Was this KL tank installed right?

[Dice]

Hey all, I finally hired a local company to source and install: chlorine injection with contact tank, katalox light tank, carbon tank, and softener - in that order. We specifically talked about and agreed to having this all installed in that order.

Well they finally finished up and I come out to inspect their work only to find that they installed the katalox light tank before the chlorine retention tank.
I have iron reducing bacteria that I don’t want fouling up the katalox media / gumming up the control head, which is why I specified that I wanted the chlorine retention tank first.

Am I going to run into problems because of the order in which these guys installed the KL tank?

Thanks everyone

 

[Bannerman]

Is the chlorine injected before the KL filter?

If by 'chlorine retention tank' you are referring to the contact tank, the contact tank before the KL as originally intended, will permit time for the chlorine to neutralize any bacteria before it enters the KL system. The chlorine will also oxidize ferrous iron so most of the resulting ferric iron solids (rust) can precipitate out to the bottom of the contact tank, thereby reducing the filtering load on the KL system.

A small residual of chlorine remaining in the water flowing from the contact tank to the KL filter, will assist to ensure the KL media will remain sanitized.

Hopefully, you held back some of the payment until after you had opportunity to inspect the installation to confirm it was performed in the manner and quality as agreed to initially.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Dice]

Is the chlorine injected before the KL filter?

If by 'chlorine retention tank' you are referring to the contact tank, the contact tank before the KL as originally intended, will permit time for the chlorine to neutralize any bacteria before it enters the KL system. The chlorine will also oxidize ferrous iron so most of the resulting ferric iron solids (rust) can precipitate out to the bottom of the contact tank, thereby reducing the filtering load on the KL system.

A small residual of chlorine remaining in the water flowing from the contact tank to the KL filter, will assist to ensure the KL media will remain sanitized.

Hopefully, you held back some of the payment until after you had opportunity to inspect the installation to confirm it was performed in the manner and quality as agreed to initially.

Yes, by “retention tank” I did mean the chlorine contact tank. Seems I use these terms interchangeably without realizing.

That’s what my thought was, that by having the KL installed after the contact tank this would allow for the small amount of residual chlorine to keep the KL control valve and media free of bacteria and possibly extend the life of the KL by having most of the iron oxidized by chlorine before it reaches the KL.
He did not install the chlorine injection point before the KL filter. He installed it immediately after. Thankfully he is coming by today to fix this.
Thank you for your input!

 

[Reach4]

Thankfully he is coming by today to fix this.

Good deal.

You should have a boiler drain valve, or other sample valve, between the stages to let you check for the chlorine residuals and tune your injection.

Is your chlorine injection proportional with flow, or does it put in chlorine at some fixed rate whenever the pump runs?

 

[Dice]

Good deal.

You should have a boiler drain valve, or other sample valve, between the stages to let you check for the chlorine residuals and tune your injection.

Is your chlorine injection proportional with flow, or does it put in chlorine at some fixed rate whenever the pump runs?

Yes thankfully he did install sample valves after the chlorine contact tank and another after the carbon tank and softener.

The chlorine pump is wired to run when my well pump runs. I would think a proportional flow would be better, so that chlorine is injected whenever water is flowing regardless of my well pump, but I’m not really educated on that exactly. I didn’t think to ask that beforehand. Is this an easy fix to make? A Stenner pump was installed at my request.

 

[Reach4]

The chlorine pump is wired to run when my well pump runs. I would think a proportional flow would be better, so that chlorine is injected whenever water is flowing regardless of my well pump, but I’m not really educated on that exactly. I didn’t think to ask that beforehand. Is this an easy fix to make? A Stenner pump was installed at my request.

The injector in your case pretty much be before the pressure tank. The downside is that the pressure tank will have to deal with sediment that it would not have if the injection was after the pressure tank. This also means that the yard water may have chlorine in it, or will be drawn farther along your treatment path. One action item is to flush your pressure tank often enough.

The Stenner pumps that pump at an adjustable rate, and are on/off , are less expensive. The pumps that you can adjust the rate, but the rate is proportional to a flow sensor reading, cost more.

Some softeners can generate a signal that some Stenner pumps can get info from, which means that you don't need a separate proportional flow sensor. The Fleck XTR2 softener controllers can do that.

 

[Dice]

The Stenner pumps that pump at an adjustable rate, and are on/off , are less expensive. The pumps that you can adjust the rate, but the rate is proportional to a flow sensor reading, cost more.

I just took a look at the pump and it’s a Stenner 85mhp17, definitely hooked up to the well’s pump / pressure switch, but it’s not injected before the contact tank. There is a suction tube going from the chlorine solution tank to the Stenner pump, and then another tube going from the Stenner pump to a “t” that was installed inline between the KL tank and the chlorine contact / retention tank (which again these two tanks will be switched around). Is…. This normal? I mean I’d definitely rather the chlorine be injected after my pressure tank (otherwise I would’ve just used a freaking chlorine dispenser on my well head!!) but I am not on the up and up as far as how to properly install all of this equipment hence why I hired it out.

 

[Reach4]

I just took a look at the pump and it’s a Stenner 85mhp17, definitely hooked up to the well’s pump / pressure switch, but it’s not injected before the contact/retention/settling tank.

You meant pressure tank.

https://stenner.com/products/pumps/single-head-adjustable-output-pump/
Not proportional. On and off, if I read correctly. Should inject before the pressure tank, because that flow is fairly constant while the pump is on. Injecting after the pressure tank will probably be a problem. Now if that contact/settling tank is big enough, it might still work. But think about it. If the pressure tank is refilling because somebody just flushed a toilet or washed hands, the flow to the contact will be low and probably stop while the chlorine is still pumping. So the chlorine joins water in very different concentrations. If the contact tank is big enough, maybe it averages out sufficiently.

 

[Dice]

You meant pressure tank.

https://stenner.com/products/pumps/single-head-adjustable-output-pump/
Not proportional. On and off, if I read correctly. Should inject before the pressure tank, because that flow is fairly constant while the pump is on. Injecting after the pressure tank will probably be a problem. Now if that contact/settling tank is big enough, it might still work. But think about it. If the pressure tank is refilling because somebody just flushed a toilet or washed hands, the flow to the contact will be low and probably stop while the chlorine is still pumping. So the chlorine joins water in very different concentrations. If the contact tank is big enough, maybe it averages out sufficiently.

My god where is my head today Yes I did mean pressure tank. My apologies for making everything more confusing!

I understand what you mean and that does make sense.