Well Treatment & Maintenance

Well treatment and maintenance

Whether your well is new or old, it requires supervision and maintenance.

A schedule for your well allows you to not only make sure your water is safe to drink, but also lets you keep track of your water quality over time. If your water quality changes, treatment options will vary and having the right information promotes proper well ownership and stewardship.

On this page:

Well Maintenance
When to treat
Treatment options
For renters

Well Maintenance

For well systems to continue working properly and water quality to remain safe for consumption, we recommend you adopt a maintenance schedule. Even if your water looks and tastes good, hidden contaminants could be present.

Having a maintenance and testing schedule for your well water allows you to not only make sure your water is always safe to drink but also lets you keep track of the water quality over time. Record failures, repairs, tests, and maintenance to reduce future repairs and unknown contaminations.

When to treat

The best way to know if your well needs treatment is to be aware of your surroundings (new construction, flooding, etc.) and to get it tested once a year. Some contaminants are not noticeable but can impact your health. You may need to test more often if:

The well has a history of contamination
Your septic system has recently malfunctioned
Family members are experiencing stomach illness
Infants are drinking the water
Any equipment has broken or malfunctioned

Visit the Routine Domestic Well Testing page for more information. If your well has been impacted by an emergency or natural disaster, you can find more information on the Emergencies, Disasters, and Wells page.

Treatment options

Treatment options range from removing the source of the contamination and shock chlorinating the well and pipes to more advanced treatments such as ion exchange or reverse osmosis. If water treatment is not an option, other options may include connecting to a new source, or constructing a new deeper well.

If you're looking for information about treatment for nitrate, we have a guide that can help: Water Treatment Systems for Nitrate in Private Wells (Spanish).
Visit the Well User Resource Toolkit for more information about water treatment options.

For renters

The Oregon Residential Landlord Tenant Act (ORS 90.320) requires that all landlords maintain their rental units in a habitable condition, including providing a water supply maintained so as to provide "safe drinking water." This means that the landlord is responsible for fixing or replacing the plumbing, or providing another source of safe drinking water if the well is contaminated. The Community Alliance of Tenants can assist you should you encounter any resistance from your landlord.