GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACIES ROUTINELY LIE TO THE PUBLIC

Iron bacteria are a significant part of the problem in the West Montrose well field. These four wells and pumps are infected with iron bacteria. These bacteria feed on iron in the water and produce a slimy sludge which blocks the pumps. In a private single well the homeowner can "shock" his well with chlorine and leave a very strong solution in the system for 24 hours or more. Then he empties it out and probably the bulk of the iron bacteria are dead and won't be a problem for several more months or longer. In West Montrose with seventy or more homes on the system you can't very easily shut everything down for 24 hours or more while the high concentration of chlorine kills the iron bacteria.

The water being delivered to homes, after being pumped from the wells, is treated to remove the iron and thus homes in West Montrose should not have excess iron. What is interesting is that it appears as if the Regional government aren't prepared to let residents know that these particular bacteria are present in the system. Normal chlorination and chloramination take place after the water has been pumped from the wells, hence they have no effect on the pump and directly related piping blockage caused by iron bacteria. The bottom line may be that either isolating one well and pump at a time from the rest of the system in order to "shock" the well and pump etc. cannot be done sucessfully or this is all bunkum designed to hide the fact that the colifirm and E.Coli bacteria are too plentiful to destroy with normal chlorine contact. Therefore ongoing massive chlorination is required to kill pathogens including bacteria and the lack of pumping capacity is just BS. Who knows when you are dealing with government at any level.