# iron in well water



## nailkiller1 (Jan 15, 2009)

I am putting up a structure
I dug the well and there is a lot of iron
my question is If they want to irrigate and not turn every thing orange
what would the easiest way to filter or pull that iron out


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## SelfContract (Dec 6, 2007)

*It's a big ore mine field*

1. Hire cheap Mexico illegals to filter out iron.

2. Sell that iron pieces to China. :whistling


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## naptown CR (Feb 20, 2009)

define a lot of iron in terms of ppm


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## nailkiller1 (Jan 15, 2009)

not sure i have not had it tested yet


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## silvertree (Jul 22, 2007)

I have high iron, water smell like sulphur and it tastes like a hubcap off a 57 Chevy (never actually tried this).
I am considering a reverse osmosis filter just to make coffee and have drinking water.

Filter is about $200, or you can get a sand filter in line.
Lots you can try. Forget the water softener guys unless your friends with one.


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## bwalley (Jan 7, 2009)

nailkiller1 said:


> I am putting up a structure
> I dug the well and there is a lot of iron
> my question is If they want to irrigate and not turn every thing orange
> what would the easiest way to filter or pull that iron out


One way to deal with high iron content for irrigation purposes is to use a sequestering agent and inject it into the well water as it is being used to irrigate the lawn, that way it will not 'stick' to the house or other items the well water gets on.

They aren't perfect but work pretty well depending on the iron content in the water.

You could also run the water through a water treatment system, but a RO system would be overkill and very expensive for irrigation purposes, plus the RO water may not be good for the lawn.


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## silvertree (Jul 22, 2007)

Nailkiller, try the University of Minnesota website for water questions and answers.

http://wrc.umn.edu/

I went their to find out about septic systems as I now have my first home ever that uses a septic system.
I went before I installed my water softener.


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## Proud Plumber (Sep 9, 2008)

Careful which filter you select should you choose to go that route. Irrigation systems can burn up a filter life quickly. Sometimes injection of chemical treatment is the better way to go, but you won't know until it is tested and you know the ppm of the iron.

I have a high sulfur content in my water at home as well, and yes it does taste absolutely awful. Even off of R.O. it just never taste that great. I had my own water tested and a softener made for my water conditions. It knocked out most of the nasty and made it bearable. Iron is nasty the damage it can do to a driveway or exterior wall is a major PIA.


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## KillerToiletSpider (May 27, 2007)

I have a lot of friends that live in the iron range, all of them have an iron bottle of some sort or another.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

I have the same problem here (iron/sulphur). The easiest way is to configure the system to where water doesn't hit anything. I used low level emmitters around the perimeter of structures and inside planting beds, the bigger adjustable heads outside of that for medium areas and gear heads for the wide open spaces. We get a lot of wind so the RustAid is used about once a year.

There are other ways to include a full blown water treatment system and the injection system which will require 2 pumps if you intend to use the well for other purposes. All of the "injection" systems that I have found are really suction systems with the feeder line going to the pump suction line.


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## ampman (Apr 1, 2009)

my well has alot of iron, we went with a bleach injector to a contact tank then filters out bleach then water softner -- best water we ever had


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## silvertree (Jul 22, 2007)

But does it make good coffee?


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## Aggie67 (Aug 28, 2008)

I have clients with private wells here in NJ (if it's not a house, they call it a public non-transient water supply, and they are regulated), and I do parts of the DEP BSDW reports for their relicensing. I see Birm iron filters in the places I go. In fact that's pretty much the only brand I see. I can't attest one way or the other, but that's what I see.


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## silvertree (Jul 22, 2007)

Birm does not work if their is a "Rotten egg" smell. Not recommended for over 10 ppm.
Greensand filters are suggested then.


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## Proud Plumber (Sep 9, 2008)

silvertree said:


> But does it make good coffee?


If your question is referring to chlorine injection, the answer is NO. Strictly my own experience and taste. It would be like putting peanut butter on your hub cap. Either way the taste still exist. We use R.O. at the sink for coffee.

Strictly my own experience.


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## silvertree (Jul 22, 2007)

After reading a lot on this, including the experts who offer very different opinions, my take is this.

Get a water softener for bathing and laundry, right from the well for outdoor stuff and reverse osmosis for drinking.


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## nEighter (Nov 24, 2008)

"It puts the filter in the well"


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## jkfox624 (Jun 20, 2009)

Wow for some reason and im not sure why i would of never thought of well water in florida having alot of iron. I kind of always thought that was a northern states type of thing. With the big boom in oil drilling around here everyones having a big problem with iron, manganese and methane in their wells. Couple ppl can light it coming out of the faucet, good times right there.


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## BobsLandscaping (May 25, 2009)

On the Polar Sea we had 2 evaps that turned salt water into fresh water. The system was designed so that you could suck raw sewage into it and have clean, safe water. It used steam from the boilers to heat the water in a vacuum, water in a vacuum boils at around 112 degrees. Uses less energy than boiling in atmosphere. The steam that came off the boiling water ran through a condenser where it was cooled and then into a pair of 10,000 gallon holding tanks. Worked great. The reverse osmosis system was constantly requiring maintenance, filter changes, and cleaning. The evap required no real maintenance, just check the pressure and temps periodically. 

If you could build an evap you could store large quantities of water in holding tanks, then you wouldn't have to run your boiler all the time.

The evaps on the Polar Sea produced around 300 gallons of water per hour each. Real efficient machines. The boilers that powered them (and heated the living spaces) burned around 75 gallons per hour diesel. We had two of those as well, but could run both evaps off of one boiler.


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## ampman (Apr 1, 2009)

silvertree said:


> But does it make good coffee?


 yes - yes it does


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