Help with well water treatment in Wisconsin

[jchack]

Hi. I'm a newbee to this site and water treatment. Thanks in advance for your help.

My wife and I recently purchased a cottage in Wisconsin that has awful well water. There is a very strong iron taste and red (rust) staining in the sinks and toilets. The cottage has two baths. I have not run a pump flow rate yet.

The current water treatment system is set up as follows: Water Pump > Pressure Tank > Water Softener (A vintage 1984 Dicknson no longer working) > Water Heater > Culligan Medallist Water Filter (8” x 44” installed in 2001) > faucets.

I had the water tested at the Water and Environmental Analysis Lab in Wisconsin. Below are the laboratory results. Please recommend the most economical water filtration system that will provide good tasting water. I would also like to know what sequence the system should be connected from the water pump to the faucets. Do I also need a Reverse Osmosis system? Thanks!

Bacteria-Coliform - Absent
Hardness-Total - 293 mg/l CaCO3
Alkalinity - 284 mg/l CaCO3
Conductivity - 489 umhos/cm
pH - 7.99 std units
Saturation Index - 0.6 Corrosivity Balanced
Nitrogen-Nitrate/Nitrite - Less Than 0.1 mg/l N
Chloride - 4.6 mg/l
Arsenic - Less Than 0.005 mg/l
Calcium - 65.4 mg/l
Copper - 0.130 mg/l
Iron - 4.009 mg/l
Lead - 0.014 mg/l
Magnesium - 31.5 mg/l
Manganese - 0.117 mg/l
Potassium - 1.7 mg/l
Sodium - 3.6 mg/l
Sulfate - 8.3 mg/l
Zinc - 0.184 mg/l

 

[rjbphd]

Get a hold of WaterRight of Appleton Wisc... they will steer you to licensed plumbers in your area.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[jchack]

Thanks for the info.

I ran a pump flow rate yesterday and found that it is 10 GPM. There are no visible signs of iron bacteria in the toilet tank and there is no slime on the sides of the tank.

Any assistance/suggestions for a treatment plan would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Reach4]

There are no visible signs of iron bacteria in the toilet tank

The inside of the toilet tank is orange, isn't it?

Please recommend the most economical water filtration system that will provide good tasting water.

How many days per year do you expect to be at your cabin?

You are only looking to provide good tasting drinking water? Bottled water may be most economical for that.

It is possible that you could run a small softener and have it regen every 2 or 3 days. In addition you would need to do significant extra cleaning. You can find old threads that discuss the downsides of using a softener to deal with your level of iron.

The better, less cheap, system would be to have a backwashing iron filter followed by a softener.

So the order would be pump, pressure tank+pressure gauge, backwashing iron filter, [I would put sediment filter next but many would not], optional tap to drinking water, softener. Pipe the softener to everything indoors except for plants. I you also get a reverse osmosis unit, you would feed that with soft water.

With an iron filter, you can drink the water before the softener. That water has useful minerals. You can also drink softened water. However it lacks calcium and magnesium, but has more sodium.

You did not mention any smells, but a backwashing iron filter can handle iron and hydrogen sulfide, and more.

 

[jchack]

Hi Reach4, Thanks for the reply.

My statement regarding no visible signs of iron bacteria in the toilet tank is probably not accurate. I was going off a vendor website regarding what to look for in the toilet tank and it described bacteria (chunks) in the the corners of the tank. That was not visible. Yes, the sides of the tank are orange but are not slippery.

My statement of wanting good tasting water water is not accurate either. We want to eliminate the staining in the sinks and toilets as well as to eliminate the iron taste in the water.

I'm not really looking for something cheap, but something that works. Some backstory....I contacted a local vendor of a national brand to advise me what to do about our system. A service tech came and determined that the Dicknson water softener was not working and the Culligan Medalist filter that was installed in 2001 probably needed the media replaced. OK. The next day a sales rep came out, tested my water (even though I showed him the test results from the lab, whatever) and said a new water softener should take care of my problems...and maybe replace the Culligan filter media...and maybe add a Reverse Osmosis system to the kitchen sink. OK... I signed a contract for a new water softener ($2400+)...thought about it overnight and did some internet searches .... cancelled the contract the next morning and asked the sales guy to call me. Never heard from him again. So, I finally found this website and am looking for some help on what to do to fix my problem. I'd like to do it correctly the first time if at all possible.

There seem to be alot of options out there to fix my iron problem, Birm, Greensand, Pro-OX, Filox, Katalox Light, etc. I'm a heck of a lot better carpenter than I am a water treatment specialist and am just beginning to learn the terminology. Based on my experience I described above, I'm a bit leary of going to another national brand for recommendations so I appreciate your willingness to share your expertise.

Regarding smells: The cold water tap does have a little odor but I can't really determine what it smells like. The hot water tap definitely has a sulfur odor.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks again.

 

[ditttohead]

Are you wanting to do this yourself?
Is the cottage your primary residence?

Many technologies can be used for your basic water problems. As of late, I have really been working a lot more with H2o2 and KL or carbons. Every treatment method has its pros and cons, and anyone who tells you their design is the best... needs to get out on the field a lot more.
A simple system that can be added to later is probably a good solution. A KL backwashing system with a post softener. I would prefer to do some H2o2 or chlorine injection ahead of the KL but this may or may not be necessary. Your pH is good, but without knowing the orp, DO etc. it is hard to say for sure.

 

[jchack]

I'm currently renovating the cottage. Pretty much a gut job. Down to studs and rafters. Doing 90% of this myself. It's been ongoing for a year. Almost ready to occupy but I need to get this water system figured out. I did hire a plumber to install new pex waterlines and pvc for the sewerlines. I tore out all the galvanized water pipe and the cast iron sewer pipes. I will probably have my plumber do the final hookups for my water treatment system - but I may end up doing it myself.

The cottage will not be our primary residence right now. We'll be using it as well as my kids/grandkids, friends and possibly rental by the week. Still not sure about that though.

Thanks for the KL suggestion ... do you have a vendor you can suggest? What size? What about a water softener? Suggested brand/vendor/size?

OK...rookie question: What does orp, DO, etc mean??

I just got an online quote for a 10" x 54" Terminox with 1.5 cubic ft media for $830. Any good?

 

[Bannerman]

got an online quote for a 10" x 54" Terminox with 1.5 cubic ft media for $830

Media to do what? Softener? Iron reduction? Carbon filtration?

 

[jchack]

From what I understand, Terminox® ISM is a backwashing iron filter.

 

[ditttohead]

From the website
"Terminox® ISM is the most advanced well water filter ever designed" ...

Seriously? Nice claim... lol I would avoid a system that makes that claim, it is an old autotrol backwashing valve with a super secret proprietary blend of super duper medias...

DO is dissolved oxygen. Water with low DO tends to make iron reduction more difficult.
ORP is Oxidation reduction potential. Higher ORP is beneficial to iron reduction.

Just stick with a KL system with a Fleck valve that can be modified for regeneration in the future if it becomes needed. You can even do a couple of tricks if you have a system with a meter. Like only backwash once a week if the system is not in use, but every third day when water is being used.

KL and all other Manganese Dioxide ore based medias love H2o2, Chlorine, air or any other oxidant and these atypically greatly increase the systems performance though they are not always needed.