How do you flush a well after treating it?
Last updated Reviewed by Sean Mihelich, founder of Save My Well
Run an outside spigot onto ground that drains away from your septic system, your garden, and any pond or stream, and flush the solution through every outlet, as the label directs. It usually takes a few hours. Keep the treated water out of the house drains: a septic system is a living thing and a tankful of disinfectant is hard on it.
Treating a well with a disinfectant is also called shock chlorination.
Do not cut the flush short: stopping early puts disinfectant in your coffee. Run each indoor tap to clear the branch lines, and clean faucet aerators, which trap dislodged debris. Follow all directions on the product label.
Expect the water to look worse before better: dead biofilm and rust that the treatment stripped will slough out through the flush. That debris leaving the system is the point of the whole exercise.
Sources
Minnesota Department of Health, Well Disinfection, 2024
Ohio State University Extension, Shock Chlorination of Wells (AEX-318), 2019
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