Iron Filter Recommendation?

[JonnieBlaze]

Hey everyone. I posted a month or so ago about some softener problems I was having. It is all resolved now and working properly, so thank you for the help.

My issue now is every couple weeks I have to take apart the top of the Fleck 7000 valve (the injector and little filter basket) and soak it all in iron out because it gets a chalky red iron build up on it. This will eventually plug up the injector so I have to be pretty diligent in keeping it clean. I'd like to figure out what options I have to reduce the iron before the softener in order to extend the life of the resin and also let me go more than a couple days between regenerations (to prevent fouling due to iron).

One concern is I only have enough room for something about the size of another softener resin tank. I don't think I could fit a large contact tank or anything similar in addition to another resin tank.

I was wondering if a cheap bigblue sediment filter would remove the iron causing the red chalky buildup and let the softener remove the rest of the iron as it's doing already? I assume not, as it would not be able to catch dissolved iron which I'm guessing is what I'm dealing with. A glass of unsoftened water does not turn color overnight or get any sediment in the bottom. The only way I can tell we have iron is the smell of the unsoftened water (smells like a box of nails), the red stains in the shower before we had the softener, and the red chalky build up in the softener injector now.

Water details:

Private well 300' deep.
9.8 gpm flow rate.
Lots of sediment, so I have a 100 micron sediment filter between the pressure tank and softener.
Hardness: 10 gpg
Iron: 2.8 ppm
Manganese: .5 ppm
pH: 7.5
TDS: 200
Nitrates: 0
No Coliform or E-Coli​

Softener

Fleck 7000SXT 64,000 grain softener
2cu ft SST-60 resin
Currently using a ResCare dispenser and sprinkling iron out between each bag of salt.​

​

 

[ditttohead]

I would recommend a Kataox Light system. Regardless of what the "specs" say, all iron reduction medias have many limitations and some experimentation may be needed. The addition of an oxidizer is almost always beneficial. ORP, pH, DO, etc all play a role in the effectiveness of manganese dioxide ore based iron reduction systems. There are some fairly unique "tricks" that are available to lessen the space of the contact tank, though nothing really beats actual contact time.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

The KL system will be a big improvement. However if cash is a a limiting factor for now, there are techniques for helping a softener deal with it with some work. I suggest you search this forum for iron out and particularly posts by Gary Slusser. He has been a proponent of making softeners deal with iron when economics play a big part. Iron Out and Super Iron Out are the same thing.

The Iron Out does have a smell, but it should not be getting in the water, even when added to the brine tank. It is cheaper than ResCare.

Also note that you should regenerate your softener maybe every 3 or days when dealing with this much iron. See the discussions of that too. http://www.qualitywaterassociates.com/sizing.php

I presume you are using the one of the special iron treating salts. They do not have a smell.

Regarding iron, are flakes or particles coming in? The KL backwashing filter can deal with that. But maybe a pair of 20x4.5 filters can help.

But do plan space for that nice backwashing iron filter. It can also deal with some other things including sulfur smell....

 

[JonnieBlaze]

Sorry to bring up this old thread again, but I had a couple questions to continue this conversation. For the past year funds have been tight so I've just been routinely cleaning out the softener injector to keep things working. But the iron level really seems to be too much for my softener. It requires constant maintenance and lots and lots of iron out.

As recommended above, I'm looking for different vendors that carry the KL systems so I can get some prices. In the meantime, I had a question about the control valve to use with KL system. Right now, like I mentioned above, the injector in my Fleck 7000 get clogged up with a red chalky buildup. My original thoughts were I needed a sediment filter to prevent this, but the two comments above both suggested the KL system instead. The KL system will obviously have a control valve, which I guess would work similar to my discontinued Fleck 7000? So what will prevent the injector on the KL system from getting clogged just like my Fleck system does now?

 

[Reach4]

Your KL system may not use the injector. If you need a solution tank, then the injector gets used. Otherwise, there is backwashing only I am thinking. For some water it could be necessary to inject something in the incoming water before the KL, but I think that is not common.

The KL system filters down to about 5 microns. I would put a 4.5x20 Pentek Big Blue housing after the KL, but not everybody would. I would put a boiler drain after that. That has a garden hose thread, and you can stick a pressure gauge on there. You can also fill your water jug for some free mineral water, if you like. Then I would continue to the existing softener.

You might want an easy-to-clean filter for big sediment before the KL. TwistIIclean or other.

After a bit, you will be able to reduce the H value on the softener, since your softener will no longer be dealing with the iron and manganese.

 

[ditttohead]

KL systems can use a regenerant but continuous regen is preferred. Using a regenerant is similar to the softener and the same problems will occur. The injectors simply get clogged a lot. By using continuous regen the iron starts to precipitate out of solution ahead of the system. The clogging will typically move to the plumbing and the inlet of the valve but since these are very large areas, the clogging is typically less noticeable than inside the small injector.

KL is based on Clinoptilolite which is commonly used as a sediment filtration media and works down to the 3-5 micron level.

The Twist 2 Clean and Hydra filters are ideal before any equipment as they reduce larger sediment and are easily maintained. Check out the videos.

 

[JonnieBlaze]

Thanks for the additional information. I do have a spin down filter similar to the Twist 2 Clean and Hydra, though it can't backwash unless I have it inline between my well pump and pressure tank. So I just do a manual cleaning once in a while. It doesn't get too much sediment in it - maybe a 1/4 cup of big black/brown flakes in several months, but the screen does get packed full of this orange/red chalky build up I'm dealing with. The red/orange isn't a flaky material, just a chalk like substance. The clear housing also turns orange within 2 or 3 days due to this chalk as well. Iron out and scrubbing removes it. Even though the housing and screen turn completely orange, I don't get any noticeable pressure drop even after months of not cleaning the screen. But this chalk is what lines all my pipes and eventually clogs the injector.

Dittohead, I sent you an email to see about the next steps for spec-ing out a KL system.

 

[Reach4]

I do have a spin down filter similar to the Twist 2 Clean and Hydra, though it can't backwash unless I have it inline between my well pump and pressure tank.

What? How does it know?

 

[JonnieBlaze]

Its not spring loaded. It relies on pressure coming from the opposite direction to backwash. So it backwashes with water that has already been screened. Rusco Spin-Down is the product. But to make that work you have to put it between the well pump and pressure tank, which I didn't do because I didn't want the additional pressure on the pump if the screen were to clog.

 

[ditttohead]

I used to work with a lot of those. The Rusco has some unique advantages but we have switched primarily to the Atlas and Lakos product lines for their superior self cleaning. The Rusco is nice in that it does not have any moving parts and therefore should last forever... but manual cleaning is required in most installation.