Iron Problem with Well Water

[BARTSFAM]

Hello;
I have high contents of iron in my well water. I have had a Kinetico water softener installed for seven years, that seemed to do the trick, as far as brown staining and odor. The Kinetico purged every 300 gallons with the salt water solution. It has two filters, one for sediment, the other is carbonized.

This winter, the smell and staining took a turn for the worse. Kinetico came out and "sanitized" (their words), the system. They also changed the purge time from 300 gallons, down to 200 gallons. I changed the filters, and the smell and staining got better, but it is still there, although slightly.

Could my water be so bad, that the softener cannot handle it anymore? Is the media in the softeners bad, and need to be changed? Kinetico said "no."

One more problem, is that I have three bathrooms in the house. All get equal use. The master bathroom has the most odor and brown staining of the three bathrooms, yet this bathroom is used the most. How can one bathroom have more odor and staining then the others? They are all on the same plumbing line.

I do not have much faith in my Kinetico Service Man. However, I was told that no one else will work on Kinetico products because it is a franchise. I would like a second opinion.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[fishingpol]

Is the odor problem in the hot water only? Carbon will remove bad taste, iron particles and odors, resins in the softener side remove manganese and I think sulfides or sulfates. If you can locate a good water engineering company have them sample raw water from the well and then water after your treatment system.

The reason I ask about the hot water, bacteria can feed off whatever is in your well, and temperatures in a hot water tank are perfect for them multiplying. If you do not have any sort of chlorination system, sanitizing is a way of killing off the nasties. Odor problems are weird, if there is a bacteria colony in one water line to a particular bathroom, it may not be present in another. Water sampling is not cheap, but it can give you the answer you need. Look outside the box and don't always rely on your water company.

Is your well shallow or deep? Sometimes shallow wells here in MA can feed off a swamp and have higher concentrations of particulates that can affect water quality.

 

[benjamin]

Iron is harder to remove than hardness for water softeners. They can remove iron but not very efficiently or for very long in my limited experience. A better solution for iron is a setup that oxidizes the iron, precipitates it, filters, and backflushes it.

If the smell is hydrogen sulfide/rotten egg then it can be caused by the water heater anode.

 

[BARTSFAM]

Yes, you hit on two facts that I did not even mention. Only the hot water has that metallic odor, and I have a shallow well surrounded by swamp.
The water is better then it was, but every once in a while the hot water stinks like metal. And the bathroom furthest away from the filters is the one with the metallic odor, sometimes egg odor, and brown metal stains in the toilet and shower.
Maybe the odor is coming from the hot water heater.
If it doesn't strighten out soon, I will have to see if my water composition has changed via a test, as Kinetico said that the softener/filtering system is fine.

 

[fishingpol]

I believe that filter media can loose its' "sharpness" around the edges from backwashing and become smoother, loosing its efficiency. The rust particles may be very small in size and not get captured in the media. If one bathroom is used first thing in the morning, it may draw water from horizontal runs in the pipe that had iron particles settle overnight. Turning that line on can churn up the pipe drawing in the particles to the tap. If the other bathrooms are used after, the particles may be suspended or drawn through the first pipe causing less of a problem in that pipe.

If your water company is sanitizing your system, I would ask them if they are treating the well itself. If they are, the sanitizer can be affecting your charcoal filter. Sanitizing should be done after a carbon filter. If there is any way you can open a media vessel or filter container with the water off, look for dark or black film on the inside of the housings. Iron will be brown, bacteria will be darker and a slight odor to it. Warm areas such as a hot water heater closet or basement can cause bacteria. Many of the bacterias out there are not dangerous, more of just a nuisance, with the associated odor to it.

If you are going to have water tested, sample before and after the treatment system to see the difference in levels before and after treatment. This will let you know how "well" your system is working. (Ha, had to get a pun in there).

 

[esuitt]

Has the carbon ever been changed? Carbon does lose its efficiency and need to be change depending on usage. IMO, 7 years is a long time not to have been changed. Carbon will take out iron and sediments, filters help with smaller fines that carbon does not catch, also UVOX helps with bacteria.
My aunts house is on well with a creek/ swamp not far from her house (also on a peninsula) and her treatment co. comes out every 3/4 to back flush the carbon and once a year to change carbon and salt containers.
I was an environmental science tech for 12 years. We operated 3 pump and treat ground water systems w/ carbon and we changed the units every 3 months regardless because testing showed us they start to lose efficiency.

 

[Sisu]

I would look into a green sand filter. Does the odor smell like rotten eggs? If so, you have hydrogen sulfide in your aquifer. A green sand filter will take care of the odor and your high iron content.

 

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Water companies can be a bit like auto mechanics. If they think you're gonna spread a bad name for them, they'll go for the surest fix regardless of cost. However, if you are one to manage your money properly, you should operate under the philosophy of "cheapest fix first" then go up from there.

