My Turn: Water Treatment System Help Request

10 years ago

I hat to add another post to the vast collection here, but it seems that our situation is a bit different.

Our water test was as follows, although I am waiting to hear the PH.

Arsenic was not detectable
Calcium 80 mg/L
Magnesium 24 mg/L
Hardness 300mg/L or 18grains
Iron 2 mg/L
Chloride 23.3 mg/L
Sulfate 33.0 mg/L
Nitrite was not detected

1" line, and I am not able to test the flow rate yet. I don't recall floating iron in the water. I also do not recall a 'rotten egg' smell either.

There will be two of us living in the home, but it is lakefront, so we will have visitors on the weekends most of the summer.

There are 3.5 baths, 2 with tubs (one is a whirlpool, seldom used), 3 showers (2 with multiple heads), 2 dishwashers. I figure only one will be used at a time (showers or dishwasher).

I was thinking a Fleck 7000SXT Electronic at 40,000 grain capacity, with gravel underbed, Fleck top basket, and 10% crosslinked resin (or 8% USA resin).

Would a dual tank system be better, then it could regenerate more frequently when demand increases, and handle the iron better as well?

Should this be able to handle the amount of iron in the system? Would I be better off adding an iron filter upstream and save the softener from the extra work?

Comments (11)

User
10 years ago
2 ppm of iron is getting to the limit of a softener's ability and that will require routine (monthly) application of Iron Out or Super Iron Out or a similar product. You'll want SST-60 resin and will regenerate every 4 days.

A separate iron filter before the softener is a good idea if you have the space and can afford it.

Still need to know SFR and pH and manganese in the water before a recommendation.

A twin resin tank softener has the advantage of making brine and regenerating with treated (soft) water which will get you longer resin life.
jonw9
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you for the info. My wife is checking on the other water today to see the numbers.

Will the SST-60 resin eliminate the need for iron out? The OPW site mentions the SST-60 can handle 6 ppm of Iron.
What about the 'vortech' tank?

Is Greensand the way to go with the iron filter? And it looks like I need to 'size' that as well. Is that based on flow or something else?
Our old house has some dual tank iron filter that was there when we bought/sold, with a little air compressor hooked up, but I never had to add anything to it.

This post was edited by jonw9 on Thu, Jul 25, 13 at 10:17
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User
10 years ago
Are you on a well or water system?

Are the numbers you're putting up from an actual water test by a certified lab or a water quality report?

Not a fan of Vortex tanks.
jonw9
Original Author
10 years ago
Oops, sorry, I thought I had all the info covered.

It is a private well.
Actual water test by a certified lab. I had to pick-and-choose what tests I wanted done.

Haven't closed on the house yet, so I have not done any of the water tests to verify sediment, overnight smells, etc.
User
10 years ago
I'd want to know the EXACT water conditions before I closed on a house.
jonw9
Original Author
10 years ago
Yeah, I kind of thought that would be covered by the 3 bottles I filled for the water test. I didn't consider filling another for my own inspection use.
jonw9
Original Author
10 years ago
I spoke with my wife, who did indicate the water had a strong rotten egg smell. I don't have a quantifiable number yet.

But this does seem to point towards the need of an iron filter. With the sulfur I think it is either greensand, chlorine injection and birm, or Terminox.

Now, I don't think I can know if birm will work because I don't know the flow rate.
jonw9
Original Author
10 years ago
Updated numbers:

Arsenic was not detectable
Calcium 80 mg/L
Magnesium 24 mg/L
Hardness 300mg/L or 18grains
Iron 2 mg/L
*Maganese 0.05 mg/l
Chloride 23.3 mg/L
Sulfate 33.0 mg/L
Nitrite was not detected
*Nitrate 0.7 mg/l
*PH is 6
Hydrogen Sulfide is present, but not quantified.

* New numbers

This post was edited by jonw9 on Mon, Aug 5, 13 at 9:53
User
10 years ago
Still need to know MANGANESE which is different from magnesium.

When you have all the #s please post them altogether.

Also post # of people, # of bathrooms, SFR of the plumbing so everything we need to consider is in one post.

Do you or will you have any water hogging appliances like an uber shower or Jacuzzi?
jonw9
Original Author
10 years ago
Arsenic was not detectable
Calcium 80 mg/L
Magnesium 24 mg/L
Hardness 300mg/L or 18grains
Iron 2 mg/L
*Maganese 0.05 mg/l
Chloride 23.3 mg/L
Sulfate 33.0 mg/L
Nitrite was not detected
*Nitrate 0.7 mg/l
*PH is 7.11
Hydrogen Sulfide is present, but not quantified.
Water was a bit yellow, but not red.
Flow rate is ~15 GPM (just over 19 seconds to fill a 5 gal. bucket)
1" line

There will be two of us living in the home, but it is lakefront, so we will have visitors on the weekends most of the summer.

There are 3.5 baths, 2 with tubs (one is a whirlpool, seldom used), 3 showers (2 with multiple heads), 2 dishwashers. I figure normally one will be used at a time (showers or dishwasher), but would like capacity for 2.

I was thinking a Fleck 7000SXT Electronic at 40,000 grain capacity, with gravel underbed, Fleck top basket, and 10% crosslinked resin (or 8% USA resin).

I am confused by all of the options for iron filtration, and the sulfur smell is pretty strong. I am thinking 2-2.5 cu.ft. MangOx for the iron, but I am seeing mixed opinions on if that can handle the H2S.

This post was edited by jonw9 on Thu, Aug 22, 13 at 9:49
jonw9
Original Author
10 years ago
I have OPWC tell me they recommend greensand because of the 'ORP' of my water is unknown, Filox will not work, and greensand will work universally in all situations.

CWS recommended the MangOx system. It is my understanding that this is essentially the same as Filox.

Is one better than the other for the sulfur? I believe that either can handle my iron, and my manganese seems relatively low as well.