Iron Removal System – whole house filter, peroxide or aeration?

[Jeff White]

Seeking advice on a system to remove iron from our well water. Our iron content is not that bad but enough to drive us crazy with laundry stains. I’ve evaluated peroxide and aeration systems. My key focus is to keep the costs down and not overbuild for our situation. Here are the parameters.

- Iron is .12 mg/L, Manganese is .043 mg/L and pH is 7.8. Hardness is 84 (incl. Calcium of 21 and Magnesium of 2). There is no filtration on the house now. I do not want a water softener.

- Well head is 350’ down a hill and the pressure tank sits beside it.

- I am told that flow at the well head is 50 gpm. I get 12 gpm from an outdoor faucet prior to entering the house (off a 1” supply pipe).

- Our old home had iron content of .38 mg/L and we had a simple filter on the whole house. Had to change the filter monthly but we never had laundry issues.

- Research of a peroxide system indicates that the injector has to be before the pressure tank. This is a problem since the tank is so far from the house and exposed to winter temperatures. Why must it be before the pressure tank? If it is to allow space for the water to interact and oxidize, why can’t I add a storage tank at the house and deal with it there?

I am curious if a simple whole house filter would also work here. Everything I have read confirms that we cannot remove the iron with oxidation of some kind but with the levels we have do I need to go that far? Any and all advice welcome. Thanks.

 

[Reach4]

- Well head is 350’ down a hill and the pressure tank sits beside it.

That is hard to believe unless there is an additional pump down the hill to climb the hill. If there was only the one pump in the system, that pressure tank would have to deal with 130 PSI plus whatever the water pressure in the house is. Normal pressure tanks are not rated for such high pressures.

- Iron is .12 mg/L, Manganese is .043 mg/L and pH is 7.8. Hardness is 84 (incl. Calcium of 21 and Magnesium of 2). There is no filtration on the house now. I do not want a water softener.

Interesting. That is the kind of iron level that a softener would be worth considering to remove the iron in addition to softening.

Research of a peroxide system indicates that the injector has to be before the pressure tank.

Do you have a reference for that? Injection would normally be before the contact tank, which you would also want. Maybe you read about the contact tank and thought they were talking about the pressure tank.

 

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[Jeff White]

Thanks, appreciate your reply. The well head is 350' from the house but the elevation change is much less. My preferences against water softeners is personal, I just don't like the feel of the water. I don't have a specific reference on the dosing system but can say that every system I have seen so far has the dosing system before the pressure tank. I don't recall any of them having a contact tank as well.

 

[Reach4]

If you search for "Katalox Light" you will find discussions of a media for a backwashing filter that can remove iron and more. My backwashing iron+sulfur filter uses Centaur Carbon, and it does well on my iron as well as my sulfur smell. The iron in my raw water is not high, but it is higher than yours.

I can find diagrams with H2O2 injection both before and after. I am confident that you could inject at the house, but you would also want a contact tank (not everybody uses one) followed by something to remove the H2O2.

Chlorine followed by removal is cheaper. I would go with the backwashing filter that can remove the iron. That will be simpler than the injection, and your iron levels are low. Start thinking about how many GPM is available for backwashing. That will affect your available choices.

If you wanted to also treat the water for bacteria, that would be a plus for the injection system. Most people just sanitize the well and plumbing, and any returning bacteria from a deep well will not be harmful.

 

[Jeff White]

Thanks, good advice. Yes, bacteria was one of the reasons I was considering peroxide. We had sporadic issues in our previous house but no issues here yet. I'll look into the media you suggested and then do a sanitation before proceeding. Do you recommend any particular backwash filters?

 

[Reach4]

http://www.moravecwaterwells.com/index.php/maintainance/disinfection-and-testing is my favorite sanitizing method. More complex than what most people do.

Regarding particular KL filters, somebody might have one for you. I will message you with what I use for iron+sulfur.

 

[Jeff White]

Thanks for the advice, I've looked at the systems suggested and believe they may be overkill for my situation. My iron content is only .12 mg/L, Manganese is .043 mg/L. Any recommendation for a system that uses simple aeration followed by a contact tank (with valve to purge as necessary) then followed by simple sediment filters? Would appreciate any input on whether this would be sufficient for iron content of only .12 ppm. Thanks

 

[Reach4]

Any recommendation for a system that uses simple aeration followed by a contact tank (with valve to purge as necessary) then followed by simple sediment filters?

We have very different ideas on what is simple vs what is not.

See links in https://terrylove.com/forums/index....al-pressure-tank-going-dry.64570/#post-477992 for some micronizer and contact tank possibilities.

I think the KL or Centaur Carbon backwashing system is simpler. I think a softner is simpler, and I think you could come to like softened water if you learned to use less soap.

 

[WorthFlorida]

Iron is the bear of well systems and it sound like you have clear water iron, The bottom line is that the iron needs to be oxidized (turn the water red) so it can be filtered out of the water. Look into potassium permanganate system but you will need a one tank for the potassium, anther tank for sanitizing (usually a chlorine injection system with a blending tank, then a sediment filter, and lastly a carbon filter. Its a lot and can get pricy but this is the best way to clean water.
Also, from experience, water softeners do not filter iron and never expect one to work perfectly to remove iron. The iron molecules stick to the softener resin and coat the media so it cannot do an iron exchange for soft water. That is why water softener salt has iron remover in it to remove the iron off the media. Those who manufacture and sell softener will brag that it can remove up to 10 ppm of iron but usually the water flow through the softener so fast that a lot of iron gets past through.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/71333-use-potassium-permanganate-water-treatment/

 

[Jeff White]

Yeah, perhaps not as simple as I was thinking. I am obviously a newbie to this but struggle with the cost of the system when we really just have nuisance iron levels. We had a simple whole house filter on my last home (for 15 years). The iron levels were three times higher than we have now and we never had any nuisance issues with the iron. I had to change the filter about once a month but they are cheap. Perhaps I should start with a simple WHF system and check the outcomes?

 

[WorthFlorida]

In this home did you change the brand of laundry detergent. It seems that the iron is oxidizing during the wash and the red iron gets attached to the clothes. May try using only a non-chlorine bleach and a different detergent brand. I would experiment with old clothes and towels.

Do you get iron stains in the toilets?

How about the water heater? Since the washing machine you'll always draw water from the water heater, it may be chock full of rust and the anode rod could be long gone. Try draining it. If a allot of rust comes out open the cold water valve and try flushing out what you can. Might be worth replacing the water heater anyway if its old.

 

[Jadnashua]

FWIW, many people wash clothes with cold water, so the WH may have nothing to do with laundry iron stains.

What type of pipe in the well and from there to the house?

Was the water sample taken at the wellhead, or at the house?

 

[Jeff White]

Thanks for all the investigative assistance. We are using the same detergent in this home as our last. We always wash in cold water and I recently replaced the HW heater. When I flushed it at the six month mark the sediment was not orange, just clear mineral sludge. The piping from the wellhead and throughout the house is CPVC. The pipe in the well is a black plastic pipe. The water sample was taken in the house. House was built in 2004. Again, thanks.

Also, we sometimes get iron stains along the water level in the toilets.

 

[Jadnashua]

Well, it seems the piping is not the possible source of the iron...in a way, too bad, as that might have been a one-time fix, unless, the builder cheaped out and used steel nipples to make the final connections or say an iron elbow in the wall. Don't have enough knowledge to help guide you.