New Softener needed for high Iron and Hardness well water

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Arhub

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So I've been reading alot of threads on here learning alot about Softeners and water treatment. I'm looking at replacing our system and looking for recommendations. I am in the process of getting a lab test done on the water but I did have Kinetico come out and they did their test, those results are below. I did have a lab test done 5 years ago and verified there was no bacteria, nitrates, tannins, etc. But I'm going to be doing a full lab test again just to verify everything.

Here is what I currently have for a system

Variable Speed Constant Pressure Well pump
10" Sediment Filter (which just constantly clogs)
Hague Iron Filter (no idea on the media thats in it)
Hague Water Softener (undersized and consonantly recharging we go through about 250 to 300 lbs of salt a month)
We have 5 people that live in our house, in southwest Minnesota on well water and we go through a good amount of water (more than normal when our toilets run because there is so much sediment in the bottom)

Until I get my lab results back these are the Kinetico Results
Hardness: 60 GPG
TDS: 1390
pH: 7
Ferrous Iron: 5

So Kinetico recommended a Iron Filter from them and a dual tank softener for a total cost of 14 thousand dollars. I very politely told the gentlemen I had to think about it.

I can do my own plumbing and have no issue installing the equipment myself, I'm just looking for recommendations on what to get. I talked to discountwatersofteners.com and also waterfiltersfoamerica.com, both quoted similar systems.

Water Filters of America recommended

12" Terminox Hi Flow Iron Filter
105k Deluxe demand softener
They also said my ph needs to be at least 7.5 for the iron filter to remove the iron properly (maybe this is part of my problem with my current filter). So they also included a injector to inject Soda Ash into the water before the Iron filter.

discountwaterseoftener quoted similar to the above but no soda ash injection.

So my question is am I on the right track? Does the recommendation from Water Filters of America sound correct (assuming my lab results confirm the Kinectico results. I also had Culligan come out a few years ago and they gave very similar results to Kinectico so I believe they are probably close)

The one concern I had was this company does not use Fleck or Clack valves but rather manufactures their own which they claim have the largest center riser tubs and ported valves in the industry. Does anyone have experience with this brand? Or do you have a recommendation on where to order a softener and Iron filter that I can install myself? Or am I way off on what I'm looking at? Thanks in advance.
 

ditttohead

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Stick with Clack or Fleck. The ferrous iron can be a bit difficult due to the moderate pH. Iron is easier to remove and convert to the ferric state when the pH is raised. A simple oxidant injection system may be a good solution. H2o2 injection ahead of a iron reduction system might be good enough. Soda ash is a simple solution as well but a bit more work. Ozone could also have been a possibility except for the variable speed constant pressure design eliminate the ability to use a simple venturi ozone system. No matter which way you go, iron reduction with this high level will require a bit of maintenance.
 
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CRB

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I can vouch for peroxide. My problem was sulfide and air injection with catalytic carbon reduced sulfide by 90%. Pretty good but not enough because most men and all women can smell this .1 ppm level. Not pleasant for that morning shower or that stuff women do to their face in the evenings. Things weren't well for me because Unhappy Wife unhappy life. So I bought a DIY 15 gal injection system with a piston pump. Worked immediately. No sulfur at all... but we are finding when the system sits overnight there's a slight wisp of sulfur for a couple minutes in the morning. I figure somehow a little H2S gets through. So I'm going to set up a sprinkler valve to purge a little out every morning by adding an inline tee fitting. For Iron this may not be needed. We have about 300 people in our development all on wells. Most tread with chlorine, but more and more are treating with peroxide. Peroxide is very easy to get on Amazon and I buy 4 gal of 12% at a time. Ends up costing less than $10/mo. With either system you'll need test strips. Make sure you have a valve in the system after the injection port before the air injection carbon filter. You'll want to check this point as you adjust the pump and solution mix till you get to about 1 ppm residual of chlorine or peroxide. So why peroxide and not chlorine, Both actually work fine. I'm a little bit of a chemistry geek and peroxide is slightly better oxidizing agent. I don't like chlorine taste but all the residual of either chemical is removed in the air injection filter. You'll find a lot of technical geeks that argue strongly for one of the chemicals. But I don't think there's a strong argument for either. If it got hard to get peroxide I'd switch to chlorine. So mostly it's really just personal preference.

I hope this is helpful.

Chris
 
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