We had family staying and clearly used more water than the well could keep up with, because the taps sputtered and then gave nothing for about an hour. It recovered on its own by evening. Since then the water has an orange tint in a white bath, and it stains the sink if it sits. It was clear before this happened. 250ft drilled well, submersible pump, no treatment on the house.
When you drew the level down to the pump, you pulled water from the very bottom of the borehole where sediment and iron sit, and you stirred the whole thing up. That usually clears with time and flushing.
Run an outside hose bib wide open onto the lawn for 45 minutes, well away from the septic field, then check a glass. If it's better, run it again the next evening. Also flush the water heater tank, because that's where the rust settles and quietly comes back for weeks after everything else looks clear.
Two 45 minute flushes and it's nearly clear. Heater flush this weekend.
The bigger worry is the hour of running dry. A submersible is cooled by the water flowing past it, so dry running cooks the motor. It survived this time. Fit a low water cutoff or a pump protection device, they're about the price of a nice dinner and they shut the pump off before it eats itself.
Practical bit for next time you have guests: stagger showers by 30 minutes and do laundry overnight. A well that recovers in an hour is fine for two people and marginal for six. We put a small sign in the guest bathroom and it stopped being a problem.
Just chlorinate the well, it fixes orange water.
Chlorine handles bacteria and some iron bacteria. On dissolved iron it will just oxidise it into visible rust particles and make the staining worse until you flush it all out. Test before dumping bleach down a borehole.
@drip_dana · 6mo ago · 3 replies
Two tests worth doing now rather than in six months. A bacteria test, because anything that disturbs a well is a reason to check, and an iron test that separates dissolved iron from particulate. Orange that only appears after standing is dissolved iron oxidising in the glass, orange that's there the moment it comes out of the tap is rust particles. Different fixes.
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@isopod_ivy · 6mo ago
And if it's slimy or smells swampy rather than metallic, ask specifically about iron bacteria. That's a shock chlorination job, not a filter job.
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@tarp_and_tea · 6mo ago
No smell, and it goes orange in the glass rather than coming out orange. Sounds like dissolved.
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