Iron threshold for dedicated filter

[rural_engineer]

Is there a criteria for when to add a dedicated iron filter in front of a softener? I'm building a house next to a pre-existing but unused well, and I'm figuring out what equipment I'll need installed. An off the shelf test showed 24GPG of hardness and maybe 1ppm of iron.

I will be getting a full water analysis done. I made the mistake of dropping off my only water sample with the local testing lab before checking their prices. Just lead and nitrate cost me $105, and they wanted $$$ for every additional mineral. I'll have to wait until I have a permanent pump installed to get another sample.

--John

 

[ditttohead]

It is much more complex than that. pH plays an important facto in iron reduction. Lower pH tends to allow softeners to remove iron with better results. Higher pH will tend to cause excessive fouling of the resin. Regardless the softener will typically be set to run far less efficiently that if you were to reduce the iron significantly prior to softening. A popular method in the past several years for high hardness and low iron is to use a stacked tank system with KL in the upper section to greatly reduce the low level of iron and softening resin in the lower chamber. Assuming your pH is high, (7.5 or higher is preferred) this system design seems to work very consistently and the system can be set with considerable efficiency. Iron in the Ferric state does not get removed well by a softener, it needs to be in the ferrous state.
KL systems are excellent for iron, manganese, H2s and sediment/silt reduction. Lets see your complete water test before we make any real decisions.

 

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[Bannerman]

Here's a lab test often recommended on this site:
http://www.ntllabs.com/Merchant2/me...NTL&Product_Code=9003&Category_Code=Homeowner