Rusty Water

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Mtnxtreme

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Actually the water is not rusty but crystal clear, I am in Central Florida, I have installed this setup https://www.homedepot.com/p/Aquasan...ystem-with-20-in-Pre-Filter-THD-300/207051041 to no avail. The water has a metal smell and taste and brand new tub and toilet all stained. Do I need a water softener with salt or do the no salt ones work at all ? And whatever I use should it be before or after the existing Aquasana system I have ? And what best to clean the rust stains off porcelain ?
 

Reach4

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You would like to know how much iron you are dealing with.

A softener with some extra care can deal with some iron. I presume the stains are rust-colored.
 

Cliffyk

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I assume your water source is a private well-or-perhaps a small community shared system?

You really need to get the water tested before throwing any more money at the problem--potable water testing services are all over the place "down here" (we are in Saint Augustine, about a mile due West of Crescent Beach with water from a shallow (25 ft) well. The water is hard (24 gpg) and has fairly high iron content of about 8.0 ppm--too much for an ion exchange (salt-based) softener to deal with on its own. The water also contains some tannin (3 ppm), as does most groundwater here in Florida.

For treatment we have a 1 micron sediment filter, followed by a chlorine-injection based iron/manganese "green sand" filter, that feeds a whole house activated carbon filter.

The injected chlorine causes dissolved iron and manganese to precipitate from solution to be filtered out by the green sand filter. That unit back washes every 3 days, to flush out the accumulated solids. the carbon filter removes any residual chlorine--it has a 5-year service life before its media must be replaced.

The output of the carbon filter--which is still at this point "hard" (24 gpg)--feeds an ion exchange tannin filter/softener, with maximum capacities of 5 ppm tannin and 45,000 grains "hardness". My wife and I only use 50 to 60 gallons per day so I have the softener dialed in to provide 25,000 grains of softening per 14 day regeneration cycle--I set it to use 7.5 lbs. of salt per regen to provide a little "just-in-case" buffer.

Talk to your neighbors and find out what they are going...
 

ditttohead

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Get a real water test, I recommend these guys but many other options available. A proper water test is going to run a couple hundred bucks, well worth it. There is no reasonable way to know how to treat the water without a proper and detailed water test. Many potentially dangerous contaminants in water have no taste, odor or color. NTLWATERTEST
 

Cliffyk

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In what county in FL is your house? The Florida Department of Health does private well water testing at its lab in Jacksonville--your County's Heath Department can help you with sample collection and getting it submitted to the State lab. It's a "health" test primarily however its pretty complete and costs just $20 to $30...

If you can deal with the sales pressure, most water treatment companies will test your water for "free"; you just have to ready to say NO! a lot when the sales pitches come along. But get a detailed quote and it will provide info as to what equipment they feel is needed.
 

Reach4

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In what county in FL is your house? The Florida Department of Health does private well water testing at its lab in Jacksonville--your County's Heath Department can help you with sample collection and getting it submitted to the State lab. It's a "health" test primarily however its pretty complete and costs just $20 to $30...

If you can deal with the sales pressure, most water treatment companies will test your water for "free"; you just have to ready to say NO! a lot when the sales pitches come along. But get a detailed quote and it will provide info as to what equipment they feel is needed.
Health test is normally not going to test for iron. It is normally not going to test for hardness.
 

Cliffyk

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Health test is normally not going to test for iron. It is normally not going to test for hardness.
Yeah, that's why I made that point--I was Director of the Stale Lab for 8 years, but that was 20 years ago--I don't remember or know what they test for now,

I use the Taylor K-1770 kit for hardness, it costs a bit more than some but is easy to use ad quite accurate.

(hint: you can buy 2 0z bottles of all three test agents for about the same cost as the kit of 1/2 oz bottles)
 
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Mtnxtreme

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We are in Webster Florida, Sumter County. I was supposed to get a test and it was like 200 bucks, That filter setup that we have as posted in this thread is supposed to take care of iron, we clean the 2 cartridges once a month. The other filters in this setup are non serviceable.
 

Treeman

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What is it doing for us ? Basically particulate ? And should we install whatever we decide to
add on after of before these filters ?
Ya, their marketing is a bit misleading. I see a few references to "rust" removal and scale control, but if you read their website carefully, this filter does not remove dissolved iron and hardness minerals.

From their website:
"Our whole home water filtration systems are easy to maintain over time, and come with a sediment pre-filter that catches rust, silt, and other sediment present in your water. The water then goes through two filters: an activated carbon filter and a copper-zinc mineral stone filter designed to reduce chemical compounds like pesticides and water-soluble heavy metals, respectively."

