I'm feeling like the mechanic's wife whose car won't run. My significant other manages the facility of a local mechanical contractor. He himself is not a plumber, he's an organizer. He has spoken to a number of the plumbers at the shop and nobody seems to know what's going on, so I'm hoping someone here will have some insight for me *fingers crossed*

We have a well. We are getting pieces of grass clogging our faucet filters. I have no idea where the grass is getting into the system. We checked the PVC piece with the cap at the well and it is complete, undamaged, and sealed. Aside from that point where else could this be coming from???

I have no idea if there's a filter on the system or what I'd be looking for to determine that. The man of the house is less than helpful Wouldn't placing a whole house filter on the system just be a bandage? The grass has to be coming from somewhere...

I obviously don't want to be drinking or cooking with this water since I'm assuming if there's grass in the water there's bacteria too - maybe paranoid but better safe than sorry. Now I'm worrying about using the washing machine and dishwasher as I don't know if they'll get clogged too.

Any help / insight is greatly appreciated!!

If there is a lawn sprinkler system connected to the potable system without a vacuum breaker or other backflow prevention, a low-lying sprinkler head, maybe broken off, could have a puddle around it and suck the grass clippings in when pressure provided by the pump and well tank is not high enough. Or something similar.

Edit: Just occurred to me, you could have the same effect if a garden hose was left in a puddle.

Just a theory.

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Links to the State of Wisconsin Plumbing Code:
[docs.legis.wisconsin.gov]
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I am not a plumber.
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Good thought, but unfortunately that's not it

Call a well service pro. The only thing I can think of would be if you had a clorination system with an open top that somehow got grass clippings in it possibly from a lawn mower kept in the same garage space? An on site inspection would be needed to track this down.

There is, in fact:

a potentially lethal (ANTHRAX) "cross connection" between your POTABLE WATER and your LAWN

DO NOT DRINK THE WATER W/O BOILING FIRST

while this may sound 'alarmist' ~ 10,000 people died at a Chicago world fair due to a sanitary cross connection

YES, I am trying to scare and shock you into taking action

birds dodo
dogs dodo
squirrels dodo
all 'wild' animals dodo

your grass is into your potable water

CALL A PRO NOW

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

A possibility:

At the top of the well casing should be a air vent. (aprox 1/4 - 1/2 inch pipe connection.) This vent should have a air screen / filter. If not and is open, insects / grass etc may freely enter. Your well should be properly shock chlorinated. Google / youtube it.

I haven't been using the water except to bathe in so we're good, but thanks for putting safety first!

I also got the answer to the problem - there was no O-ring in the top of the well head (not sure if I'm calling this the right thing) but the PVC that sticks out of the ground and is capped at the well. The other half had "inspected it" a few times, but as soon as I did so today I noticed a steady stream of ants entering it and after removing the cap discovered a nice nest about 10' down on the side of the pipe. We have a well company coming tomorrow to pull the well pipe to the seal, replace the seal, clean / replace the section of pipe above the seal and chlorinate the well.

Thanks again for trying to help! One more thing to consider if you run across something similar in the future



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Lol, the grass started growing in our faucet filters too. I didn't mind until reading this thread. You know, for me, it's a little bit challenging to figure out what happens around me. I'm so absent. It took a while to find out how to clean my artificial grass in the backyard. I am just thankful that there are people who dedicate their time, writing about simple stuff as my grass problem. I have discovered this guy on [trimthatweed.com] who is writing such valuable articles, about simple concerns of a house owner, as for me.



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Aug 2023 We have had grass in all our indoor screens for almost a year now. We first noticed it last August in our Washing machine screen and our hot water screen when we did our annual check up. I called a well company and he was very impatient saying it was impossible to get grass in there unless we had an open or cracked cover on our well. We did not. Our cover is thick metal and it took a sledge hammer to get it off. We had thought maybe we had a broken screen inside our well but grass would have to get in there first. He wouldn't come out so we left it alone and watched it. Over the winter and spring, we didn't have any more grass. Then in July we did our annual check again and found grass in our washing machine screen, the hot water heater screen and the screens in our kitchen and bath faucets. I called a different well guy this time. He had been at it a long time and he never heard of grass in the screens. He suggested iron bacteria but we didn't have any discoloration or smell. Then he asked how old our well pump was. I guessed 20 - 30 years old. He said he saw once where the well pump was disintegrating and shavings were coming off the pump and we should probably get a new pump. I asked when I could set that up and he said he was booked for the next 8 months and to try another well company. I tried another well company and they wouldn't even take my information. They were so booked up they weren't taking anything but emergencies. Finally I called a plumbing company. I told him we had what looked like grass but we didn't know how that could be so we were going with the theory that the pump was disintegrating and we needed a new pump. He set us up to get a new pump in two weeks and it would be $1500 or more. I had saved some of the grass/shavings in the freezer and got them out to look at them again and I swear it was grass. So I looked on line for anyone out there with grass in their screens. This was the ONLY post that I found. Then I saw the comment from Jblanche and I thought it could be possible. We didn't have sprinkler heads but we did have a hose. So I emailed your post to the plumber and asked if I could bring my sample in for him to inspect. We brought our sample to him and as soon as he saw it, he said that is definitely grass. He said he found merit in your theory but for the fact that our faucet should have an anti-siphon on it that should prevent that. My husband then sheepishly said that he had replaced that faucet several years ago and put a regular faucet on without the anti-siphon. But then he was confused because we usually have some type of sprayer on the hose that should prevent it. I said I have the dog pool back there and several times a year, especially in the spring, I take the sprayer off to fill the pool and then probably throw the hose down in the watery grass. SO ALL WAS EXPLAINED (thank you Jblanche). WE HAD A SPIGOT THAT DIDN'T HAVE THE ANTI SIPHON ON IT AND ON OCCASION WE LEFT OUR HOSE IN A PUDDLE IN THE GRASS. Note; we decided not to get a new well pump. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.



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