We recently removed the cover from our well which is very close to the house. We suspected that it might be contributing to a damp problem in the house as the level was very high. We bought a well pump and reduced the level by about a meter. We also noticed that as we were pumping the water out, bubbles would come up from the depths which seemed to smell a bit oily. We then dropped a glass jar down it to collect a water sample which was crystal clear.
We've been using it to pump water onto the plants (which haven't shown any signs of dying from oil pollution!) and last night, I had a look down it to see how low the level was doing and it hardly appeared to have changed if at all despite this incredibly hot weather. One thing I noticed however was that it looked like there was an oily film on top of the water. I can only conclude that either we disturbed something down there that someone's chucked in in the past that contained oil or the oil is coming from the pump itself. It wasn't a particularly expensive pump and was brand new. I don't know anything about pumps however but are they likely to contain an oily deposit that's now leaking into the water? Does anyone else have any experience of such things? The well itself looks like it had been covered many years ago. If it's contaminated by someone's naughtiness in the past, is there anything we can do about it?
We've been using it to pump water onto the plants (which haven't shown any signs of dying from oil pollution!) and last night, I had a look down it to see how low the level was doing and it hardly appeared to have changed if at all despite this incredibly hot weather. One thing I noticed however was that it looked like there was an oily film on top of the water. I can only conclude that either we disturbed something down there that someone's chucked in in the past that contained oil or the oil is coming from the pump itself. It wasn't a particularly expensive pump and was brand new. I don't know anything about pumps however but are they likely to contain an oily deposit that's now leaking into the water? Does anyone else have any experience of such things? The well itself looks like it had been covered many years ago. If it's contaminated by someone's naughtiness in the past, is there anything we can do about it?
