For the device of autonomous water supply in the suburban area, wells or wells are mounted. More often sources work smoothly without any complaints. However, there are cases when muddy water with clay comes from wells. This phenomenon indicates a problem in the casing or changes in the resource horizon. The problem must be eliminated as soon as possible, otherwise the performance of the hydraulic structure will drop completely.
Causes of Turbidity
The causes of dirty water from the well in the spring or at other times of the year can be both mechanical factors and biological, chemical phenomena. You need to fix the problem only after the provoking factor is identified.
Mechanical reasons
It can be:
- Rupture of the filter mesh and, as a result, sand entering the casing. This is especially true of sources on the sand layer.
- Casing rupture. Occurs on the background of the mobility of the horizon. Those, in turn, are shifted due to improper actions by drillers - incorrectly selected and installed pipes. With such violations of the integrity of the column, the liquid from the top can ooze with the sand into the artesian well. If the gap occurred at the bottom of the artesian hydraulic structure, the water may be white due to the large amount of lime in it.
- Strong washing out of a gravel pillow. Occurs in cases when the bottom of the casing string is covered with a layer of gravel as a filter material. It is designed to block the flow of lime and sand particles into the water. When washing gravel bedding, these elements freely fill the casing space and make the resource dirty.
- Destruction of the column by a vibrating pump. For narrow wells it is better to use centrifugal or screw equipment. Vibration units with constant contact with the walls of the casing lead to mechanical damage. To prevent this from happening, put on a tight rubberized ring on the pump flask.
Depressurization of the trunk in any of its sections also leads to contamination of the liquid in the source. Here, groundwater after rain, industrial effluents, etc. can freely enter the well.
Hydrogeological reasons
If clay particles are present in the aquatic environment, it is most likely a quicksand. This is one of the layers of the soil, oversaturated with moisture. Inexperienced drillers can confuse it with an aquifer and mount the casing incorrectly. Professionals know that working on a quicksand is difficult. It is forbidden to use such a liquid for household needs.
Chemical reasons
More often, a high concentration of ferric / ferrous iron in it or the ingress of various industrial chemicals into the formation affects the purity of water from a well. The second happens much less often. If the cause of the liquid contamination is iron, the water will have an unpleasant reddish tint. This happens either due to the presence of Fe3 in the liquid, or due to the oxidation of Fe2 by air on the surface and its conversion to a trivalent form. When settling an aqueous medium with a large amount of iron, its visible particles settle on the bottom of the tank. They can be removed by filtration.
Biological causes of pollution
We are talking about the biological infection of a liquid or the presence of organics (algae) in it. In the first case, nitrates, acids, and other biological pollutants leaked into the mine along with groundwater or atmospheric precipitation. You can drink the extracted resource only after boiling.Crude fluid will provoke at least an upset bowel.
As for organics, more often in the wells there is an overgrowth of microorganisms (algae) and their flowering. The reason is a simple source and hot sunlight in it. Heated stagnant water is an excellent environment for living microorganisms. In organic activity, the liquid from the source will have the characteristic smell of a swamp.
Cleaning methods
Options for cleaning the liquid are based on its mechanical filtration and disinfection. But first, you need to eliminate the very cause of the contamination of the well.
A damaged filter (its mesh) should preferably be replaced with a disk cleaner. It is able to filter moisture from suspensions of a grain size of 20 microns or more. Moreover, its wear resistance is better than that of a conventional mesh.
If the cause of the turbidity is siltation, you will have to swing the well and flush it under high pressure. Such work is best entrusted to professionals. They have everything they need to complete the buildup. Washing is done by pumping the entire volume of water using a powerful pump and pouring reagents into the shaft under high pressure. If you engage in such work yourself, there is a high risk of damaging the column with a water hammer. After the buildup, it is advisable to change the silted bottom filter.
With biological and organic contamination of the borehole resource, it is important to filter the water and disinfect it. It needs a comprehensive cleaning. It is advisable to use special biological filters. For disinfection, you need to use a 1% solution of chlorine and other similar chemicals. If the source mine is not cleaned of organics, then all the efforts of the decontamination master will be in vain. Flowering and reproduction of microorganisms will become more intense every day.
It is best to use reverse osmosis plants to clean liquids mixed with organics or biological impurities.
If water has a high concentration of iron, it is possible to install deferrizing filters or to conduct first forced aeration of the liquid, and then its mechanical filtration. The simplest, but time-consuming and time-consuming method is the upholding of stocks accumulated in the tank.
With mechanical damage to the casing, it is important to correct all defects, to achieve complete sealing of the string. This can be done after complete pumping of water.
If part of the pipe has shifted about its axis, it will not be possible to correct the situation. Drilling of a new source is necessary.
Preventative measures
To prevent the turbidity of well water, a number of preventive measures must be taken:
- At the preliminary drilling stage, accurately determine the depth of the aquifer, its type. According to the data obtained, choose the optimal diameter of the casing, type of filter coarse and fine cleanings. It is also advisable to conduct a complete analysis of the liquid in order to understand what tasks it will have to face.
- Operate the source continuously. Long seasonal downtime leads to siltation of the bottom of the column. As a result, the productivity of the hydraulic structure is reduced. The water in it becomes cloudy with an admixture of sand and organics.
- Provide a source with a head that will protect the upper part of the well from sunlight.
It is also advisable to flush the shaft of the shaft at least once every 2-3 years in order to remove possible impurities of sand or clay from it, to increase the flow rate.
