I have a steel well that was originally installed in the late 70's and has since been recased within the last 10 years I assume (we've been in the home 5 years). When we moved in there were still unused sections of PVC casing under the deck so I assumed it was relatively recent to us moving in. It is a 4" diameter, deep well, but not sure on how deep (guessing around 200') or the level of standing water in the well. We have been having an iron bacteria issue since we have been in the home. Toilet bowls get the brownish red slime in them which wipes off. Sinks and tub get staining as well after a couple weeks after being cleaned with Iron Out or bleach. I am getting mixed information on whether it is safe to shock chlorinate our well, and if so, the proper instructions on how to do it without knowing well depth, standing level, etc. One of companies said we couldn't pay them enough to shock a well that old because the company that recased it could have just gone as far as the preexisting problem was and not the entire depth of the well. If shock chlorinated it could cause the build up of minerals that essentially created it's own casing over time would be destroyed in the process and possibly cause the well to collapse.

We have a hardness problem and have had a number of quotes from various local water quality companies with the entire gamit of recommendations. Everything from iron filter and softner combo units as well as seperate units to chlorine injection. Before investing thousands of dollars in a water system I would like to know the BS from the facts.

I just bought a new 33 gallon bladder style pressure tank (says it will handle up to 11 facets, but not sure if I got the right size) that I will be replacing the old galvanized steel one with. We are in a 2.5 bath home with a dishwasher and two outside hose connections. I figured the old one might be contributing to the iron bacteria problem as well as being a pain to repressurize all the time.

What do you guys recommend for my water quality issues? Should I shock chlorinate and then retest 7 days after? The in home tests they have done are in the ranges of 14-20 grains of hardness, 3-4 PPM iron, ph is neutral. I can take the water to a local lab if you guys need more accurate numbers.

My wife is tired of our whites and our new bathroom renovations ending up orange tinged and she wants to just install over kill to make sure we don't have to deal with it any longer, but I want to be a little more practical considering the price differences in all the systems being pitched to us.

Thanks in advance.