How do you treat a well for iron bacteria?

The same treatment procedure as any well, with two adjustments for the slime: expect the colony's biofilm to consume disinfectant, so verify with a bacteria retest rather than assuming the treatment worked, and favor a disinfectant that penetrates biofilm. Chlorine mostly burns the surface layer, which is why bleach-treated wells so often re-slime within months; chlorine dioxide strips the biofilm itself, per its manufacturer's published data.

Treating a well with a disinfectant is also called shock chlorination.

Mechanical help matters with a heavy infestation: circulating the solution with the well pump through a hose, and running it to every tap, puts the disinfectant against the slime instead of just in the water. Expect ugly water during the flush as dead biofilm sloughs off; that is the treatment working.

Finish with the bacteria retest one to two weeks later. If it still shows coliform, the colony was thicker than one round, and a second treatment finishes what the first opened up.

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