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I have well water coming into my system and I noticed that in my water storage tank there are small particles floating around. It really could be anything, but I decided to buy some chlorine to treat the water, especially because I drink it. I do have a small system inside the house to filter the water, but I think chlorinating it from outside will help too.

My question is, is this the right product to use to disinfect bacteria in my storage tank outside? Chlorinating Liquid

Here is the link to the product I bought from Wal-Mart: Link here

It is meant for pools, but I could not find anything for drinking water treatment.

If I can use it, how much approximately would I add to my storage tank? I think it holds 500 gallons.

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    It is a bad idea to use anything to treat drinking water unless it is intended and proven to be safe for that purpose.
    – Qudit
    Jun 18, 2018 at 23:39
  • Ok, I will look for something else to use. Thanks.
    – David
    Jun 18, 2018 at 23:40
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    Sorry, David, but I agree with renesis -- I think you will get a better answer on diy SE. I also agree with Qudit that you may create a worse problem than you solve by using something not proven safe for drinking water. Your big mistake was looking in your storage tank! ;)
    – ab2
    Jun 18, 2018 at 23:43
  • I have asked a mod to migrate this question
    – Charlie Brumbaugh
    Jun 18, 2018 at 23:52

2 Answers 2

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Make sure you use the right amount

According to How Much Chlorine To Add to Storage Tank To Kill Bacteria, you only need 1/2 gallon of regular bleach or 1/4 gallon of pool chlorine to disinfect 500 gallons of water. If you pour a gallon of pool chlorine in 500 gallons of water that will likely be too much - and not safe to drink for a while.

Make sure it is ONLY bleach

Clorox (which unfortunately has a pretty-to-look-at but hardly functional for getting real information web site at the moment) makes it very clear that you should ONLY use plain bleach for disinfecting drinking water. Clorox and their competitors sell plenty of bleach now with fragrances, extra cleaners, etc. - and you don't want any of that in your drinking water. All indications that I could find are that the Pool Essentials product is just bleach, but their web site says very little and the picture of the bottle isn't clear/complete enough to tell for sure.

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    My well testing guy that is state certified buys Clorox by the cases as it is less expensive and approved. After adding bleach to a system flushing is required in Oregon.
    – Ed Beal
    Jun 20, 2018 at 23:29
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My water tester uses basic Clorox bleach, swimming pool chlorine will also work, dump the chlorine / bleach down the well vent and flush with some water, waiting at least 3 hours or over night will provide the best results then flush the system for 3 hours or until there is no bleach / chlorine smell and your well will be sanitized. If you want to eliminate some floaters and small sand from getting into your tank add a particulate or string filter prior to the tank, if a filter is added remember they need to be changed, get one with a clear filter housing and you may be surprised how much gunk a simple string filter can stop.

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