iron in water question

[Chris VanSice]

I have a water problem in the summer home I am in the process of purchasing. I have determined the problem to be iron in the water creating a sulphur smell. Called a local company (pur waterworks out of traverse city, mi) they suggested the greensand/potassium permangnate filter. He warned of other companies trying to sell the aeration/chlorine method. Said the chlorine would cause problems in the drain field. Have read in places that chlorine poses a small health hazard. (cancers). So I agreed with him. Price installed $1495. Called Culligan ($2100) and they suggested aeration/chlorine method. Said the the potassium permangnate is dangerous and not healthy. Said that the chlorine was no problem for drain field due to the small amounts. Still the health issues from the chlorine are a concern. Found information in other places that said potassium permangnate was not a health concern but a fire concern. What is a guy to do? My head is swimming. Any suggestions? What have you all tried and what has worked? Thanks Chris

[Ian Stirling]

Ask for a reference as to why it's unhealthy, otherwise I'd believe it's just an attempt at getting a sale. I don't believe small amounts are, you might ask over on sci.chem, or misc.survivalism.

What amount of chlorine are you talking about?

And in what form?

It probably won't have any effect.

[Art Begun]

Ask your neighbors what they do. In some areas there are iron fixing bacteria that use iron in the well water and give off a ugly scum that looks like horrible pollution. What people do is super chlorinate the well every few months manually and kill of the bacteria for a while. Even some utilities do it (or at least they used to when I lived in a rural area with a private well company supplying water.)

[David Efflandt]

Did you had an actual water analysis done?

Iron just causes an iron taste, or rusty stains, or possibly water that does not change color when you flush it (yellow or brown). A rotten egg smell is usually hydrogen sulphide (H2S). Removal methods will remove both, but a manganese greensand filter would have to be regenerated more often to remove H2S than just iron, and could leave black stains in your fixtures if manganese leeches out. Potasium Permaginate is a strong oxident and can cause spontanious combustion if it comes in contact with certain substances (like glycerin which is a soap byproduct).

$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex1160?opendocument Frankly, I would avoid a water supply with H2S if at all possible unless it can be aerated out in a well ventilated area. If it has not been removed, it will be very noticeable when the water is aerated (like when taking a shower). When you no longer notice that rotten egg smell, it could mean that it has burned out your nose.

I am not a water treatment expert, just worked for a municipal well driller while in school, and sell/service large automatic valves for municipal/industrial and water treatment use.

[Heathcliff Bambino]

Does the house have a water softener? If so you may be able to solve this problem simply by running the softener on a regular basis, using the salt with anti-rust additives. Other than that, I would say go with the "ask the neighbors" approach. One last thing, don't wash clothes there until you get this resolved, they can be irretrievably stained.

[Gary Slusser]

$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex1160?opendocument>

H2S in well water is very easily and affordably treated. There are numerous types of treatment; atmospheric aeration, aeration such as air injection or an air pump systems (my favorite), Centaur carbon, regular carbon in some instances, ozone, hydrogen peroxide solution feeders, chlorination in either solution feeders of 2-3 types or pellet droppers in 2-3 types, or oxidizing type filter minerals like Pyrolox in either backwashed only or regenerated with chlorine water and manganese greensand regenerated with potassium permanganate which is a poor choice. And there are combinations of 2-3 of the above types of treatments especially with aeration and chlorine. And then there are KDF and Watersweet(?) medias.

There's really no reason to say no to a house with any type of water quality problem. There is usually something wrong with practically any/all well waters, many folks that think their water is good (based on one coliform bacteria test (a few years ago) simply don't know what, and won't look for any.

Gary Quality Water Associates