Just moved out to the 'country' and I am NOT farmiliar with well water at all! Aside from the fact that it is about 100 years old, and sat vacant for about 8 months before we moved in, I cant get my land lord to send a plumber out. He will not return my calls.

Let me start from the beginning. When me and my daughters first moved in, the water ran orange and stunk like minerals or iron or whatever is in the well water....I had to complain ALOT for the landlord to finally send a plumber out (wouldnt let me get my own) and he said the water softner needed salt....ok i get that. But ever since....there has been no more orange and the smell has subsided slightly.....there is still a fairly strong odor and my hair straight out of the shower after a shampoo literally smells like a dirty wet dog who just swam in a lake. Its horrible. I have left messages for my landlord who is more than likely ignoring me because he thinks i am just a city girl and need to get use to country life. This cant be normal. My girls refuse to shower there....i am taking them to my mothers or sisters house to bathe.

What is the problem. Obviously it will be out of my pocket....and I dont have much money....please tell me why and what to do to fix this...I am at my wits end.

Sincerely,
Kim

I have the same problem in my house, although it is about 85 years newer. We had to purchase a filter, a softener and a chlorinator to clean it up. It was expensive but worth it. Adding salt is a bit of a pain, but it only has to be done every couple of months. The chlorinator just requires a quart of Chlorox once a month. Have you considered asking the city or county if they have an office that regulates water quality issues where you are? They might be able to assist you in getting to the bottom of it.

You may also have galvanized steel plumbing in the house since it's so old. If so, it doesn't matter how clean the water is. The pipes themselves may be full of rust and mineral deposits that are adding to your problem.

I would suggest NOT doing anything to the Plumbing system, (except for possibly having a water analysis performed), unless your Landlord approves such work to be done on his/her property.

e-plumber
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This slow drip will waste 7+ gallons of water per day.

This sounds a whole lot like some pipes that used to be used in the house got capped off way out at the end and now there's stagnant water in them but they're still connected to the system.

I'm not a plumber. I'm just a guy that had a similar experience.

Any opinions from the plumbers?

irregardless of what we say here, your problem goes beyond any impurities in the water. you need to work this out with the landlord or move back to the city.

I would do as E-Plumber suggested... Have a water analysis performed to determine what additional conditioning is needed and if the water meets minimum health standards. If the water meets minimum health standards there is little you can do other than try to wheel and deal with the landlord on installing additional treatment. If the water does not meet minumum health standards then you can use the info for possible enforcement action.

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Thanks for replying....I have someone finally coming out today to test the water and do the initial diagnosis. Out of pocket for now :-( But I will then submit our findings and the bill to the landlord and hope for the best. If I find out that there is a dog that frequents my hot water heater for a midnight swim I will just throw in the towel

Being a renter, most Water Conditioning Dealers will have rental programs for systems. Check with one or more local ones for assistance. They will either be able to do water analysis for you or advise you where to have it done.