Looking for help with my water situation

[Mike btown]

I'm looking for some help with my current water situation. I just moved into a house about three months ago and I've never had well water before till now. The system that was here was a culligan 10 inch cleer plus system. I've had culligan out multiple times because the water is staining our appliances and sinks and it has a rusty smell to it. The dishwasher doesn't work good with the water either. They have come and adjusted some settings each time but it's the same result. It's just 2 of us in the household.
Here's the numbers from culligan testing the water from well

Hardness 4
Tds 2200
Total Iron 1.3
ph 7.5

Can you guys help me out? Should the house have a whole house filter or something else other than only a water softener? Why isn't it working?
I've had another company come out to test and they said it's working right and their numbers show the softener is working, I'm at a loss.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Bannerman]

First, it is advisable to obtain a comprehensive water test of your raw well water, performed by a recognized testing lab. With a private well, you are the municipality so you are totally responsible for your water's safety, aesthetics and treatment methods. Here is a link to a test which is highly recommended and reasonably priced: http://www.ntllabs.com/Merchant2/me...NTL&Product_Code=9003&Category_Code=Homeowner

If the hardness quantity you specified is accurate at 4 grains per gallon, your water is not hard enough for most people to need a water softener, but it becomes a nice to have. I suspect the softener was initially installed more to remove the iron which is fairly substantial. Unfortunately, a softener is not the most efficient tool for iron removal and iron removal with a softener usually requires additional ongoing maintenance as the ferrous iron will build-up on the softener resin, fouling the resin and reducing its effectiveness.

Depending on the age of the softener, its effectiveness may possibly be restored by 'cleaning' the resin by adding a a strong solution of resin cleaner such as 'Iron-Out' or similar to the softener's brine tank along with additional water. After allowing additional salt to be dissolved, a manual regeneration cycle would be initiated which will cause the cleaning solution and additional brine to be drawn into the resin tank whereby the cleaner will dissolve the iron deposits on the resin and softener internals, permitting the dissolved deposits to be flushed to drain. As cleaning has likely not been performed previously, the process may need to be repeated initially to remove the iron build-which may be substantial. Further treatments will then need to be performed on a regular ongoing basis to eliminate further iron build-up. An iron removal filter located prior to the softener would eliminate the need for the further ongoing resin cleaner treatments and would allow the softener to operate most efficiently.

There are back washing filters which contain media for removing iron. A newer media called Katalox Light is growing in popularity due to its effectiveness and efficiency. The media would be installed into a tank, similar to a water softener, which would be sized dependant on your estimated water consumption requirements and iron quantity. The unit would automatically back wash on a periodic basis to flush out sediment and debris while also rejuvenating the media. Here is a link to the K-L media manufacturer's website: http://watchwater.com/katalox_light/katalox_light.php

 

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[Mialynette2003]

Based on the hardness and iron content, the TDS is out of wack. It is either an incorrect reading or you have very salty tasting water. A TDS of 220 would more in line. I agree with Bannerman as to an iron system prior to the water softener.

 

[ditttohead]

Agreed, your TDS is indicating either high sulfates, chlorides, sodium or??? Get a real well water test as detailed above before you spend any money on equipment. High pH and softened water iron reduction can be problematic as the iron tends to foul the resin and is difficult to remove making your softener far less effective an efficient.