Can someone help me with my water softener?

[mrt049]

I am completely new to well water, I've always been on city water so I have no idea what I'm doing. I have a water softener and then another tank called an Iron Boss. I'm guessing the Iron boss is to remove extra iron out of the water and then it goes into the softener but I'm not 100% sure.

The Iron Boss regenerates every day because of high iron content in the water and the water softener regenerates every 2 days. I don't know why. The softener is set with a hardness setting of 50, no idea what that means. Should that number be higher or lower? The water in the house tests very soft but I consistently get a sulfur type of smell. TDS tester shows the water is around 900-1000 TDS.

The small isn't overbearing but you can definitely tell something is off. Kind of a slight rotten egg smell. I had the anode rod in my water heater replaced 5 months ago and it stopped the smell but it's now back 5 months later.

Can someone give me tips on how this thing should properly be set up, if I should be cleaning anything regularly, or if there is anything I can do to get rid of this eggy smell? Thanks in advance for any tips.

 

[ditttohead]

Looks like an old AIO design using the discontinued 6700 Fleck valve.

Do you have a water report from a lab? We really need to know whats in the water in order to treat it. When you are on a well, it is your job to have the water tested regularly. Kar labs and National Testing Laboratories do an excellent job.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Mialynette2003]

Is the smell on the hot side, cold or both? Hot side but not cold tells me it's coming from the water heater. It may not be the anode rod. Let us know if it's hot side only.

 

[WorthFlorida]

You may not know how deep the well is and it could be an indication of the sulfur odor. In South Florida, at least for Palm Beach County and Broward, you may have the same issues on well water. Around 40 feet the water is very high in iron (clear water iron). If you drive around older neighborhoods or even your own, you'll see a lot of red iron stains on the houses and sidewalks because irrigation wells were only about 40 feet upto the 1970's. If you go down to about 80 feet, it is sulfur water. I had a irrigation well, Wellington, and water was hit at 83 feet and it was sulfur. Two advantages, one is you'll not have iron staining at all and two, turn on the sprinklers and the odor will make the noisy neighborhood kids scatter.
Another issue is Sebastian is very close to the intercoastal so salt water intrusion could always be a problem in the future, usually due to severe drought conditions and now sea level rise. Depending how close you are to the intercoastal may dictate how deep the well can be drilled down to.

Since you are new it would be best to find a water treatment company in your area that has been around for a long time and have them check your system out. They'll know the problems and fixes for your area since they probably been dealing with it for years. But don't fall for the slick salesman that all they want to do is sell you about $5k of new filters that will solve all of your problems. You want a tech that deals with your filter system and if your equipment is outdated and after a water test then you can decide the best way to go. Another good source of information is ask your neighbors.

Here is a company in your area for 35 years. I found it on a google search, "water treatment sebastian"
http://www.affordablewater.biz/

As stated above, sulfur odor can emanate from the water heater and usually is due to the anode rod. If your water heater is more than ten years old it is best to replace it.

 

[Reach4]

You want to protect that stuff from the sun and rain. Re-paint the Iron Boss tank. Paint the PVC to protect against UV. Put a weather-resistant cover over the softener controller. I don't know if the Iron Boss needs a weather-resistant cover, or if it has one.

I would sanitize your well and plumbing system if I could figure out how. With a single pump pipe system, there may not be a way to recirculate the water back to the well as the method that I am familiar with calls for. How about a photo of the area where the pipe enters the ground.

Yes, the Iron Boss controller should be cleaned out regularly. There are screens and things. I don't know what interval would be appropriate. Every two years? When you clean it, you can judge. Ditttohead identified the controller. http://waterpurification.pentair.co...oad/en/6700 Downflow Service Manual 19085.pdf Try searching for "screen" in that PDF.
Also see this which seems to be for a unit that looks like yours:
http://www.bottlefreeh2o.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Iron-Boss-Manual.pdf