Well Water Filter/Other Recommendations

My wife and I have a cabin in Northern WI that we spent approximately every other weekend at. We currently have a 5" well has a very old convertible jet pump and very old and water logged pressure tank. Currently if you turn on any faucet the pump will run until the faucet is turned off. The jet pump and pressure tank are located in an insulated well pit.

We have decided this year to replace the existing set-up with a submersible well pump and a 20-30 gallon pressure tank. Since we have owned the place for over 10 years and never had the water tested (we always took up drinking water from our well at our permanant home which is absoultey fabulous water) we decided before we invested too much money we should have the water tested.

The results of the water are as follows:

Bacteria - Not Present
Nitrates (we have an infant) - Not Present
Hardness - 25
Iron - 1
TDS - 210
PH - 7.0

With the current iron level we are noticing some faint staining on our fixtures and a slightly metallic taste to the water. What are our best options for both removing the iron (so that it will no longer stain the fixtures) and improving the taste?

I have done some reading about the big blue whole house fixtures and there seems to be mixed reviews about them. I'm looking for something that is both cost effective and able to be installed in our well pit which is not very big and that will work best with our ocassional schedule of being up there.

Thanks in advance for any/all help!!!

A disposable cartridge filter will not fix iron or hardness. Judging by your numbers, a regular softener is your best bet, though not very convenient for a seasonal cabin as it will need to be maintained and drained in the winter.

Thanks for the response. It would not have to be drained in the winter though as I heat the well pit and the cabin itself all winter long. I would assume that I would use the softener for both the hot and the cold water then? Also, how would I drain the water from the regen process...just to the bottom of the well pit and let it seep back down?

cacher_chick said:

A disposable cartridge filter will not fix iron or hardness. Judging by your numbers, a regular softener is your best bet, though not very convenient for a seasonal cabin as it will need to be maintained and drained in the winter.

Click to expand...

Do you really think that this filter would do nothing to filter out the iron? I'm MUCH less concerned about the hardness than the Iron.

It might work for awhile, but it will become notably restricted from the oxidized iron and other sediment in the water. This will cause reduced water flow, which will leave you unhappy. This will be particularly true when you realize the $100 replacement cartridges are only usable for a couple of months.

I wouldn't put a softener inside a well pit as the timer mechanism would be prone to corrosion and/or moisture damage.
While yours is grandfathered, well pits are no longer allowed for new wells.

cacher_chick said:

It might work for awhile, but it will become notably restricted from the oxidized iron and other sediment in the water. This will cause reduced water flow, which will leave you unhappy. This will be particularly true when you realize the $100 replacement cartridges are only usable for a couple of months.

I wouldn't put a softener inside a well pit as the timer mechanism would be prone to corrosion and/or moisture damage.
While yours is grandfathered, well pits are no longer allowed for new wells.

Click to expand...

Yeah, the high (filter) replacement cost does stink; however, I was hoping that with a sediment pre-filter and the just occassional use it gets since it is a cabin I could maybe get a filter set to stretch for a year.