And from your Home Depot link:
  • Stage 1: 20 in. sediment pre-filter reduces rust, sediment and silt (in this case, particulate rust, not the ferrous iron causing your stains)
  • Stage 2: a blend of patented copper-zinc media reduces chloramine and water-soluble heavy metals while inhibiting the growth of bacteria and algae
  • Stage 3: activated carbon reduces herbicides, pesticides and other chemical compounds
  • Stage 4: post-filter reduces any remaining sediment and organic particles

The water tests recommended above would identify what type of water treatment you require. Otherwise, you are completely guessing. That filter you have preys on people's emotions, not facts.
 
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Cliffyk

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Anything you do add would likely benefit a bit from being AFTER that filter¹--but do get the water tested before spending anymore $$...

¹ - As others have indicated it is just a filter, not a treatment system.
 

Cliffyk

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We are in Webster Florida, Sumter County. I was supposed to get a test and it was like 200 bucks, That filter setup that we have as posted in this thread is supposed to take care of iron, we clean the 2 cartridges once a month. The other filters in this setup are non serviceable.
In Webster shallow well water will be hard as nails, and contain a good amount of disolved iron as well (no pun intended). A deep well (>150 ft) may not be as hard and may have less dissolved iron.

Is your well shallow or deep?

In a quick web search I see there are 2 or3 well/pump services in Webster, give them a call and see what they might be able to tell you to expect...
 

Reach4

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Anything you do add would likely benefit a bit from being AFTER that filter¹--but do get the water tested before spending anymore $$...

¹ - As others have indicated it is just a filter, not a treatment system.
Sounds like a semantics thing. Would you think it incorrect to refer to a backwashing iron filter or backwashing H2S filter? I think not.

If I were to add a KL backwashing iron filter, I would not put that existing filter assembly in front. I would ether have the KL as my front end, or I would maybe precede it with a course filter such as a wye filter or a spin-down filter.
 

Cliffyk

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Sounds like a semantics thing. Would you think it incorrect to refer to a backwashing iron filter or backwashing H2S filter? I think not.

If I were to add a KL backwashing iron filter, I would not put that existing filter assembly in front. I would ether have the KL as my front end, or I would maybe precede it with a course filter such as a wye filter or a spin-down filter.

Poor choice of words, I meant to differentiate passive (simple filters that do not alter the water's chemistry) vs. active systems like our chlorine injection/green sand setup (a Pentair WF4, in which induced chemical reactions allow a filter to alter the water's composition) and ion exchange softeners (we have a Pentair 35952 ) in which electrochemical reactions alter the chemistry of the water.

The KL backwashing iron filter does seem to be "active" if the claims made by the Katalox® (PDF 750.7 kB) people are to be believed. Pentair makes similar claims for the "high-grade mesh blend of coconut shell-based activated carbons" in their whole house carbon filters (we use their PC600 unit).

OP, I assembled our treatment system after we received "free" testing and a detailed quote from Pelican Water Systems in Deland FL. They wanted $6225.24; but i went online and bought it all for a bit over $3500--i actually got the WF4 from Pelican, through Amazon. But all three components were readily available from online vendors, all with free shipping.

Any fool, including me, can "cut & paste" PVC pipe...
 

Mtnxtreme

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I'm gonna get a water test at a local pool company this week, thats the best and closest test I can get. And yes my well is shallow, 30 feet, but that is pretty much what every one around the area has, I'm on 2 acres and the surrounding properties are a minimum of 30 acre's each. I did speak to a local reputable well guy in Webster but from what he is saying, first off drilling down to approx. 200 ft. will be around $5k and he can't guarantee it will help, he even said sometimes it makes the iron issue worse. Also as far as what we are trying to achieve, we have no desire to drink the water, just want to stop the staining of our shower, toilets and sinks. We wash with it now and its fine.
 
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Bannerman

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I'm gonna get a water test at a local pool company
Your well water is to be utilized for human consumption, not to simply fill a pool or irrigate yard vegitation. Pool testing is not suitable for water that is to be consumed.

In post #6, Ditttohead recommended an appropriate testing lab that specializes in testing water that is to be consumed. Their comprehensive lab report will specify the various elements and their quantities to assure the safety of the water, and also to assist to identify the conditions which will cause issues. Knowing which conditions are present will assist to determine the treatment methods that will be most likely to be successful.
 
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