Tony Caciolo
New Member
Hello,
I am a custom home and pool builder in PA and we are seeing more and more house with iron bacteria problems, including the home I am getting ready to build for myself. There is an old 35 gpm 100' deep well on the property (that was an old iron ore mine) so I'd expect a lot of iron in the water. The water on this property stained the toilets and had typical iron problems, so we put in a temporary birm filter until the new house is finished, which is what I need some help designing the system for. The birm filter cleared up the staining, but we still have some iron bacteria (and we did a chlorine shock on the well.) The test was performed on water before the filter:
Lab test results (if not shown, it is 0)
IRB iron related bacteria - present and water still has a slight sulfur smell even after the birm filter
calcium 57.45 mg/L
copper .014 mg/L
magnesium 40.5 mg/L
Manganese .03 mg/L
Ferrous iron and Iron - Not detected (when we first tested the water locally, we got a reading of 1, which is why
we put the temporary birm filter on, which has helped
Potassium .77 mg/L
Alkalnity 200 mg/L
Total Carbonate 36 mg/L
Total Hardness (CACO3) 60
Total hardness grains 3.5
pH 7.08 (might have dropped a little due to transport time since sample was shipped)
Sulfate 90 mg/L
TDS 335
Summary:
Since I am a pool builder, I use all Pentair pool equipment. They make Fleck valves so I'll be using the 5812 app connected valves (since they tie into our pool apps) for remote monitoring. The question is, I don't love the feel of traditional soft water, so I'd love to avoid a salt based softener. But I need to address the Iron Bacteria (and I do think the first test showing some iron can't be ignored.)
Katalox? Ozone? Traditional softener? Alternative scale reduction like FILTERSORB® SP3 (NAC)?
I really don't want to use chlorine. And I am not sure of the best way to introduce ozone. Just to be safe (even though no bacteria was detected, I will have a high flow 35 gpm UV light and a particle filter capable of high flow.
Finally - I do want to keep a high flow rate which is why we are using 1 1/4" fleck valves. Between sprinklers, pool, my wife's absurdly high gpm showers...etc, I'd like to design the system for at least 20gpm.
thanks and sorry for the book!
I know just enough to be dangerous...so I'd love some advice to a newbie!
thanks
tony c
I am a custom home and pool builder in PA and we are seeing more and more house with iron bacteria problems, including the home I am getting ready to build for myself. There is an old 35 gpm 100' deep well on the property (that was an old iron ore mine) so I'd expect a lot of iron in the water. The water on this property stained the toilets and had typical iron problems, so we put in a temporary birm filter until the new house is finished, which is what I need some help designing the system for. The birm filter cleared up the staining, but we still have some iron bacteria (and we did a chlorine shock on the well.) The test was performed on water before the filter:
Lab test results (if not shown, it is 0)
IRB iron related bacteria - present and water still has a slight sulfur smell even after the birm filter
calcium 57.45 mg/L
copper .014 mg/L
magnesium 40.5 mg/L
Manganese .03 mg/L
Ferrous iron and Iron - Not detected (when we first tested the water locally, we got a reading of 1, which is why
we put the temporary birm filter on, which has helped
Potassium .77 mg/L
Alkalnity 200 mg/L
Total Carbonate 36 mg/L
Total Hardness (CACO3) 60
Total hardness grains 3.5
pH 7.08 (might have dropped a little due to transport time since sample was shipped)
Sulfate 90 mg/L
TDS 335
Summary:
Since I am a pool builder, I use all Pentair pool equipment. They make Fleck valves so I'll be using the 5812 app connected valves (since they tie into our pool apps) for remote monitoring. The question is, I don't love the feel of traditional soft water, so I'd love to avoid a salt based softener. But I need to address the Iron Bacteria (and I do think the first test showing some iron can't be ignored.)
Katalox? Ozone? Traditional softener? Alternative scale reduction like FILTERSORB® SP3 (NAC)?
I really don't want to use chlorine. And I am not sure of the best way to introduce ozone. Just to be safe (even though no bacteria was detected, I will have a high flow 35 gpm UV light and a particle filter capable of high flow.
Finally - I do want to keep a high flow rate which is why we are using 1 1/4" fleck valves. Between sprinklers, pool, my wife's absurdly high gpm showers...etc, I'd like to design the system for at least 20gpm.
thanks and sorry for the book!
I know just enough to be dangerous...so I'd love some advice to a newbie!
thanks
tony c