Reducing extremely high levels of Iron, TDS and hardness

[wisegoat]

Our well water has tested Iron at 2775 ug/L. The TDS is 2,844 mg/L although when re-tested it was around 1,500. The hardness was 81 or 1,222 mg/L.

I use the water for goats and horses as well as our house. I will also be hooking it to a commercial kitchen trailer on our property and need to meet drinking water requirements.

I need to lower TDS, soften the water for our house fixtures and reduce Iron levels to make it safe for consuming.

I don't want to use an RO systems for health reasons.

Any suggestions on how to proceed?! Thanks!!

 

[Reach4]

I suggest that you search this forum for posts that contain "katalox light"

Your 2.775 mg/L iron is not a health problem but you definitely get rid it anyway before passing that on to your softener.

I suggest a tap between the two units to allow you to draw drinking water and to draw water samples.

See http://www.qualitywaterassociates.com/sizing.php

Note that you are not going to give the softened water to the goats and horses. You may or may not want to give the iron-free water to them.

A softener will not reduce TDS.

Note that KL calculator the flow rate is very important for determining the amount of KL you need. So if you dribble the iron-free water into a trough, that will not affect the amount of KL you would use.: http://www.watchwater.com/systems/kl_system.php

Also note that your pump needs to supply the backwash rate. That rate is significantly higher for KL than for a softener. The water temperature can affect the needed backwash rate. So if you are in the hot desert, your water will be warmer than it would be in ND.

Get started with your study, and check back.

Also, what is your pH? It should be 6.5 to 8.5 normally.