Help identifying iron filtration unit

[M Vincent]

In 2011 my brother purchased an iron filtration unit from a company named DFI/PEC in the Denver area. After he paid and took receipt, the company promptly went out of business without delivering any manuals or instructions. The unit has an air induction venturi, and he was told it was "maintenance free" without needing any reagents or treatment other than the programmed backwash. The receipt simply says "iron filter".
We installed the unit in our jointly owned cabin and it has worked excellently for 6 years (vacation cabin with periodic use). However, the filtration is becoming a bit less effective and some of the iron staining is returning. However, I don't know if this is greensand, Birm, or some other media. Is there any easy way to identify what the media is? Or alternatively, is there any chemical such as IronOut, potassium permanganate or other material that can be safely used without knowing the exact media that was incorporated?

I've enclosed photos of the Clack tank, the unbranded control panel, the air venturi. I do have easy capability to add a chemical at the sediment filter if there is something safe to try.


I'd greatly appreciate any reply on the best way to rejuvenate the media. If I need to disassemble and sample the media, I'd appreciate any links on how best to identify what it is.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Reach4]

I think it is a Clack controller. I think WS1 3-button.

http://www.softenerparts.com/Clack_WS1_Valve_Parts_s/45.htm

Is there a DLFC drain line flow control washer. The part number is V3190 (one inch diameter) OR V3162 (3/4 inch) with a dash-number. I don't know how to identify one from the markings. Maybe somebody does, or maybe there are no useful markings. The DLFC sets the backwash rate, and the backwash rate is what may need adjusting with different media.

You would need to see if yours is 3/4 or 1 inch if you plan to just just replace the DLFC.

You could also measure the drain output during a backwash to see what the current backwash is. Knowing the backwash could give some info as to what the current media is. Measure volume and time. Do a simple calculation. For example, time how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket. Alternatively weigh how much the weight of a plastic garbage can increase with 60 minutes of flow.

A tank that size could accommodate 1 cubic ft of media. While I am fairly confident that your existing media is not Katalox Light, it could be that you could use that as replacement media. That would take about a 5 or 6 GPM backwash rate with your 9 inch tank fed by your Colorado well.

.



I have a question about that air unit. What is the order of flow starting at the pressure tank and ending in the softener. I am wondering about the arrow on the air injector. I presume the air injector is before the iron filter tank.

Iron Out might be used to clean media, but it would not be injected into the water continuously like pot perm, peroxide, or even chlorine bleach solution might be. Iron Out has a smell.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[LLigetfa]

The unit has an air induction venturi, and he was told it was "maintenance free" without needing any reagents or treatment other than the programmed backwash.

From the POV of not needing reagents, yes but they are far from maintenance free.

I see a few issues with the install and so am surprised you get 6 years of use the way it stands. Assuming that cartridge filter is upstream, it should not be there. There can be a coarse screen before the micronizer to keep larger particles from wearing or clogging it but the screen should not impede flow. Speaking of impeding flow, the piping between the micronzer and the precipitation tank (that BTW, I see no pictures of) should be as short as possible and large enough so that as iron builds up on the inner wall, it does not restrict flow.

What happens is that over time the piping's inner diameter is reduced by iron buildup and there is not sufficient GPM of flow for a proper backwash.

 

[M Vincent]

Thank you very much for your replies. The DLFC drain line flow control washer or "button" is a 6.5 gpm orifice. (between 1/4 and 5/16" ID, identifying numbers 065 and 20 on button).
In terms of the process flow, after the pressure tank the water passes through these sequentially:
1) Sediment filter to catch any debris from well, followed by:
2) air induction venturi. The arrow is indeed pointing the correct direction!
3) 3-4 feet of intentionally "snaked" 3/4" copper pipe to provide some residence time and mixing of air and water to oxygenate and hopefully precipitate iron. LLigetfa, this is one of the few instructions my brother was given that there MUST be some residence time to allow mixing of the entrained air with the water. This is in direct contradiction to your suggestion to make that line run as short as possible.
4) last is the Clack media cylinder 0948 with the unknown media.

I still have excellent flowrates, never less than 10 gpm through all of these devices, and typically 13-15 gpm. (If it ever drops to 10 gpm, I replace the sediment filter. I probably only need to change it once per year due to plugging and restricted flow, but I change it a few times just because it looks rusty). So I do not believe the sediment filter or media filter have plugged sufficiently to cause issues with the necessary backflushing rates of a 9" cylinder. And I don't believe (as of yet) that the copper lines have restricted too much in diameter given my solid flowrates.

Our raw water is very good, with only 4 to 6 grains of hardness, and very little sediment. However the iron is around 2-4 ppm and did result in some difficult iron staining until we installed this unit. Afterward, there was essentially zero iron staining for the past 6 years, but the cabin is only occupied part time - perhaps the equivalent of 3 years with a 4 person family.

Once a year we use bleach to shock our well. Of course, we flow back LOTS of rusty water after that, and I've routinely bypassed the iron filter to discharge all the rusty water outside. However, I'm suspicious that during a recent well disinfection the nasty rusty water was routed through the iron filter, and I may need to take some more aggressive efforts to clean it. That led to my question about using IronOut or permanganate.

I have used granular IronOut in water softeners at other homes, and recognize it has a temporary odor, and recognize it is only used in a batch operation. I was tempted to run some through this iron filter, but without knowing what the media is, wanted some advice to whether it could do any damage. Can you determine the media from the information above? What are the safest reagents to try to use to clean up the media before resorting to rebedding the tank?
And do you see any other problems?
Thanks again.
-Mike

 

[ditttohead]

Since the media is unknown, you need to be wary of putting any chemicals into it as there is no way of knowing what may happen. Lets just say it is nothing more than calcite... adding a bunch of acid could make for some interesting results. If it is birm, this has some restrictions as to which oxidant you can use.
My suggestion, take the valve off, tear it down and completely clean it, possibly rebuild it. Rebed the tank with Katalox light or equivalent, remove and clean the air injector, and inspect the pipe between the injector and the system.

If it worked, then rebuilding the system should get it up and running again.

 

[LLigetfa]

3) 3-4 feet of intentionally "snaked" 3/4" copper pipe to provide some residence time and mixing of air and water to oxygenate and hopefully precipitate iron. LLigetfa, this is one of the few instructions my brother was given that there MUST be some residence time to allow mixing of the entrained air with the water. This is in direct contradiction to your suggestion to make that line run as short as possible.

Actually that is not what I said. I said "the piping between the micronzer and the precipitation tank" but it has become obvious there is no precipitation tank.

 

[M Vincent]

Actually that is not what I said. I said "the piping between the micronzer and the precipitation tank" but it has become obvious there is no precipitation tank.

Thanks, LLigetfa. My apologies for misunderstanding. I truly appreciate everyone's input. When I re-read my post it mistakenly sounded like I was contradicting you - my intent was instead to point out that we did something that may have been wrong, or at least different than what I thought you were recommending. Anyway, I want to thank you and ensure you didn't believe I was being a jerk.