Well Water - Iron Reduction
| Question: I have heard a water softener will remove iron, is that true? Answer: Water softeners work on an ion exchange process. There are four type of iron in water; dissolved, colloidal, oxidized, and organic. A softener will remove dissolved iron in an ion exchange process. A softener is ok for small amounts of iron, maybe 1 ppm per cubic foot of water softener resin. When you go beyond this it take huge amounts of salt to flush the iron from the softener resin so we look to other means, i.e. a multimedia filter and chlorination. A multimedia filter will remove oxidized iron through filtration and will oxidize and dissolved iron. Colloidal and organic iron are generally oxidized with chlorine, then filtered with a multimedia filter. This process can be followed with a carbon water filter to remove the chlorine. People tell me they have colloidal iron and it plugs their filter weekly, this is very fine suspended iron. Colloidal iron can be oxidized with chlorine so it clumps into larger particles that can be removed with a multimedia filter. Organic iron often comes with iron bacteria. Iron bacteria leave a pinkish residue in toilet reservoirs and filter housings and cause a rotten egg odor. People often ask if they can use UV light for iron bacteria. It doesn't work because UV light needs pre-filters and they will get plugged regularly with iron bacteria. |
