Trouble with greensand filter not drawing in Potassium Permanganate

**rkhanso** · 08-10-2011, 03:20 AM

I purchased 2 sets of injector nozzle and throats and put a brand new set in. The filter is now drawing in the potassium in.
But, the water still smells bad. When I first installed the filter, the water instantly smelled good, well, no foul smell anyway.
There's a small odor now. It's not as bad as before the filter was installed.

Anything else I can check?

**Akpsdvan** · 08-10-2011, 09:01 AM

Might run the system through another regen, the greensand might need a few cleanings to get back to like it was new.

**rkhanso** · 08-10-2011, 09:40 AM

It has been through at least 10 regenerations since the repair. It actually started working when I cleaned the injector/throat on the 9th of July. After it was working, I manually put it through about 3 right away, and it is set to go every 3 days.

It was just a few days ago that I put in a brand new injector/throat.

**Akpsdvan** · 08-10-2011, 10:00 AM

Now that it is pulling the potassium in like it should at the rate that it should, maybe an extra regen, also check to make sure that there is still some extra potassium in the holding tank.

**rkhanso** · 08-10-2011, 11:09 AM

I've been adding a bunch of Potassium Permanaganate to the tank over the past month. I was usually adding about 4oz per month before. When I cleaned the brine tank a couple months ago, I saved much of the purple water and poured it back into the tank. I took all the hard clumps out.

I have again added some more potassium permanganate to the tank. I have regenerated the filter again and will report back tomorrow.

**rkhanso** · 08-11-2011, 12:08 PM

The water still smells.

**Akpsdvan** · 08-11-2011, 01:03 PM

any staining along with the smell?

**rkhanso** · 08-11-2011, 01:25 PM

Staining? I think so. When we moved in the house a couple years ago, I don't remember how bad it was...except for the fiberglass tub in the basement is really stained. But that was stained badly when we moved in. The rest of the stuff is porcelain and it doesn't seem to stain that as much or fast.

I compared the smell between the inside and outside faucets. The inside definitely has the rotten egg type smell, both on the hot and cold. The outside had more of a metallic/iron smell and not the rotten egg smell. That's different from last year. I remember the rotten egg smell outside, too.

I did have to replace my pressure tank a month ago. There was what I think was manganese (black granule type material) in the tank. Plus, our pipes have a black film in them that stains your hands.

The guy I bought the greensand filter suggested sanitizing the well with bleach. I did that a couple years ago after we moved in and it seemed to help for a couple weeks, then the smell came back - maybe even worse. That's when I installed the greensand filter and the smell was gone immediately.

We have had an unusually large amount of rain this year. We live on a small lake, and the lake is up a foot higher than last year. Nearby lakes are very high as well.

Akpsdvan
you're at 1000 posts. Congratulations!

**rkhanso** · 08-14-2011, 09:33 PM

Any comments on the suggestion of sanitizing the well/plumbing - suggested by the guy I bought the greensand filter?
If the greensand filter worked to remove the smell before, why not now?

Before going through that, I thought some 2nd, 3rd and more opinions would be advisable.

**mialynette2003** · 08-15-2011, 06:27 AM

Have you cleaned out the pot tank? I have found build up in the pot tank and cleaning it out works quite well.

**rkhanso** · 08-15-2011, 08:03 AM

Yes, I did clean the pot tank. There were clumps of the stuff I took out, kept the liquid and poured it back in.
After this is when I noticed there was no draw from the tank, thus this thread and troubleshooting to find the injector and throat were plugged. I replaced them and now it draws in the pot/perm OK....but there's still a smell.

**rkhanso** · 02-07-2012, 10:20 AM

Sorry to bring up this old post again...but there are still problems. I now may also have a water softener problem - but back to the iron filter.

I again am noticing the smell again (not exactly the sulfur smell I have stuck in my memory). The iron filter is pulling in the Potassium permanganate solution from the brine tank.

Maybe I need to call the local water treatment people?

My softener was not working - an old Autotrol 155 head. It's been rock solid for the past 3 years we've lived in this house. Looked online and found that I should clean the screen and injector - so I did. The water is a little soft, but not like it was. Maybe it just needs some time to catch up?

**Gary Slusser** · 02-07-2012, 12:02 PM

YOu don't say what size softener but, if the salt tank will hold it without overflowing, add 2 gallons of water to it and wait 2 hours and do a manual regeneration. Then repeat that with no water use during or between the two manual regenerations.

The best way to do that is to add the water like sometime during the day and at like 9pm start the first one. When that one has sucked the water out of the salt tank during the brine/slow rinse cycle position, add the extra 2 gals of water. A regen should be done in about 1.5 hrs. Start the second one. This is assuming you can add 2 gallons and not have an overflow. Don't pour the water down through the salt unless you don't have a brine well. If you pour it down through the salt, pour it down the side of the tank so you get as little salt wet as possible.

Fill a bucket or two or put some water in a tub to flush with.

**devv** · 10-28-2012, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by mialynette2003

I dont like using anything that may scratch the inside of the throat or nozzle. Any kind of turbulance can cause a weak draw. Having an extra troat & nozzle is a good idea as Akpsdvan has advised.

Hello,

I was able to repair my 2.0 cu Fleck 2510 iron filter based on what I read in this thread, Thanks for the info!

However, I had additional questions which I was able to answer after getting it working properly. Perhaps this will help someone.

AT what stage should the brine draw (when you know nothing about the units operation)? The solution draw starts when the cam depresses the valve on the left of the control head.

How much "brine" should it draw? My brine tank is about 14"-16" high and 10" in diameter, it draws at least 5"s of solution.

I saw purple colored water once it backwashed come out the drain hose.

My problem was partially clogged orifices. I turned off the water supply and took off the two screws and the pipe. A white orifice on the bottom simply pulls out and the two orifices on top unscrew, I cleaned them with a wooden toothpick and compressed air. Prior to cleaning water would flow into the solution tank when unhooked, so I was initially thinking they were OK. The bottom two out of three were the problem.

Thanks again.