Iron in Water

squire1

Hi, does anyone know of a reliable system/supplier to deal with excessive iron content in a domestic water supply. The water is coming from a private well.

Thanks.

C Doyle

Hi Squire,

I install water pump & treatment systems from County Wicklow.
You would need to have your water tested prior to a recommendation for treatment as there are several other factors which could determine the best possible treatment solution.

C Doyle

You may also be entitled to a 75% grant towards the cost of treatment.
If your house is 7 years old or more & owner occupied you should qualify.

Got water chemically tested lately. Found to have lots of Manganese, so have to get a filter. Didn't bother with bacteriological testing as the well is a bit exposed and suspect leaves and stuff getting into it still - still buying bottled water. How much will a manganese filter cost? Presume its around the 1k - 2k mark. You know anyone in South West doing it?

ShowAndGo

Have run water off your well for a good while (days) before taking a sample?

pH, hardness and the quantity of iron and manganese in your water will all play a role in determining what treatment system you need.

I suggest you get your water tested (including bacteriological) and fax the results off to various water treatment companies and ask them send out details what water treatment system they’d recommend, get a price and an idea of the yearly running costs.

There will be pros and cons to each system, don’t be afraid to ask why one system is better than another being offered by one of their competitors. After doing a bit of research on the internet on the different options I went with the company that could answer all questions without trying to dodge them and I felt I could rely on their after sales service if I had any problems….having said that…it didn’t come cheap!!

If you want their details send me a PM.

Dumpy

depending on the levels manganesecan be quite difficult & expensive to treat.
other factors especially ph leve has a bearing filtration required. if ph level is low it would need to be increased to about 7.5. this can be achieved within a single catalysed sand filter, with a lawyer of ph resin on top. if levels are very high it might be necessary to chlorinate supply prior to filter.

it can be quite costly, however it is worth it to take your time, as if a substandard system is installed, it will cause you more trouble than you currently have.

Macy

We had high iron and manganese in our well water - main issue was staining of sanitary ware, and the water looking gick. Also getting a metallic taste. As far as all the research I did, both harmless to humans just doesn't look nice.

We were given two options. please note this is my non technical description and may not be that accurate...
1) a greensand filter - which has to be topped up with the salt or
2) a chemical filter with areation tank - water comes from pump into a tank with oxidises the iron and manganese, then through a filter. (It wasn't an off the shelf option - combination of components).

We went with the second option and it is working well so far. About €600 in the difference (option 1 €1200ish+VAT, Option 2 €1800ish+VAT iirc), but the areation tank takes up a lot of room compared to the other option (enough that we'll be extended the shed!). Also quite noisey, not really a problem for us as it's in the pump house come boiler house come shed. Selling points were no real ongoing maintenance required compared with option 1 which could be over €100 a year, and he said it was more effective with the areation as well.

Have to say, no problems with the water colour now at all - we were lazy and didn't specifically empty the hot and cold water tanks, but it was still pretty quick. Water is perfectly drinkable from the tap now, whereas we used to filter it before (American Fridge & Filter Kettle).

Both systems require electricity and access to a soakaway/ drain. With both of them the filters backwash over night.