The reasons for the smell of water from the well. Methods for purifying the source to remove unpleasant odors. How to get rid of hydrogen sulfide in a liquid? Elimination of the smell of iron and other chemical elements. The unpleasant smell of water from a well is one of the enemies of the source, which is formed as a result of the vital activity of microorganisms or due to the presence of soluble salts and chemical elements in the liquid. In the article we will talk about the causes of the smell of water from the well and how to solve the problem.
The main causes of unpleasant odor in water
The thick layers of soil above the aquifer are a good filter to trap most contaminants. But, seeping from the surface through numerous layers, the liquid is saturated with salts and collects many microorganisms with different properties. Therefore, even deep artesian wells cannot guarantee 100 percent water purity.
In the wells on the sand, there are even more impurities. Metals, salts, oxides and other compounds make a liquid an active substance chemically, and in certain combinations they change its color, taste, and smell.
In addition, organic matter (algae, terrestrial plants), after entering the well, begin to rot and emit strong smelling gases: geosmins, mercaptans, dimethyl disulfides. By this aroma, a good specialist can even judge the chemical composition of water. When it appears, you must stop using the source and find out the cause of the problem.
Substances that alter the aroma are called odorants. All of them are divided into two groups: natural and artificial. The first includes putrid, swampy, earthy odors. On the other hand, those that are released after agricultural products (fertilizers) or industrial effluents enter the well.
The table below provides information on what water smells most often:
| Smell | Causes | Danger | Elimination method |
| Rotten eggs | The presence of hydrogen sulfide in the water | Very harmful to the body | Source cleaning, use of degasser devices |
| Swamp (musty, woody, earthy smell) | The presence of organic matter in the source | Weak, drinking liquid is unpleasant | Well cleaning, use of carbon filters |
| Septic tank or detergents | The ingress of sewage into the well | Average | Sewer repair, source cleaning, use of a charcoal filter or reverse osmosis |
| Gasoline or petroleum products | Proximity to oil layers or oil pollution | Very harmful to the body | Well cleaning, elimination of oil product leakage, charcoal filter |
| Methane | The proximity of a landfill where organic compounds decompose | Average | Using a water aeration system with degassing |
| Chemical compounds (iodine, phenol) | Proximity of wastewater to chemical plants | Very dangerous | It is necessary to dig a new well in another place, disinfection, reverse osmosis filters |
| Gland | High concentration of iron salts in the aquifer | Very strong | Use of cleaning systems |
If it comes out of the well rotten egg water, there is no doubt about the presence of hydrogen sulfide in the mine. It is formed by the breakdown of protein by anaerobic bacteria. Conditions for the development of microorganisms (sulfur bacteria) arise in long-unclean wells, clogged from all sides by clay layers. They feed on sulfides and sulfates and are able to thrive without oxygen. Most often, hydrogen sulfide is formed in deep wells, including artesian ones, where there is no liquid circulation.
Hydrogen sulfide is a highly toxic volatile asphyxiant gas. After inhalation, dizziness appears, the sense of smell is lost, and fatigue is felt. It causes serious poisoning. When it enters the human body, the mixture disrupts vital processes, for example, iron oxidation. The person may be in a state of collapse. Gas concentration 700 mg / m3 fatal to humans.
Liquid with hydrogen sulfide can damage plumbing fixtures, valves, and corrode metal parts. Therefore, if gas is found in the well, replace all pipes with plastic ones.
Swamp smell
water from the well appears if microscopic plants and microbes are present in the mine. Fetid gas is also emitted by pyrite, which is found in large quantities near peat deposits. Often this aroma is felt in spring, when algae and bacteria begin to grow vigorously in the spring.
Putrid smell
does not always indicate well contamination. If only hot water from the tap smells, the reason for this is the contamination of the heating elements of the heating device, on which a thick salt layer forms. They always have bacteria in them.
Well water is much less common smells like iodine … Its aroma is felt after it enters the well of a chemical plant's effluent containing phenol. The result is a highly toxic substance that poisons all sources in the area. If an unpleasant odor of water is detected in the well, it is necessary to take fluid samples for analysis in order to find out all the harmful components dissolved in it. Drinking water with a phenol aroma is strictly prohibited.
Dirt enters the well in various ways. The stench is felt after the source is polluted by flood waters with organic matter, which decomposes with the release of gases. You can protect the source with a caisson. It is a box made of various materials, dug into the ground to a depth of about 2 m. A small underground room will prevent various debris and dirty water from entering the well.
Due to the violation of the integrity of the shaft, the formation of cracks and gaps in the joints of the elbows, dirty water can seep into the well. Damage needs to be repaired, even if it costs a lot. If sulfide bacteria get into the source, it will smell like hydrogen sulfide.
In the absence of liquid circulation in the water intake part of the well, the percentage of oxygen, which destroys sulfur bacteria, decreases in the water. For the same reason, a large amount of silt appears in the well, if the source has not been used for a long time or the water has been downloaded very rarely. Use an aerator to oxygenate the liquid.
Borehole contamination with chemicals most often occurs in areas that are too close to fuel depots or industrial plants.
If a mine is drilled in seams with sulphide ore deposits, there is a high probability that the water will smell like rotten eggs.
