next project. Rust treatment for irrigation

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Tony from N.C.

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I have spent alot of time on design and building my irrigation system. I have the systems working well now. The pressure is great I have good water coverage over the lawn. Now I am going to tackle the well water problem. I am looking into a ridorust system. I have a white house so I need to make the rust go away. When this end of the project is done I never want any dirt in my hands again. I feel I have been in football camp all over again. I'm a boat guy not a dirt or yard guy. Most say rid o rust won't work. I need to make the rust go away. I have spent way to much time on the project to not finish thru. I am having the water tested tuesday am. Any other ways of treating rusty water with above ground pump shallow well? Thanks for the help. My well pump pressure now sounds like its hauling the mail. It works better than planned. The heads now slute instead of looking limp. Thanks Tony
 

Jimbo

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Tony from N.C. said:
When this end of the project is done I never want any dirt in my hands again.


Good Luck! Sprinkler systems are wonderful; but they ARE high maintenance. That commercial where you "set it and forget it"......does not apply. Overall, though, a well designed and installed system is a tremendous time saver compared to spending the weekend movint the hose all over the yard.
 

Tony from N.C.

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Hi. In North Carolina You either have irrigation and grass or you have dirt. I going to try the grass bit. I have had the dirt bit on my last house. Time will tell. You can tell who has irrigation, who uses a hand sprinkler and who gives up on the grass. Maybe astro-turf next house. Or cement painted green. I hope I can get the ridorust system to work. If I can this system will be great. I put a remote on my irrigation so I can run it in the house or at work on my computer or even on vacation.
 

CaptWally

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Hi Tony, Me again from Florida.

Jimbo is right. A sprinkler system is never a once and done, set-it-and-forget-it thing. Still, it is a very good thing to have, adding to the value of your property. While I am a licensed irrigation contractor, I have also been a Service Manager at a large full service Marina, and if you know boats, they are the same way. Very nice, as long as you take care of them. (Yes, there are many differences, but you know what I'm saying.)

As for your rust issue: Definitely have the water tested, because the amount of iron in the well water is key to resolving it. One very simple way to reduce staining is to make sure your sprinkler heads are properly adjusted so as to water the grass only and not your walkways and home, and to set your timer to water before dawn when the wind is very calm. I'm not familiar with the RidORust System of which you speak. Perhaps you could clarify? There are a few options out there and many come under different trade names. If the Iron content is light, it will still cause staining, just over a longer time span. If such is the case, perhaps it would be more cost effective to simply buy a rust stain remover by the gallon from your local Depot type store and apply it with a pump type sprayer every few months.

If the Iron content is higher, or you don't want to bother with that, consider a chemical injection system such as the one I'm familiar with that goes by the name of "Sprinkle Clear." It injects a solution via chemical feed pump directly to the irrigation water before it reaches any sprinkler heads and prevents the iron from coming out of solution. While not perfect, and stains will still appear where water can puddle and not evaporate quickly, it is effective. But it is costly and you do have to purchase the solution every few months, and it runs about $75 for five gallons, so is not cheap either. The solution is, if I recall, a phosphate based chemical that is not harmful to the environment, you or your pets, and actually has a benefit of reducing the surface tension of the water, making it 'wetter' so it soaks into the soil more effectively so you can reduce watering time by about 20%. You are the one who has to determine the cost/benefit ratio. I'm sure you can get information and pricing at an irrigation supply warehouse.

Just my two cents worth!
 
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Tony from N.C.

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Ridorust

The systems I have looked at is Ridorust. I'm sure it's the same as sprinkler kleen. They both dissolve the rust in the water with an acid. The first system is a tank with an acid solution in a brine tank. The brine from the tank is pulled into the system on the outboard side of the sprinkler pump. 2. System has an injection pump. I am going to try the first system. If I am not happy with the first system all the parts will work with the second system. The iron in the water dicolored my home in a week. I have tried to make all the heads not hit anything and have run my system very early in the morning. I have washed my house with the cleaner too. If I can make this Ridorust system work well it will be a great end to this project. Thanks for the help Tony
 

Tony from N.C.

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Rust

I dropped my water sample off to three different places to have it tested. The rust is on the highest level. the ph is about 8 and something else they test is high too. The funny thing about it is they all gave me different rations of fomula to use and each one gave me a different Ridorust product to use. There is 2000,1000 and 500. The 500 cost the most and the 1000 and 2000 is half the price of 500. Each one gave me a different fomula to use and each one gave me a different ratio. The water was the same. I am going to try the least costly formula and see if it works. I don't want to be cheap but it seems like no one knows this product very well. I will try the formula 2000 and see what happends. My other thought today was to only hook up the ridorust system to the zones that hit the house. I wish there was no rust in my well water. I don't think I can get a well rig in my back yard now to drill a deeper well. I had the well put in befor the house was built. Time will tell. I order the system today and may put it in the weekend. More dirt under my finger nails. I need to spend more time at work. Thanks Tony
 

CaptWally

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A deeper well does not necessarily mean less Iron. It depends on the underground formations at your house location where your well has been dropped.

The sprinkle-clear system injects the solution after the pump before it gets sprayed onto your lawn. I doubt it would be very practical to have it work for only certain zones. You can increase the injection rate and increase or decrease the ditution ratio to suit your needs. Everyone giving you different answers is suspect to me. You are in the business of fixing boats, but do you make stuff up to confuse your customers? Or do you explain the problems they are having that need to be fixed in a clear and understandable manner? That's what they should be doing.
 
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