Expert: eric maxon - 6/18/2004

Question
Let's see if I can spit this all out, have it make sense and all be in the right order.

Renting a house in country. Has a well, don't know if shallow or deep. Possibly shallow because I know it still has the old sewer and septic leech pits. The tank and pump are in the basement and pipe comes in through the wall, so I don't actually know where the well is. Had purge the system because it was constantly cycling ~ had too much water in the tank. I mean it came on 4 times to fill a gallon jug and 55 times (no kidding) to fill the washer. Now it comes on 5 times for the washer. That went very smoothly...didn't have to prime the pump thank goodness.

two questions:

1. I have sand in my dishes when I run the dishwasher. I imagine a broken line. How do I find out where the well is with out digging up the whole yard? Is there anything else it could be? I cannot recall if the sand was there before or started after I purged the system. I do not have sand coming out of kitchen sink or in bathtub, only dishwasher.

2. FISHY SMELL!!!! YUCK!!! Sometimes when we run the water, it smells drastically of fish, like a lake or river. It isn't all the time. Comes out of kitchen/bathroom sink, shower, and dishwasher but not washing machine. Just realized that they are all on the first floor and washer is in basement. Why do I get this and how do I stop it? It was there before the purge and then after it, it seemed to have gone away. Then the other day I opened dishwasher and it was awful. I washed them again because they smelled so badly.

I think that is all the facts. If not ask me and I can tell you. Hope I got all the info for you.
Thanks, Audra  

Answer
Thanks for the question.  I would guess that the well needs to be looked at by a pro.  You should have a sand point in the bottem of the well and that SHOULD prevent sand from getting into the house piping.  

As for the fish, I'm not really sure.  I have not seen that before.  Maybe the well pro will have an idea

Eric