Water odor elimination techniques
To decide how to get rid of the smell of water in the well, determine the reasons for the smell. If a large amount of rotting organic matter is found in the mine, it must be flushed. Thus, silt and organic debris are removed from it along with microorganisms that have entered the mine from the surface. Foul-smelling fumes associated with the chemical composition of the soil in the aquifer cannot be eliminated by cleaning the trunk. To solve the problem, you will need special filters that are installed on the surface. Let's take a closer look at what to do if the water from the well is odorless.
Elimination of the swampy smell of water
It is possible to rid water from shallow wells from the unpleasant smell of rotting by flushing the mine with a pump pump, with the help of which organic matter and other decomposing elements are removed. The work is performed in the following sequence:
- Prepare a large container and place it next to the shaft. Fill it with water. There should be enough volume to fill the casing to the top. If there is a source of water nearby, for example, a river or body of water, the tank can be omitted. In this case, find a place where the dirty slurry will drain, otherwise it will turn the entire area into a swamp.
- Install a powerful water pump next to the well. Place the suction hose in the prepared container. Lower the outlet to the bottom of the well.
- Put on a special nozzle on the head of the column, which will allow water to be drained into the tank.
- Turn on your pump. The flow of water from the water pump will lift the dirt from the bottom and bring it out of the shaft into a prepared container. Heavy particles will settle to the bottom, and the pump will pump the purified liquid back.
- Remove debris from the bottom of the tank from time to time.
- After flushing, install a pump in the well and pump out all the turbid liquid. All sources of the stench will be removed along with it.
Even if dirt remains in the source after cleaning, the oxygen in the water supplied from the surface will destroy microorganisms.
To get rid of the rotten smell of water in a very deep mine, two pumps are used - a surface pump and a centrifugal device. Place a large tank next to the source and fill it with water. Lower the centrifugal pump into the well. You can use the product in the well. Pull the hose from it to the tank.
Place a water pump nearby, which will take fluid from the prepared container and feed it into the barrel. Install the pump delivery hose into the casing and pull it past the centrifugal pump to the bottom of the source. Turn on both products.
A powerful stream will wash away the bottom sediments, and a centrifugal pump will pump them out to the surface and send the dirty water through a hose to the sump. In it, heavy particles will settle to the bottom, and the liquid will be sent back into the well. After flushing, pump out all the turbid water from the shaft several times.
Removing the odor of hydrogen sulfide from water
This option is used if the smell of hydrogen sulfide in the water from the well has not disappeared after all unpleasant smelling elements have been removed from the mine. You can get rid of it in three ways - physical, chemical and sorption-catalytic.
Physical way
based on the property of this substance to evaporate quickly. It involves the installation of special devices at the outlet of the water from the hose, before pumping into the water supply system. There are two types of such products - gravity and pressure.
Non-pressurized are plastic tanks that are filled through sprayers (nozzles) with water from a well. Oxygen from the air oxidizes most of the hydrogen sulphide, and the rest is eroded. The device is usually installed under the roof of the house, from where water flows into the system by gravity.
Pressure systems differ in the size of the tank and the way water is supplied to the tanks. The liquid enters the column from the bottom under pressure. In the tank, it is saturated with oxygen, which destroys the source of the odor - bacteria. After the procedure, the liquid can be used for cooking.
Sorption catalytic method
stench elimination uses the properties of certain materials to promote the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide. Regular activated carbon is considered the best catalyst. To remove the smell of water from the well, pass the liquid through a filter with such a filler.
Chemical method
it is used due to the properties of ozone, hydrogen, sodium hypochlorite to oxidize hydrogen sulfide. You can also find out the composition of the liquid and use oxygen for oxidation, which reacts with the elements present in the source to form insoluble precipitates.
The cheapest substance is potassium permanganate, which reacts with hydrogen sulfide to form colloidal sulfur, which precipitates. The addition of manganese compounds also leads to the appearance of solid salts. Similar properties of potassium permanganate are used in double regeneration filters. The manganese hydroxide formed as a result of a chemical reaction has the ability to absorb hydrogen sulfide. The resulting solid residue must be removed periodically.
The most effective chemical way to get rid of this substance from water is the addition of hydrogen peroxide. As a result of the reaction, insoluble sulfur is formed, which is disposed of using a charcoal filter.
Removal of iron odor and chemical compounds
To remove the smell of iron, iodine, phenol and other chemical elements, it is recommended to use special filters of various types. What devices need to be used are determined only after a chemical analysis of the water. Often they are part of a complex liquid cleaning system from a well, which also allows you to remove dissolved gases, impurities and microorganisms from it that can cause stench.
To prevent water from scaring off an unpleasant chemical aroma, use the following devices:
- To get rid of the characteristic odor of water from a well with iron, use reagent or reagent-free iron removal filters. Some models use oxygen to convert ferrous iron to ferric, others contain manganese sand, which removes ferrous compounds very quickly.
- A water softener must be included in the plumbing system, used if very hard water is planned to be heated with boilers. Without this device, salt deposits will appear on the heating elements, in which microorganisms multiply. The waste products of these bacteria smell very unpleasant.
- Often, the liquid is passed through reverse osmosis - a membrane with a huge number of small holes. It is supplied to such a filter in large quantities under pressure, as a result of which all impurities remain outside the membrane. Reverse osmosis water comes out of high quality, without any smell.
How to get rid of the unpleasant smell of water from a well - watch the video:
Removing stench from water is not just about restoring the natural state of a liquid. The procedure is performed to make it safe for food preparation and hygienic use, and to prolong the life of the water supply system.
