ComplaintsforDonamarc Water Systems Company

• Initial Complaint

  11/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We hired the company to bleach the well as a result of selling the home. They came out on 11/28, bleached the well and explained that we cannot run the water for 6 hours, after the 6 hour **** we would be ok to operate as normal. After 6 hours we began to flush the system as instructed, running the facets for 10 minutes on and off for an hour and half. During the time the water completely stopped working. we reached out for help, they asked us to turn off the breaker and wait for 30 minutes then try again which we did. The water still did not work. We reached out to a 2nd company for their opinion, they instructed us that waiting the 6 hours was untrue and we should have been told to wait 24 hours before running any showers, appliances etc. We contacted Donamarc for help at which then they said they would charge us again to send someone out. After having the situation inspected by a 2nd company it appears the Well pump blew due to running the appliances after only 6 hours, the pump is encased and cannot be removed therefore we now have to have a completely new well drilled resulting in financial lose and hardship as well as pain and suffering by leaving us without any water for weeks until we can have the new well drilled and completed. I have a small child so to have the inability to use showers, toilets and faucets etc. let alone absolutely NO WATER TO THE HOUSE has been extremely difficult, upsetting and stressful. We are now paying thousands of dollars which we do not have due to their negligence and error in instructions.

  

  Business response

  12/30/2022

  The customers well had failed a bacteria test prior to them contacting Donamarc.  The only procedure authorized by the ************* is to perform a disinfection process to the water well and plumbing.  The procedures followed by Donamarc met or exceeded ************* Private Water Rules and industry standards.  The procedure performed by Donamarc was a pH adjusted treatment.  This treatment is recognized by **** ********** of ****** in the private water rules and has also become the standard treatment process recognized by the water well industry.  The customers review mentions advice given by another company that is not up-to-date with current industry practices and does not reflect the **** ********** of ****** rules.  Keeping the solution in the system for a duration that is too long or too short would only potentially impact the effectiveness of killing bacteria, not the status of the pump.  Our industry has recognized effectiveness of disinfection after as few as 30 minutes when the pH adjusted method is used, so Donamarcs recommendation of leaving the solution in for a minimum of 6 hours is 12 times longer than the 30-minute minimum.  That another company would say that the disinfectant should be left in the well for a minimum of 24 hours is very questionable.  It could be old advice that became obsolete more than 20 years ago in our industry.  Regardless, flushing the well out after 6 hours instead of *************************************************************** the well.

  The customers review does state that they flushed the well for an hour prior to the water stopping.  It sounds like they followed the recommended procedure of turning off the pump and waiting 30 minutes before trying it again.  It was then subsequently determined that the well pump had failed and that we would need to pull the pump from the well.  Pumps have an average lifespan in the US of approximately 10 years.  Sanitizing can sometimes be a stress test and expose a bad pump or wiring.  The failure of the pump would legitimately result in additional costs.  The customers were made aware of this and gave approval to proceed.  Upon attempting to remove the pump from the well, it was found that the pump was stuck in the well and additional steps were required.  The customers well casing has an inside diameter of 4 and their pump is most likely a 4 pump, which means that it has a diameter of approximately 3-7/8.  Their well is 36-years-old.  It is unknown how recently the pump was pulled from the well/replaced.
  

  We were contacted by someone who identified herself as the homeownerslisting agent.  She indicated that the customers were upset and did not want to speak to us.  We explained the options to her and she relayed them to the homeowners.  We do not believe that we spoke to the homeowners once the pump was stuck in the well.  We did ask their realtor to have the homeowners contact us so that we could discuss the matter with them.  We sent a technician to evaluate if we could get additional equipment onto the jobsite.  Our immediate recommendation was to introduce acid to the well.  This acid is specifically made to use in water *****.  The goal is for the acid to drop down to the area above the stuck pump to dissolve the scaling that is presumably preventing the pump from coming out of the well.  This neighborhood has had issues with stuck pumps due to the 4 diameter ***** and we have had some success with loosening pumps with the acid.  The customers were informed through their realtor of the potential costs of proceeding with this step and declined to proceed.  We did not have any further contact with the customers or their realtor after this.  

  
  Donamarc performed necessary services that were performed to State ****** ********** guidelines and industry standards.  It was certainly an unfortunate, though unavoidable, situation, and we feel bad that the customer received information from other people/companies that *** have confused the situation and possibly resulted in a disservice to the customer.

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