Iron and Manganese in well water?

My BIL had same issues with his well. Would turn my blonde SIL hair red. Good RO system should help you.

RO might get expensive if you need to do the whole house. Ion Exchange (softener) should be able to do the same thing with cheaper upfront costs.

I add some iron out to my softener tank and it does some good, but we don't have a huge problem with iron-some, but not huge.

Knots said:

I got my well test back. Everything except iron and manganese look good. It's not a surprise since the toilet bowls were staining right away.

Iron is at 3.6 mg/L and Manganese at 0.21 mg/L. Apparently this is just a taste/nuisance issue.

Anyone else have experience with this? Can I just filter it?

Click to expand...

I had iron/manganese in my well water and beat it. A water softener is not an iron filter, it will remove low amounts of iron but will foul the media. If your water is not hard (mine wasn't) then you don't need a softener.

You probably have some sulfur in that water as well since those three elements are like the three stooges, always hanging out together. The smell of iron, sulfur, and manganese plus each of their bacterial smells are all pretty similar and hard to tell apart. The smell is swampy, septicy, and sometimes eggy.

You are correct that iron and manganese are nuisance issues. It's gross but safe. Your numbers are way too high for a softener to get it done.

Iron removal methods also remove manganese and usually sulfur by oxidizing it from the dissolved state into a solid and then filtering it out. In your toilet (shower, dishwasher, sink) the aeration oxidizes the element and it scales onto your surfaces. Hard to remove and it smells too.

I chose to install a manganese oxide iron filter which uses no salt but I do need to throw in some bleach every week or so to prevent iron bacteria from sludging things up. This filter is the same thing I use in municipal water treatment for large scale manganese removal and not some kind of gimmick. See my photos. I bought my system at http://www.cleanwaterstore.com/iron-manganese-filters.html and have been very happy with the
performance. Self installed of course. In the photo you will see the little side chlorine tank for backwash and the screen to remove grit before the iron filter.

Another option if you have your own well is chlorination (nice to keep things clean) followed by filtration and or carbon filter to remove the solid iron/mang plus the carbon will strip the chlorine away too. I have a community well so chlorination is significantly more expensive.

Take a long read at that site I linked and you will find lots of information. Remember, softeners are for hard water not for iron.

For what its worth, I used to have major iron/manganese issues from a surface well. After several years of changing filters I had a pump problem. When I installed the well I ran two lines, one with foot valve at the base of the well and one spare that floated near the top. I couldn't get the pump started and through the foot valve was bad. I hooked up a compressor and discovered I was pulling water form the spare line. Once I switched to the deep one with foot valve the iron and manganese were far less noticeable to the point where I stopped filtering it. A few years later I switched to a deep well and it wasn't an issue.

I am actually waiting for new sample to be tested on the deep well including Radon.

Knots said:

My pH, at 6.79, is at the hairy edge of what they say will work without other treatment. Ugh.

Click to expand...

So acid water, hard water, and iron/mang. Yuck. Each of your problems is moderate in nature but not mild enough to dismiss. The good news is that you've had your water tested and you know what you're dealing with. Two or three different steps will be needed to get your water in tip top shape.

Make contact with the tech folks at the link i gave you and they will make a recommendation for free.

Knots said:

Thanks. I'm a little worried that asking them what I need will be a little like asking the barber if I need a haircut, but we'll see what they say. Of course I'd like to get the minimum system that'll do the job. Maybe I can do it incrementally if I plan it right...

Click to expand...

Yeah, they sell water treatment stuff so they will be able to fix you up. It's free and their stuff is not gimmicky plus i used them and as an engineer in the water industry i recommend them for you. Nothing to lose.

I am curious about their solution. Please post back with a follow up.

I see that you can buy neutralizers for the pH, softeners for hardness, and iron filters for iron/mang. The highest amount of iron/mang that a softener will remove is 2.0 ppm combined and you are like double that. So i can't see how you could do this in steps.

Hard water in an instant water heater is bad mojo. The scale will supposedly set up on the heat exchangers so you are supposed to do some sort of soak with vinegar to dissolve it.

My iron filter is the pro-ox (manganese dioxide) media. I chose the 1cf size. Though I do not have your pH problems. If you could get the buy off on your low pH with that iron filter then the hardness can be a next step. Maybe even ignore the acidity.

Sometimes the low pH limit is mitigated by some other quality of your water. Sometimes the low pH just means that 98% of iron will be removed instead of 100% or that the media life will be 14 years instead of 15.

That sediment filter is just a screeen to protect downstream equipment from damage. Looks like they thought your ph was fine.

I agree to not send any of the backwash water to your septic. People that do that are making a mistake. I route my backwash water into the downspout system so it dumps to the surface.

I bet you could skip the softener for now if budget is tight.

Those air charge iron filters do require a daily backwash but no chemicals and are rated for 7ppm iron. The disposal of backwash water could be a problem if you dont have a space to dump it. It will be chemical free waste but could stain due to the collected iron.

You might try talking with neighbors to see if they have similar problems. If the problem is hit-and-miss, it might be worthwhile talking to a well driller about drilling out of it. In my area sometimes setting the well screen another 5 feet shallower or deeper can make all the difference in the world. And, of course, sometimes the iron is just all over.

I would not recommend RO unless you absolutely have to. As well as costs, RO can remove too much from your water making it "aggressive". Aggressive water can dissolve your copper plumbing and even leach the lead (Pb) out of brass fixtures.

I'm very fortunate with my well, I could hook into the city but like the idea of having fresh water.

I have relatives in upstate NY that have big time sulfer, You feel like you need a shower to wash off your shower. We call it fart water.

Hope you can get things sorted out reasonably.

Check out the greensand filter systems.
We have the same water round here, and that is what most use here.
Need one myself.

Did you chlorinate your well before it was originally tested?

Hogwildz said:

Check out the greensand filter systems.
We have the same water round here, and that is what most use here.
Need one myself.

Click to expand...

Greensand is manganese oxide coating a sand grain. The filter he linked above uses solid manganese oxide chunks which last longer and none of the nasty purple potassium permanganate recharge solution that the traditional greensand filters need.

JTRock said:

I'm very fortunate with my well, I could hook into the city but like the idea of having fresh water.

I have relatives in upstate NY that have big time sulfer, You feel like you need a shower to wash off your shower. We call it fart water.

Hope you can get things sorted out reasonably.

Click to expand...

High sulfur is harder to deal with. Same basic idea of oxidation and then filtration.