diggity
Member
So my iron woes continue. Last week I plumbed in a new 1.5 cuft catalytic carbon system to remove oxidized (ferric) iron. So my system now looks like this:
Well ---> Soda ash injection ---> peroxide injection ---> contact tank ---> Katalox Light filter ---> catalytic carbon filter ---> softener
I made monitoring ports after each step using boiler drain valves, and I have been monitoring the water closely. I'm especially concerned about the quality of the water as it enters the softener, as I don't want to foul the softener resin. Unfortunately, at the moment, the water going into the softener is pretty bad. It still has over 5 ppm of iron, pretty much all of which seems to be ferric. The water is the color of tea.
So why isn't my new catalytic carbon filter removing the ferric iron? I thought cat. carbon was the media of choice after peroxide injection? I bought it because the water coming out of the KL was horrible. Unfortunately, it is STILL horrible even after coming through my new cat. carbon filter!
I used clear plastic tubing for the backwash drain line, so I can see the condition of the backwash water, and it looks relatively clear... further indicating that the filter isn't doing much of anything because very little rust is going to drain. The size of the filter is compatible with our flow rates, so I don't think sizing is the problem. It seems to me there are two possible reasons:
1) I was wrong, and cat. carbon is NOT the best media for removing oxidized iron. If this is true, then what is the best media for this?
2) The unit isn't working properly. It has a Fleck 5600SXT head, which looks straightforward and seems to be operating fine, as far as I can tell. The only thing I can think is that the riser tube isn't seated properly in the head, but I did check for this when I put it together and it seemed to be snug, as far as I can tell...
Frustrated...
... If anyone has any suggestions, I'd sure appreciate it!
Well ---> Soda ash injection ---> peroxide injection ---> contact tank ---> Katalox Light filter ---> catalytic carbon filter ---> softener
I made monitoring ports after each step using boiler drain valves, and I have been monitoring the water closely. I'm especially concerned about the quality of the water as it enters the softener, as I don't want to foul the softener resin. Unfortunately, at the moment, the water going into the softener is pretty bad. It still has over 5 ppm of iron, pretty much all of which seems to be ferric. The water is the color of tea.
So why isn't my new catalytic carbon filter removing the ferric iron? I thought cat. carbon was the media of choice after peroxide injection? I bought it because the water coming out of the KL was horrible. Unfortunately, it is STILL horrible even after coming through my new cat. carbon filter!
I used clear plastic tubing for the backwash drain line, so I can see the condition of the backwash water, and it looks relatively clear... further indicating that the filter isn't doing much of anything because very little rust is going to drain. The size of the filter is compatible with our flow rates, so I don't think sizing is the problem. It seems to me there are two possible reasons:
1) I was wrong, and cat. carbon is NOT the best media for removing oxidized iron. If this is true, then what is the best media for this?
2) The unit isn't working properly. It has a Fleck 5600SXT head, which looks straightforward and seems to be operating fine, as far as I can tell. The only thing I can think is that the riser tube isn't seated properly in the head, but I did check for this when I put it together and it seemed to be snug, as far as I can tell...
Frustrated...
... If anyone has any suggestions, I'd sure appreciate it!