Your cheapest fixes will be replacing the anode in your hot water tank. Those are made of a sacrificial metal and get used up. Sometimes within a year. They are meant to be replaced. In fact if you don't replace them, you can have problems worse than smelly water when your hot water tank corrodes through. It happened to me during one of the worst snowless freezes of a lifetime. The plumbers were all working frantically thawing frozen septic systems and water lines and I had a devil of a time getting one to replace my water heater.

Also recharging your carbon filter should be cheap.

If you have sulfer or iron bacteria infecting your plumbing you'll have a tough time killing it all. You may have to mix a garbage can full of water, bleach, and salt, dump it down your well, run it through all your plumbing, let it sit overnight, then flush it out.

IF YOUR PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE IS WORKING PROPERLY, you could crank up your hot water heater to 160* for a couple hours and cook out any bacteria. This is to be used with caution as just about the time the temp gets high your kid will use the bathroom and wash his/her hands. Not to mention, the water heater with an improperly functioning relief valve could turn into a bomb.

 

[Highbeam]

I have a well with iron in it. Not iron bacteria, there is a difference. The way to check for iron bacteria is to look in your toilet tank. If you see piles of fluffy debris in the corners of the tank then you have bacteria. If not, then you just have iron in solution. There is soluable iron that stays in solution (you can't see it) until exposed to oxygen. You treat the iron differently depending on which problem you have, basically you do more if you have iron plus iron bacteria.

Water softeners can only remove small amounts of iron so if your well water is higher than that then you will get some iron in your system staining the tanks and smelling. Your water softener maker will know how many ppm or iron that their system can remove. You need to test the raw water for iron content. Not an engineering company but just a regular old unbiased water testing place.

All water softeners should be preceeded by a filter for removal of supsended solids such as sediments and oxidized iron chunks. You don't normally see carbon filters after the softener unless you have some other specific contaminant.

If you want to remove more iron than the water softener can remove then you need to get into some much more expensive technology.

 

[DAKSY]

If you've got an electric water heater, this "bacteria smell" is common with well water...
Try this with your water heater to see if you can eliminate the smell...
Turn the incoming pressure off & open the drain at the bottom for a minute
& lower the water level in the tank. There is a big ole set screw at the top of the tank
that you'll need to remove with (maybe) a 9/16" Allen wrench & you'll need to
open this to let the water drain, so you might as well remove it (SLOWLY!)...
Pour a pint of hydrogen peroxide into the tank, & replace the setscrew with teflon tape
on the threads. I have to do this once every 2 - 3 months to keep the bacteria smells down...
Just a little advice, you should drain your hot water tank down to clear the well minerals out of
the bottom of it a couple times a year...This is especially important with electric HW.
I've seen the lower heating element totally encrusted with minerals & virtually inoperable
because this was never done...

 

[BARTSFAM]

Has the carbon ever been changed? Carbon does lose its efficiency and need to be change depending on usage. IMO, 7 years is a long time not to have been changed. Carbon will take out iron and sediments, filters help with smaller fines that carbon does not catch, also UVOX helps with bacteria.
I was an environmental science tech for 12 years. We operated 3 pump and treat ground water systems w/ carbon and we changed the units every 3 months regardless because testing showed us they start to lose efficiency.

I agree! My carbon has not been changed for 7 years. I have heard from others that this is too long. My water guy though does not seem to anxious to replace the media though...

For seven years, the system has worked fine. Now the iron is just not being taken out. Either the water has changed, or I have a failure somewhere in the system.
I have so many components to the system, the problem could be anywhere. I have softeners, 2 filters, and a hot water heater. I haven't even mentioned the LEAD in my water!!
According to past water tests, I also have naturally occuring lead in my water. We don't drink it, and drink only bottled water.
Since Kinetico came out, at least my water does not turn brown anymore when it's heated....
Thanks for everyone's advice. I guess I will start with rejuvenating the carbon filter, and then go to the hot water heater.

Thanks again, Jim

 

[heat seeker]

Before you drain the electric water heater -SHUT OFF THE POWER TO IT!! If the elements are exposed to air and the thermostat calls for heat (and it will when the cooler air gets in there) the elements will burn out in very short order. They are meant to be water-cooled, and without the water, will die quickly. Even if you drain just a few gallons, you might expose the upper element, if not the lower one.

 

[billb3]

Why not bleach the hot water heater ?



I also have two filters , a 30 micron and then a 5 micron coming from the well. A 5 by itself would block up in two weeks.

 

[BARTSFAM]

How do you bleach the hot water heater?

 

[moosetrek]

I'd first see if anything changed in the well, since you might need to adjust how/what you're treating. After that, maybe try the typical maintenance - drain HW heater, make sure there are no internal leaks in the pressure tank balloon, check the water softener, etc. If it's just bacteria, you may be able to dose the well; but I'd definitely get it tested first. Cheap enough and worth it to know what you're drinking / washing with.

 

[peakbagger]

For what its worth, if you have a shallow well, you may want to check where the water is being drawn from. I had mine piped up wrong when it was first installed and was drawing water from near the surface of the water. As the well was drawn down, I had significant rust issues. Once I switched the piping around to pull water off the bottom of the well, my rust issues got a lot less. I have since switched to a artesian deep well and it has far less issues.