Treatment for Escherichia Coli (E-coli) and Coliform bacteria can be confusing and if not addressed properly, it can be dangerous.  With the improvements in water treatment technology and various water treatment companies telling you many different things, it can be hard to know the correct way of treating such harmful and potentially lethal bacteria.  We at WaterFiltersOfAmerica.com® know of two possible solutions that have been proven to work.  The two treatment options we suggest are: Chlorination and Retention and the newer UV Treatment Systems. We will explore both options, but today we will be talking about Chlorination and Retention.

Treating E-coli in your water with Chlorination and Retention is based off years of experience. The Chlorination system we recommend is a Chemical Feed System that injects chlorine as the water comes out of the well and before the Retention tank.  Flow rate is crucial since the amount of retention time is based on the flow rate. We recommend 20 minutes of contact time per gallon per minute of flow rate.  For example, if you have a flow rate of 6 gallons per minute or less, 6 gpm x 20 min = 120 gallons of retention.  The Chemical Feed System would be installed with a 120 gallon retention tank.  For every 6 gpm, a 120 gallon retention tank is needed. The flow rate CAN NOT be rounded down. If you have 6.2, 6.5 or 6.9, etc. gpm you need two (2) 120 gallon retention tanks (a smaller retention tank may be utilized depending on flow rate, ask a knowledgeable WaterFiltersOfAmerica.com® technician for more information). Most people choose to keep the same size tanks to keep the plumbing simple and clean, but as long as you have the proper amount of contact time you can use whatever configuration you like.  The retention tanks hold the water and chlorine and kills the bacteria. The water can then move on to be filtered by a Terminox™ ISM for any residual chlorine and to remove the iron, sulfur and manganese that may be present in the well water and finally a water softener may be installed at the end of the line. The water that is purged from the backwashing of the Terminox™ unit will not have any bacteria and your septic system will not be polluted with any bacteria, nor would it have any chlorine that might kill the organics that a septic system needs.

When presented with the issues of harmful bacteria, such as E-coli and Coliform, in your water Chlorination and Retention is a wonderfully effective option.  Be very cautious of water treatment companies that don’t want your flow rate or companies that don’t give you options.  We only recommend what we would do for our own families and we consider our customers family. In our next blog we’ll discuss treating E-coli and Coliform in your water with a UV Water Treatment System.

-Water Filtration Wizard