H202 Injection Do I Need a Catalytic Carbon Filter?

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TimTheToolMan

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I would like to add a H2O2 injection system to eliminate the H2S and Iron bacteria from my water. My question is do I need a catalytic carbon filter after the H2O2 injection if I would like some residual (say 15ppm) to come out my water lines to help kill everything? Can't I just adjust the amount of H2O2 injected and measure the residual at my water outlets? I would filter such as a spin down filter with an automatic flush to get rid of the precipitated iron.

Also, I have all copper plumbing. Is H2O2 injection going to be a issue? If I have a contact tank and PEX or similar from my injection point to the contact tank and then ensure that the H2O2 level is 15 ppm post contact tank is there no concern about H2O2 in contact with copper?

I apologize for all the questions but
1) I'm an engineer and like to have a plan
2) I only like doing things once and being done with it. So I want to make sure I have everything right

I have read everything I can find out injection systems but seems to me that unless you need a higher initial concentration for the chemical process to take place and have a method for filtering out the precipitates that a Catalytic Carbon Filter is unnecessary.

In case it's helpful here are my water test results:

Pre-Water Softener

Calcium 120 mg/L
Chloride 38 mg/L
Fluoride 0.36 mg/L
Hardness as CoCO3 436 mg/L
Iron 2.7 mg/L
Magnesium 33 mg/L
Nitrate as N none
Nitrite as N none
Sodium 7.9 mg/L
Sulfate 68.0 mg/L

Post Water Softener

Calcium none mg/L
Chloride 36 mg/L
Fluoride 0.39 mg/L
Hardness as CoCO3 none mg/L
Iron none mg/L
Magnesium none mg/L
Nitrate as N none
Nitrite as N none
Sodium 210 mg/L
Sulfate 63.0 mg/L

I prefer not to use chlorine because I don't want it going into my septic and causing me issues on that end.
 

Reach4

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I would like to add a H2O2 injection system to eliminate the H2S and Iron bacteria from my water. My question is do I need a catalytic carbon filter after the H2O2 injection if I would like some residual (say 15ppm) to come out my water lines to help kill everything?
15 ppm is a lot. I was thinking that people liked to tune to maybe 4 ppm before the carbon.

Carbon, and I think it can be regular GAC, removes H2O2, and also serves as a mechanical filter where the precipitated iron etc gets caught and backwashed away if there was not an upstream backwashing filter, such as KL.

A high baffle-factor contact tank reduces the level of H2O2 needed to treat out your iron.

My comments are not at all authoritative.
 

TimTheToolMan

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Hi @Reach4 thanks for the reply. I really just want to kill anything causing the smell and occasional bad taste out of my facets. I have RO for drinking water which is fine but it would be nice to be able to drink out of a normal facet too. I'll google further and see what is an acceptable residual for H2O2.
 

Reach4

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Hi @Reach4 thanks for the reply. I really just want to kill anything causing the smell and occasional bad taste out of my facets. I have RO for drinking water which is fine but it would be nice to be able to drink out of a normal facet too. I'll google further and see what is an acceptable residual for H2O2.

I have seen 4 ppm suggested as a target into the carbon tank. So I would drop to there or lower.

What meters your H2O2 pump? Peristaltic pump? Proportional pump rate with use, or runs at a fixed rate when the well pump runs?
 

ditttohead

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H2o2 is not typically used for sanitizing water. The residuals need to be too high for many applications. Bleach would make a lot more sense if you have bacterial issues. H2o2 residuals as high as 15 ppm tend to be easy to deal with.
 

ditttohead

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I have seen many systems that maintain 25 ppm to the house, but this gets a bit expensive. A 1 ppm residual of chlorine with a simple carbon filter at the POU would be a lot more economical. This is a 3 hour training session to go into all the nuances... but the general point is stated above.
 

Reach4

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I had a wrong impression on the acceptable residual levels for H2O2

https://www.thepoultrysite.com/arti...drogen-peroxide-products-for-water-sanitation says
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines recommend 25 to 50 ppm of residual H2O2 in drinking water.​

The max number for free chlorine would be 4 ppm. I had mistakenly thought that similar levels would apply for H2O2.
They are talking about using hydrogen peroxide for water sanitizing. Lower levels are needed for iron and H2S treatment. But anyway, it says that the proposed 15 ppm residual after H2S treatment would be safe. I did think that strange that the poultry site was the only place that I found that, but that was probably because I was not good enough at searching.
 

ditttohead

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Good find. The reason it is not overl common is the high residual required. At 10-40 times more residual needed, the cost for consumables will also be 10-40 times more, not exactly economincal for many applications.
 

TimTheToolMan

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I have seen 4 ppm suggested as a target into the carbon tank. So I would drop to there or lower.

What meters your H2O2 pump? Peristaltic pump? Proportional pump rate with use, or runs at a fixed rate when the well pump runs?

Proportional pump rate with use.

Thanks for all the comments. They have been informative and helpful .
 

Water Guy

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without reading replies, if you're set on injection I would recommend chlorine injection as it will be much more cost effective as compared to H202 in the long run. I recommend. peristaltic pump wired to pump side of pressure switch, feeding first, then poly retention tank with drain down and air break, then test port with 2ppm residual, then GAC filter, then softener, then house. it will not harm your septic (but if your concerned just flush some microbes down the toilet once a year. you will have no Cl going to the softener or house (which you don't want). the only maintenance will be keep salt and chlorine in the tanks (but not too much chlorine as it loses potency over time) and once every 6 months open the retention tank drain till runs clear.
 
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