Iron with silica

[Joey111]

The town I live in gets their water from a well and since there is iron in the water, the municipality adds silica to it. I have been told by some of the neighbours that a water softener will not remove the iron because of this. Is there any way of removing iron with silica? The iron level is 1 ppm, and hardness 15 ppm. Thanks

 

[Bannerman]

Please post a water report or include a link to your municipality's water report page. Most municipalities now post that info on their web site.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

I am skeptical that that rumor is true.

Looking forward to the water report.

Iron in a chlorinated water system should not exist, except as rust particles, that a sediment filter can filter out.

 

[ditttohead]

Iron in the ferric state can exist in a municipal supply and it will still stain, but as reach has stated, it is fairly easy to filter out. Softeners typically do a poor job of removing ferric iron.

 

[Joey111]

Not sure if this will help but it's the only thing I could find and it is too large to upload so here is the link:

http://www.york.ca/wps/wcm/connect/...64-dd804e0e80ae/Nobleton+2014.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

 

[Reach4]

This part does:

Water Treatment for the Nobleton Wells includes the addition of chlorine gas at well 2 and sodium hypochlorite at well 3 for disinfection. Sodium silicate is added to the water following chlorination to reduce the potential for iron to stain plumbing fixtures and laundry in the serviced area.​

That is one of the many things that I don't know about. I don't know if silicate translates to silica in the water, or if that somehow precipitates out before it hits your house.

It does not tell what your iron or pH or hardness is. I suggest you phone them, and see if somebody there can tell you the numbers. I think if I had your water, I would get some low-range chlorine test paper to make sure there is some residual chlorine. If there is not, submit a problem report, and boil your water before drinking.

You can get a Hach 5B hardness test. And you could probably could get a pH number from the water department, tho you could also get some narrow-range test paper.

 

[Joey111]

Iron is 1 ppm, hardness is between 15 and 17 grains and ph is 7.

 

[Reach4]

http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/pubs/html/99711308/99711308.html says

Sequestering
Sequestering does not remove Fe/Mn from the water. Sequestration binds the Fe/Mn in soluble form preventing the compound from oxidizing on contact with air or chlorine. This is only an option if the iron is in the form of ferrous iron (Fe2+), manganese as manganous (Mn2+), and if the combined concentration is less than 1 to 3 mg/L. Sequestering prevents staining of plumbing fixtures and discoloration of the water, but a slight metallic taste remains. Sequestering agents break down at high temperatures found in water heaters.
...
Sodium silicate and chlorine is effective to sequester iron, but is less effective for manganese. Sodium silicate does not break down as readily as phosphate compounds in hot water heaters.
​

I had not been aware of the sodium silicate thing.

 

[ditttohead]

Sodium Silicate and polyphosphate are commonly used in ice machine filters and other scale prevention devices. Municipal applications work well too.

 

[Bannerman]

Although sequestering agents(SA) may work well, since it appears the iron is not removed but is bound or packaged so that it isn't oxidized, what are the implications to downstream attempts at iron removal?

Since chlorination oxidizes the ferrous iron to convert it to ferric so that it maybe easily filtered out, why then use a sequestering agent?

Are there consequences to using a sequestering agent along with a water softener? (ie: damage or buildup on/in resin)

As the agent breaks down at higher temperatures, does that then result in an increase of debris at the bottom of water heaters?

As previously reported (https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/10-cross-link-resin.57372) our town also utilizes a sequestering agent (WaterWorx 28%) in the municipal well water. Perhaps due to the SA, that is why we experience red deposits in areas where water collects on a regular basis including toilet tanks. Since all of our water is softened, is the SA then permitting the iron to pass through the softener? It appears that the SA is breaking down over time and is leaving the red deposits behind. The red stains will oxidize with bleach.

 

[Joey111]

So does this mean i'm SOL in removing the iron?