So I'm resurrecting an old well that has likely not been run for some years. I was able to get it going with a new pump. First it was a creamy, deep black water that came out. After about a minute it turned medium brown (like a rust brown but not as red as rust). It gradually got lighter over the course of about 10 minutes but never ran clear. I'm of course going to be testing the water but I assume I should run it for awhile first in case it just keeps improving. How long should I run it for? And would a basic cheap 1hp shallow well jetted pump be able to do continuous duty for that period of time—I guess I should just monitor it for overheating and give it a rest if I think it's overheating?

A little more background: The well uses galvanized steel pipes which have a fair amount of rust so I'm hoping it's just that. I'm using just a shallow well pump and it's working, so I assume there's no submersible pump and instead there's just a foot valve. I also think the foot valve is busted (at least in terms of it serving as a check valve) because as soon as I stop the pump, I can hear the water sucking back down into the well, and I then have to re-prime the pump before starting. So I'll be adding a check valve near the pump so that at least enough water is held so as to not require re-priming every time.

 

How does the water smell?

Where are you located? Near low lying stagnant land like a swamp? Could the well be sunk in sour ground?

Normally I would say that water doesn't go bad but it can be contaminated. Since it's a shallow well I wonder if the source is simply not good. If it were just water in the well or stuff in the pipe it would clear out relatively quickly.