Well Water Filtering

[LarryC]

When we moved into our new house 1 1/2 yrs ago we connected to a well that was put in 25 yrs ago and never used (250ft). A lot of iron and sediment was present in the water, so I installed two whole house filters one paper, one charcoal. After changing the filters every 5 days I opted for a filtration system, it consists of an oxagenating tank then runs the water thru another tankwith a ring that takes out the iron then to the bottom where an agent (granules) softens the water.
Worked great for a year (only changed the whole filters once, then the installer came for the yearly service, he removed the top of the second tank chunked the iron from around the ring and let it fall into the tank, measured the softening agent then replenished it. Since then i have to change the filters monthly, I would like to disconnect the tank clean it out thoroughly and replenish the agent in the bottom, installer tells me it's not available to the public. Does anyone have any knowledge of this type of system and where would I start looking for the agent in the bottom, thanks.

 

[billboe]

My house use to have a "fancy" filtration system to remove iron (oxidizer, multiple tanks, etc.)... The system did work well at all (probably wasn't maintained properly). We had major iron staining on all our fixtures.

I finally had the water tested and determined that a water softener would handle the amount of iron and hardness (even though it was quite high). So, I ripped out all the old filtration equipment and installed a pre-filter, a softener, and a post filter (charcoal)... We're very happy with water now!

GOOD LUCK!

 

[rlw]

You can buy several types of softener resin online.
You just need to determine what you need. Here is one place <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.resindepot.com/>http://www.resindepot.com/</A>

 

[LarryC]

Thanks guys i appreciate the replys, I emailed the Resindepot to see if we could determine what type of resin I need. I think if the tank was cleaned out properly it would perform flawless as before, thanks again.

 

[wrinkled]

I'll throw in my 2 cents on the subject if its ok... We have been on a well here in the Greene County area of Ohio now for about 12 years. Two houses in total. The water here is hard and loaded with iron. Our first house we tried the two filter method and changing cartridge filters got old in a hurry. We finally went to a Culligan softner, it worked great but needed repairs on average about every 2.5 years. The water just fungooed up the rubber diaphrams and seals that quick. Here in our new house I finally settled on a system that seems to work ok... I pre-filter the water softner with a 20 micron cartridge filter. This seems to remove the bigger red chunks and any odd pebble that gets sent up from the pump. I have to replace the filter about every 3 to 4 weeks, but so far so good... Hopefully this will extend the softner life to something more reasonable.

Dave

 

[trfcrx7]

We bought a house with a well already in place. I called the driller when we were considering purchasing the place. He told me it will never go dry because it flows huge volumes, but it is a terrible well because it is literally Packed with iron. The previous owner told me that he had to replace the pump once, and it just sits in a red/orange muck. Well, we bought it anyway, and pay Culligan a monthly charge ($40) to maintain 2 tanks - 1 softens and polishes the water, and 1 removes iron. Every month they take the 2 tanks away, and bring in 2 fresh tanks. An utraviolet light system kills any bacteria - we own the light system, and the $50 bulb has been going strong for about 3 years.
We used to have water pressure problems toward the end of the month, so they switched the order in which the well water flows through the tanks. Now, it first flows into the polisher tank, and then into the iron removal tank. We have no water pressure problems, never had staining problems, and it tastes great.
I've thought about buying my own system, but continue to here about maintenance problems like these. If the Culligan service is available, maybe it's worth looking into. I'm also curious what people pay on a monthly basis to keep their systems going, and whether they feel it's worth it. Thanks.

Brad
Satoh S650G

 

[dlabrie]

Our house came with a dug well and lots of iron. It had a paper filter that had to be changed too often. We went with a Culligan system. It had 2 large storage tanks, a charcol filter and a chemical vat. The incoming water was treated with a lot of chlorine bleach and some other sort of chemical. The iron would fall to the bottom of the 2 storage tanks and the iron free water would be drawn through the charcol filter. Each week we would flush out the iron from the bottom of the system. This worked great for about a week. Then the water started to get a slimy feel. I had a test kit and the chlorine etc. was way out of wack. They came out and tweaked the system and again it was OK for a while. This went on for almost a year with them coming out about every 3-4 weeks to adjust the system. Finally I was so disgusted I tracked down the owner of the co. and had a sit down with him. He wasn't aware of what had been going on. After looking into it, he determined that our well water was constantly changing and he could do nothing to fix it. I have to give him credit though, He took the system out after a year and refunded all my money. Unfortunately, all of that chlorine that was flushed out of the system with the iron, destroyed my leach field. We took the refund $ and invested in a driven well (150') Now the major iron problem is gone, Just a bit of iron bacteria (right term?) that washes off fixtures easily.

 

[JoeR]

I had the same system... My problem was clear-water iron. I would get the iron bacteria growing in the toilet tank. The chlorinator took away the iron but left me with hard water. At my new home, the clear-water iron is present but not bad... I found that a salt softener is able to remove the iron and my hard water all in one shot. I no longer have iron bacteria or hard water stains...

Joe

 

[Darren]

Running the backflush water from a water softner into a leach field can create problems depending on the soil. The salt is what does the damage to the drainage capacity.

If you're using a UV system, you need to check, not how long the bulb lasts, but how long the bulb maintains enough intensity to still work. The bulbs put out less UV over time. Recommendations I've seen are to replace the bulb yearly to be safe.

 

[heehaw]

here's my 2cents worth..i have a plenty of water, with lots of iron, and sulfur..so i installed a sand filter..the well water goes directly to a tank thats 30inches wide, 5 ft long and 3ft tall. it has a small tower like thing on the top that the water sprays into, a 5 gal plastic bucket could do the same thing, then it drips/runs into the tank, the tank has about 6 ft of slotted pipe in the bottom, in a U shape, then gravel on top of that, and sand on the top..we pump out of the bottom of the tank to the house..this takes the sulfur smell out, and filters the water, about every 6 months i have to go take the top couple inches of sand off, and replace it, to get water, but it removes all of the iron...then i run the water thru an automatic backflush water softener..we get good water, very little maintenance, and the system has worked flawlessly for 15 years.
heehaw