well Maintenance
To protect your well and your water, you have to catch issues early, long before they reduce the useful life of your well or make your drinking water unsafe. You have to catch them long before there is biofouling (bacterial growth), incrustation (mineral build-up), and/or aquifer mining (water depletion).
If it helps, think of your well like a vehicle—you must monitor it and care for it throughout the year, and deal with any issues immediately, before damage is done. By doing this, you can extend the useful life of a well for years or even decades.
Proper water well maintenance is fairly straightforward. It involves...
Recording the non-pumping water level every other month, and graphing it so that you can analyze levels over time.
Performing an annual "tune-up." (Depending on the specifics of your well and your area, you may need to perform a tune-up twice a year .)
You can perform the “tune-up” yourself or have Essential Water Works do it for you. Generally, it involves:
Testing for total coliform bacteria, including E. coli, and having a complete chemical analysis performed to note changes in water quality.
Calculating the correct concentration for your well and shock chlorinating it to reduce bacteria.
Checking the overall condition of the well (like the casing stick-up, wiring insulation, and pump) and surrounding area to note current or potential deficiencies. Here, it’s important to get answers to the following questions:
Are there leaks, loose wires, corrosion?
Is the wellhead protected?
Is drainage sloping away from the well?
Is the stick-up adequate to prevent water from entering the casing?
Is the cap sealed water tight, or are insects and mice getting in?
Additionally, you can run diagnostic tests to verify the condition of the pump, motor, and electrical components. You can check for motor winding and insulation resistance, motor draw, and voltages throughout the system.
Care for and Maintain Your Water Supply Well
Taking proper care of your well, including regularly testing the water quality, can help ensure that you have a safe and sustainable water supply. As the property owner, you may perform some of the routine care and maintenance of your well. However, most maintenance of your well must be carried out by a registered well driller in order to protect the water supply from contamination. Routine care and maintenance activities are required under the Groundwater Protection Regulation."
Government of British Columbia