off the one you have and resort to bottled water until your new well is ready.
Share8 January 2018
