WellOff
Member
I am in north Snohomish County (WA). About a year and a half ago I rehabbed a 38' deep well. According to well logs the well was constructed in 1994. At some point, I narrow it down to maybe 2004, the well was taken out of commission. Reasons/history unknown as it all disappeared with the death of the owner. I suspect that the multiple issues were too much for the previous owner (the property was a rental, so he bypassed the headaches and plumbed in a water feed from a spring from nearly 1/3 mile away). The well log says it tested at 30gpm; I have no reason to doubt that, or that it's diminished to any degree (I pumped at 10gpm for a solid 24 hrs and no hint of running dry- in this area it's nearly impossible to run out of water). I had initial lab tests done and, except for some e-coli and coliform, the e-coli was likely from critters falling into the OPEN casing (I saw claws get ejected when flushing the casing), there was no inorganic concerns, only nuisance issues/elements- iron, 1.97 mg/L, manganese 0.118 mg/L and IRB (Iron Reducing Bacteria): turbidity was measured to be 4.01 NTU. pH was originally tested to be 7.10 and has, over the course of nearly two years of testing, managed to stay just about right around that, tending toward 7.0 (6.91 to 6.99). Hardness is ranging around 70 mg/L (last test showed untreated at 73.2 and treated/filtered at 71.6).
My issue is that I cannot get manganese levels down to tolerable levels*. Actually, the system seems to have ZERO affect on my manganese levels EXCEPT to INCREASE(?) them! My last test, back in August, showed my raw water manganese levels at 0.076 mg/L and my treated water manganese levels at 0.097 mg/L. How could this happen? I'd suspect that maybe the carbon is fouled, but iron is testing to be "ND," and all else seems fine. I had a period of time in which I had the water meter in the incorrect position in the system which wouldn't account for treating the water as used during backwashing: I was struggling with leaks and moved it; I have long since moved it back (and gotten the leaks under control).
* I have lingering metallic aftertaste, especially with coffee and teas. I'd say that the 0.097 mg/L level was acceptable (I'd rate the water quality at nearly 9.0 on a scale of 1 to 10), though the thought that the system was doing nothing for the manganese was NOT acceptable. Right now the levels seem higher (taste is worse), though this is subjective (no lab test for current).
I've never liked how the water tastes following backwashing of the carbon filter. It seems to settle down after a few days. I have messed around with the frequency of the backwashes from every three days to once every two weeks (mostly chasing the manganese issue), with little difference being detected other than that off-taste post backwashing (I can't really describe it, but in a way it seems like it might be elevated manganese).
I spent quite a bit of time researching and consulting with water "experts." (I've run across people [a local office of a national firm] in the business that didn't even know what "IRB" was! the guy there told me I could get by with only a water softener!) The folks that I purchased my components from were pretty certain that the components would do the job, and by all accounts I was able to back up their claims. I did a lot of follow-up with them on the manganese issue and they pretty much threw their arms up stating that they'd swap out the carbon media and I could go with sodium hypochlorite (which I thought horribly illogical given that H2O2 is a stronger oxidant).
My well, treatment and filtration systems is as follows:
- 35' finished iron cased well bore with 5' of mesh (I flushed and scrubbed)
- 1/2hp submersible pump
- 80(? I'm not remembering at the moment- just note that it's large) gallon pressure tank
- Lakos spin-down filter post pressure tank (can't recall mesh size, but I'm not seeing it clog up)
- Stenner pump metering Hydrogen peroxide at roughly an 2ppm rate (injection controlled via water meter)
- 40 gallon contact tank (my daily household usage rate is roughly 70 to 75 gallons) - H2O2 residual testing around 1.6ppm (I've got it a bit high, but have had it as low as around .2ppm, which is supposed to be the target)
- Carbon filter, Centuar Carbon - 1.5 cf (tank has Fleck 7000sxt valve)
- Big Blue filter using dual-density 1 micron cartridge
All bacterilogical tests have tested negative for e-coli and fecal coliform. Raw water samples, however, HAVE shown the presence of fecal coliform. My system seems to be doing its job in this regard, as well as in dealing with the IRB and iron.
I flush the contact tank and change the final filter. Tests for H2O2 residual show that the treatment has been fine.
Lastly, I wonder about the backwashing cycle consuming roughly 110 gallons of water, that this essentially overruns the contact tank's functioning (only 40 gallons). I repeatedly tried asking the vendor about this but they avoided answering it: despite all my efforts to provide feedback and info to them they have decided to ignore me.
My issue is that I cannot get manganese levels down to tolerable levels*. Actually, the system seems to have ZERO affect on my manganese levels EXCEPT to INCREASE(?) them! My last test, back in August, showed my raw water manganese levels at 0.076 mg/L and my treated water manganese levels at 0.097 mg/L. How could this happen? I'd suspect that maybe the carbon is fouled, but iron is testing to be "ND," and all else seems fine. I had a period of time in which I had the water meter in the incorrect position in the system which wouldn't account for treating the water as used during backwashing: I was struggling with leaks and moved it; I have long since moved it back (and gotten the leaks under control).
* I have lingering metallic aftertaste, especially with coffee and teas. I'd say that the 0.097 mg/L level was acceptable (I'd rate the water quality at nearly 9.0 on a scale of 1 to 10), though the thought that the system was doing nothing for the manganese was NOT acceptable. Right now the levels seem higher (taste is worse), though this is subjective (no lab test for current).
I've never liked how the water tastes following backwashing of the carbon filter. It seems to settle down after a few days. I have messed around with the frequency of the backwashes from every three days to once every two weeks (mostly chasing the manganese issue), with little difference being detected other than that off-taste post backwashing (I can't really describe it, but in a way it seems like it might be elevated manganese).
I spent quite a bit of time researching and consulting with water "experts." (I've run across people [a local office of a national firm] in the business that didn't even know what "IRB" was! the guy there told me I could get by with only a water softener!) The folks that I purchased my components from were pretty certain that the components would do the job, and by all accounts I was able to back up their claims. I did a lot of follow-up with them on the manganese issue and they pretty much threw their arms up stating that they'd swap out the carbon media and I could go with sodium hypochlorite (which I thought horribly illogical given that H2O2 is a stronger oxidant).
My well, treatment and filtration systems is as follows:
- 35' finished iron cased well bore with 5' of mesh (I flushed and scrubbed)
- 1/2hp submersible pump
- 80(? I'm not remembering at the moment- just note that it's large) gallon pressure tank
- Lakos spin-down filter post pressure tank (can't recall mesh size, but I'm not seeing it clog up)
- Stenner pump metering Hydrogen peroxide at roughly an 2ppm rate (injection controlled via water meter)
- 40 gallon contact tank (my daily household usage rate is roughly 70 to 75 gallons) - H2O2 residual testing around 1.6ppm (I've got it a bit high, but have had it as low as around .2ppm, which is supposed to be the target)
- Carbon filter, Centuar Carbon - 1.5 cf (tank has Fleck 7000sxt valve)
- Big Blue filter using dual-density 1 micron cartridge
All bacterilogical tests have tested negative for e-coli and fecal coliform. Raw water samples, however, HAVE shown the presence of fecal coliform. My system seems to be doing its job in this regard, as well as in dealing with the IRB and iron.
I flush the contact tank and change the final filter. Tests for H2O2 residual show that the treatment has been fine.
Lastly, I wonder about the backwashing cycle consuming roughly 110 gallons of water, that this essentially overruns the contact tank's functioning (only 40 gallons). I repeatedly tried asking the vendor about this but they avoided answering it: despite all my efforts to provide feedback and info to them they have decided to ignore me.
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