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Found dead cat in well...help!

  • 09-03-2009 12:37am
    #1
    Clover1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3 ✭


    Hi,

    My hubbie has just investigated the cause of a smell I was getting from our drinking water and discovered a dead cat in our well. We have a plan of action put in place for the disinfection of the well but we are stumped as to how we are going to remove the cat as it has to come out in one piece. It is a 30ft hand dug well with about 2 metres of water in it. Any ideas?

    Thanks in advance.


Comments

  • #2
    2 stroke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,921 ✭✭✭2 stroke


    Sounds like a job for a slurry spreader.


  • #3
    Clover1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3 ✭Clover1


    What?


  • #4
    2 stroke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,921 ✭✭✭2 stroke


    Best way I can think of removing it, will also remove a large volume of water rapidly. Perhaps use a new length of hose.


  • #5
    10-10-20
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,071 ✭✭✭10-10-20


    Bucket & rope. Put a hole in the bottom of the bucket, lower it down and let it fill with water, move it under the cat. Pull up?


  • #6
    scully74
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 202 ✭✭scully74


    dead animals are very dangerous in water, don't drink or use it for washing, ring local c.council lab or health board for more advice


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  • #7
    reilig
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,401 ✭✭✭reilig


    Put a ladder down and make your way down to retrieve it.

    To disinfect it, the traditional way was to put lime into it - Lime kills all bacteria. Even if you drop half a bag of builder's lime into it, it will decompose the cat's body in a week or two, then you can just add more lime to continue the disinfection process. It would be wise to get the water tested before you use if for domestic purposes.

    However, Lime is the best natural disinfectant. It has been used in shallow wells in rural areas for hundreds of years.


  • #8
    gsxr1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,167 ✭✭✭gsxr1


    reilig wrote: »
    Put a ladder down and make your way down to retrieve it.

    To disinfect it, the traditional way was to put lime into it - Lime kills all bacteria. Even if you drop half a bag of builder's lime into it, it will decompose the cat's body in a week or two, then you can just add more lime to continue the disinfection process. It would be wise to get the water tested before you use if for domestic purposes.

    However, Lime is the best natural disinfectant. It has been used in shallow wells in rural areas for hundreds of years.

    What happens to the lime after it don its job?

    Is it safe to drink?


  • #9
    reilig
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,401 ✭✭✭reilig


    gsxr1 wrote: »
    What happens to the lime after it don its job?

    Is it safe to drink?

    The lime dissolves in the water. Its perfectly safe to drink. It will settle to the bottom of the well eventually.


  • #10
    Clover1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3 ✭Clover1


    Thanks for the replies. We ended up fishing him out with a fishing net tied to a thick rope and removed the water in the well with a submersible pump. Once the well had filled up again we added a litre of Milton Fluid and left to settle. We had to clean out the storage tank in the attic before flushing it all through the taps. I won't be drinking that water for a long time but I will get it tested to ensure it's ok for domestic use. We have a toddler and I'm 9 months pregnant so we are more worred about the babies than ourselves. If anyone has a private well, please check that it is securely covered. It seems the cat squeezed in between 2 blocks under the steel plate cover and fell into the well. It was a neighbour's cat and we noticed he hadn't been around for a couple of months (he used to come into our yard and terrorise our cats) so I presume he has been in the well that long. Makes my skin crawl...


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