Iron in Water

[BillClinton]

I'm pretty sure I have iron in my water. I'm going to get a water quality report from the utility next week. I have been open for 3 months and have rust colored deposits around the lid of my rinse tank, on my nozels, and I've found rust colored stains in the hydrominders. Assuming that I have iron in the water, what do I do, what does it cost, and what are the reprocussions? I use a water softener, but this obviously doesn't work on iron. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks,

 

[MEP001]

I use a water softener, but this obviously doesn't work on iron.

There's a softener salt that will help, usually comes in a blue or blue-green bag.

 

[Plow Guy]

iron x

A standard softener will handle around 2 or 3 parts per million of iron, after that the iron cotes the resin in your tank stopping the ionic exchange, know more soft water. In your brine tank,about every 1 foot of salt lace in some iron-x-.I believe I bought my last bottle at Home Depot. The directions and amount to lace in should be on the bottle. When doing this Please use a mask or respirator. The fumes are nasty. If the results of your test shows iron higher than 3 PPM, Look into an iron remover before your softener.Cheers Pete. P S. Its a good idea every now and then when you run out of salt, dump and clean the brine tank, Its amazing how may rocks and dirt it can accumulate.Before you add salt ,cycle your softener, you should have about 3 to 6 inches of water.Check the Manuel for proper level, then just the float.recycle, if its still to high or raises over night. replace the float valve.

 

[MEP001]

P S. Its a good idea every now and then when you run out of salt, dump and clean the brine tank, Its amazing how may rocks and dirt it can accumulate.

Not if you use clean salt. Some of it is just dried lake water, garbage and all.

 

[BillClinton]

How often do I need to have my water softener cycle? What should the TDS be on the soft water? Is TDS how you test water softness?
Thanks,

 

[ted mcmeekin]

Depends on what kind of iron. We had iron at our camp. After some review we determined we needed iron filter. Simple system, suck some air at pump discharge, filter (resin), and water tank (half air half water). The air oxidizes the iron, the filter removes the oxide, the water tank has a gas release ( H2S in our sytem vents external. We had iron stains everywhere but this simple system can handle this type iron--no more stains in toilet or shower. The resin is backflushed based on useage. No resin to replace unless this thing gets clogged up at n some point but that is not expected for a long long time.

Ted

 

[BillClinton]

Who would I contact about putting one of these systems in? Who should I contact to determine if I need a system like this or if I just need to change the type of salt that I'm using or just add a condtioner to the salt?

 

[MEP001]

How often do I need to have my water softener cycle? What should the TDS be on the soft water? Is TDS how you test water softness?

The softener should cycle based on hardness x capacity. The typical settings are 6 lbs of salt per cubic foot of resin to yield 20,000 grains of softening. If your incoming water is 10 grains, you should get 2,000 gallons of soft water per cubic foot per regeneration. You test with a hardness test kit, and it should test 0 grains if it's soft.

 

[Jim L.]

Depends on what kind of iron. We had iron at our camp. After some review we determined we needed iron filter. Simple system, suck some air at pump discharge, filter (resin), and water tank (half air half water). The air oxidizes the iron, the filter removes the oxide, the water tank has a gas release ( H2S in our sytem vents external. We had iron stains everywhere but this simple system can handle this type iron--no more stains in toilet or shower. The resin is backflushed based on useage. No resin to replace unless this thing gets clogged up at n some point but that is not expected for a long long time.

Ted

Can you share the manufacturer of your iron removal system? I currently use water well water for my winter weep. The stains in my bays is a pain but not near as much as the costs of doing it with city water.

 

[ted mcmeekin]

I will be out of town for a while and not have access to camp. First step is to test water to see if the iron you have can be oxidized, if not this will not work, if so you could contact the installer--Richardson,s Hardware Marlinton, WV--ask for Eric.

Ted

 

[Jim L.]

Is there a name for this water test you mention? Did you do it yourself? If not, who performed it for you? We have a Culligan water treatment dealer in our area…would they know of such an oxidation test?

 

[Jim L.]

Tried calling the hardware store you suggested...Eric doesn't work there any more.