You don’t need a hazmat suit. Just grab some unscented household bleach. Please, no fancy scented or “splash-less” varieties—those add chemicals you don’t want.
You’ll also need a clean garden hose, a bucket, rubber gloves, and maybe some old clothes. This isn’t a formal occasion, after all.
Oh, and a friend is nice, but not essential. Just someone to hand you the bleach and say, “You got this.”
Step 1: The Math (It’s Easier Than You Think)
First, figure out how deep your well is and how much water it holds. Don’t panic—you can usually find this on your well driller’s report.
PPT - Is Your Well Water Safe? PowerPoint Presentation, free download
A general rule: for a typical 100-foot well with 6 inches of casing, you’ll need about 1 gallon of bleach. For a shallow well, maybe just a quart.
Too little bleach is a waste of time. Too much? You’ll just be flushing it for days. Aim for a chlorine concentration of 50 to 100 ppm (parts per million)—that’s the sweet spot for disinfection.
Step 2: The Pour (Like Making a Giant Cocktail)
Pop the cap off your well casing. Yes, that metal pipe sticking out of the ground. Wait—is it sealed tight? Use a wrench if you have to.
Pour your calculated amount of bleach directly down the well casing. Do it slowly so it doesn’t splash back in your face (you’re a curious scientist, not a stuntman).
Now, immediately attach your garden hose to an outside spigot and run the water until you smell bleach coming out of the hose. This circulates the chlorine magic.
Step 3: The Wait (The “Patience is a Virtue” Part)
Here’s where it gets interesting. Let the chlorinated water sit in the well for at least 12 hours, or ideally 24. This is the contact time—the bleach needs time to kill everything.
Go watch a movie. Take a nap. Let the earth’s plumbing do its thing. You’re basically a water wizard waiting for your potion to brew.
Clean Well Water Report
During this time, do not drink, shower, or wash dishes with the water. It’s basically a strong swimming pool at this point. That’s the whole point!
Step 4: The Flush (The Grand Finale)
After your wait is up, it’s time to flush. Connect the hose to a spigot and run it into a nearby drain, gravel pit, or a patch of weeds you don’t like.
Let it run until you can’t smell chlorine anymore. This could take 30 minutes or a few hours—depends on your well depth and water flow.
Pro tip: run all your indoor faucets for a minute or two after that. This clears the pipes so you don’t get a surprise bleachy shower tomorrow morning.
