CentralPaGuy
New Member
I am hoping some of you can help me as I've ready many threads on here (and the past 5 days online) regarding clear water iron removal, none of which quite match my situation and it seems the posters on this website are the most objective clearing house of information I can find.
We have a fairly shallow well (about 40') that in the past 6 years iron has increased from 7 to 9ppm dug 40 years ago in a neighborhood on top of an old mine. Recently even our refrigerator filters are fouling in a month. Our iron is entirely clear water, 1 ppm manganese as well. Water at the pressure tank is 6.0 to 6.2 pH - 6.8-7.2 after the acid neutralizer (set to maximum although unsure what that mean - top off with calcite every 3 months). Then to a water softener (10 hardness a the pressure tank) set to regenerate every 2 days. Water tastes fine for a second then like licking a metal pole. Typical orange/red staining in fixtures. All tests negative for coliform. Had a small amount of iron bacteria about 3 years ago, replaced well cap and shocked with none detected since. No other contaminants.
Where I am concerned with the choices available for iron filtration are the amount of iron, our well flow rate of only 9 gpm, and low pH of sometimes only 6.8 which allegedly can reduce iron filter effectiveness. Additionally we have young children so would rather not add chemicals if possible. Finally, with the water softener regenerating every 2 nights, and acid neutralizer every 4 nights concerned about not having enough water available or overlap which would obviously be counter productive. I am a DIY and would appreciate any advice on how to do this properly as every company I contact online or call seems to have a different interpretation and goes to great lengths to badmouth other methods.
Thank you for your help!
We have a fairly shallow well (about 40') that in the past 6 years iron has increased from 7 to 9ppm dug 40 years ago in a neighborhood on top of an old mine. Recently even our refrigerator filters are fouling in a month. Our iron is entirely clear water, 1 ppm manganese as well. Water at the pressure tank is 6.0 to 6.2 pH - 6.8-7.2 after the acid neutralizer (set to maximum although unsure what that mean - top off with calcite every 3 months). Then to a water softener (10 hardness a the pressure tank) set to regenerate every 2 days. Water tastes fine for a second then like licking a metal pole. Typical orange/red staining in fixtures. All tests negative for coliform. Had a small amount of iron bacteria about 3 years ago, replaced well cap and shocked with none detected since. No other contaminants.
Where I am concerned with the choices available for iron filtration are the amount of iron, our well flow rate of only 9 gpm, and low pH of sometimes only 6.8 which allegedly can reduce iron filter effectiveness. Additionally we have young children so would rather not add chemicals if possible. Finally, with the water softener regenerating every 2 nights, and acid neutralizer every 4 nights concerned about not having enough water available or overlap which would obviously be counter productive. I am a DIY and would appreciate any advice on how to do this properly as every company I contact online or call seems to have a different interpretation and goes to great lengths to badmouth other methods.
Thank you for your help!