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Water filtration help for new home

gphoto120
10 years ago

Hello,

I need some advice on a filtration system for a small 1375 sq ft home that my wife and I will retire to in a couple of years . We are in New Mexico and the local ( 40 mi distance) filtration company has quoted prices from 4500.00 for a Hague WaterMax� 61AAN Well Water Iron, Manganese and Hydrogen Sulfide Reduction Filter Installed. Plus 2000.00 for The Hague #3500 RO unit installed. And, 19000.00 whole house filtration unit with 300 gal RO holding tank and other filters for the iron,manganese h2s as well as turbidity. I am hoping to find a solution less than the 4500.00 figure.

I did have a 4x20 20 micron sediment filter installed until I can determine what other filtration is needed: Iron/mang. , Water softener, both , ??

Here are the water lab test results that we have used to determine the above.
(All are mg/l )
TDS-2300
Turbidity-1.9
Ph-6.8
Hardness-81
Sulfate-200
Bicarbonate-1600
Alkalinity-1600
(total as CaCo3)
Calcium-28.5
Iron-.375
Manganese-.097
Potassium - 7.1
Lead- .3
Silica-29.1
Sodium-831
Zinc.-.495
CO2 -507

Any suggestions and help will be greatly appreciated. This water obviously needs remediation and hopefully I can find a solution that is less than 5000.00? I'm really hoping less than 4,000.00!

I will have a plumber do the install, but the ones I have called (and there are several) either don't sell filtration devices or don't want to drive 40 + miles to the house.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Gphoto120

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Comments (4)

  • AliceHasLeftTheBuilding
    10 years ago

    Your iron and manganese are not very high. A water treatment company suggested H2S removal, but your analysis does not include H2S. Do you have H2S in your water?

    How deep is your well?
    Do your neighbors have the same problematic water?

  • gphoto120
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thank you for your response.

    Our shared well is 1200 ft deep, produces 40 gpm. Our neighbors share the well and they puchased the $19,000.00 system. I thought the cost was extremely high ( no way could I afford that much) when I received the quote, and decided to do some research online and fortunately found this forum. We are in northern New Mexico and the water quality in our immediate area is very poor. It tastes like baking soda has been added to it and leaves mineral
    ( white spots) on any surface when it evaporates. Would the 1600mg/l bicarbonate level cause the baking soda taste?

    Our water analysis report does not have H2S listed as part of the test.

    I double checked the report and the only other mineral tested in the water was Chloride at 260 mg/l. ( I tried to copy and paste the report but was unable to on the forum )

    Thanks again .

  • jcalhoun
    10 years ago

    I have been in water treatment for 15 years and can tell you that you water analysis is good on everything except hardness. The taste and spots are caused by dissolved minerals, primarily calcium.

    Ground water very rarely has any H2S so definitely don't pay to treat it. I think I'd get an ordinary softener first and see if that will solve your problem.

    I'm not sure I understand the shared well. Who does it legally belong to and who pays for the maintenance?

  • AliceHasLeftTheBuilding
    10 years ago

    Lets get down to a few basics:

    pH: It is a little low. With less problematic water. Because your water has high TDS, it is a potential problem. If you decide you need to treat it, a standard calcite-type system may not work very well.

    H2S: I'm not going to assume, but New Mexico water can have it. Does your water have an odor? If so, does it smell like rotten eggs and is the odor only in the hot water or does cold water have it as well? If you have rotten egg smell, then you need to get it tested for H2S and sulfates to determine best treatment method. A dedicated treatment system will be required if you do have H2S - fortunately, such a system would also remove iron and manganese.

    Fe/Mn: While not high enough to be a health hazard, you may experience staining in appliances and on laundry. A softener could remove these levels, along with the hardness (or a dedicated system would do a better job).

    Softening: Your water is not terribly hard, but a softener will help with some of the buildup.

    When you look at the complete water report, it is clear that the majority of the TDS is not hardness, so even with a softener you are going to have buildup. That is likely the reason you have been quoted a large RO system. Unfortunately, an RO system with your water conditions will be costly to operate and maintain and will produce aggressive water that will eat your pipes.

    You may want to look in to the possibility of an ultrafilter rather than a whole-house RO to reduce TDS and turbidity.