Mountain Stream
New Member
Hello DIY Love Forum,
My well water is high in iron and the water stinks. It stinks maybe three times a year, primarily in the hot water. I would like to treat the water so it is safe for brushing teeth, does not stain the fixtures, is not smelly, and does not clog the piping. I shock the well annually. Our family uses bottled water and may switch to RO, so, I guess it would be good to minimize contaminants in the water before it reaches the RO filters (?).
Selection parameters:
Well pump: 10 GPM at designed head
House: 3.5 baths. Three adults.
20-year-old water softener.
DIY installation preferred (I would prefer not to maintain the system, but would rather maintain it than hire someone to maintain it).
The offending contaminants include (in mg/L):
Iron: 5.896
Manganese: 0.634
Hardness: 306.7
TDS: 757
Sodium: 24
Also, pH is 6.8
No bacteria or arsenic detected.
Budget: $5K
You are more than welcome to try to change my mind, but so far, I tend to think the following:
- H2O2 is a very flexible solution for a myriad of problems, is low in maintenance, but the peroxide annual cost is too high.
- My opinion is that a combined iron/sulfur filter and softener is too complex and would be hard to troubleshoot … the two systems should be separated.
- I am ignorant on the use of ozone to assist with backwashing iron filters. Would like to understand if this is practical.
I come with hat in hand reaching out to the combined expertise of this forum to help me with the technical decision on what water treatment equipment is a best fit. I will try to report on results so others will benefit.
My well water is high in iron and the water stinks. It stinks maybe three times a year, primarily in the hot water. I would like to treat the water so it is safe for brushing teeth, does not stain the fixtures, is not smelly, and does not clog the piping. I shock the well annually. Our family uses bottled water and may switch to RO, so, I guess it would be good to minimize contaminants in the water before it reaches the RO filters (?).
Selection parameters:
Well pump: 10 GPM at designed head
House: 3.5 baths. Three adults.
20-year-old water softener.
DIY installation preferred (I would prefer not to maintain the system, but would rather maintain it than hire someone to maintain it).
The offending contaminants include (in mg/L):
Iron: 5.896
Manganese: 0.634
Hardness: 306.7
TDS: 757
Sodium: 24
Also, pH is 6.8
No bacteria or arsenic detected.
Budget: $5K
You are more than welcome to try to change my mind, but so far, I tend to think the following:
- H2O2 is a very flexible solution for a myriad of problems, is low in maintenance, but the peroxide annual cost is too high.
- My opinion is that a combined iron/sulfur filter and softener is too complex and would be hard to troubleshoot … the two systems should be separated.
- I am ignorant on the use of ozone to assist with backwashing iron filters. Would like to understand if this is practical.
I come with hat in hand reaching out to the combined expertise of this forum to help me with the technical decision on what water treatment equipment is a best fit. I will try to report on results so others will benefit.