Newbie needs guidance

**Kirkridge** · 02-20-2013, 01:34 PM

Moving out to the country and the place has well water. I need to replace the system as it is worn out-12 years old and doesn't work well. These are the values as reported to me.
PH 6.0
Mag/Cal 3-4 grains(?)
Iron 2.5 PPM
solids(?) 91 PPM

What is required to correct this water problem?
Which system is the best ?

Any advise from the "water gurus"

Kirkridge

**ditttohead** · 02-20-2013, 02:42 PM

If you are buying the house, many municipalities require a full water test. You should do that regardless to test for other potential problems. That being said, considering the low pH, low calcium, high iron... I assume you will have a high LSI. I would need the HCO3 number to really know, but... it looks fairly obvious.

A properly sized backwashing calcite filter, and you may want to chase that with a softener to remove the added harness. Iron removal equipment is highly recommended as well. Any bacteria tested? Oxygen level of the water? We need more informatin to make a proper recommendation. What equipment is currently in place? most iron removal medias need a higher pH, than 6.8, and some oxygen in the water. What is your current water well system? Atmospheric storage? Pressurized storage? pump capability, etc...

**Kirkridge** · 02-21-2013, 04:15 AM

Originally Posted by ditttohead

If you are buying the house, many municipalities require a full water test. You should do that regardless to test for other potential problems. That being said, considering the low pH, low calcium, high iron... I assume you will have a high LSI. I would need the HCO3 number to really know, but... it looks fairly obvious.

A properly sized backwashing calcite filter, and you may want to chase that with a softener to remove the added harness. Iron removal equipment is highly recommended as well. Any bacteria tested? Oxygen level of the water? We need more information to make a proper recommendation. What equipment is currently in place? most iron removal medias need a higher pH, than 6.8, and some oxygen in the water. What is your current water well system? Atmospheric storage? Pressurized storage? pump capability, etc...

I'll see if I can obtain the additional information. You are asking an uninformed to provide technical information (LSI) .Got no idea what this is nor how to obtain the information. I'll have more information on the existing system by Saturday.

**ditttohead** · 02-21-2013, 10:07 AM

Sorry about that, it didnt quite come across properly.

I was running a LSI calculation, it is a formula used to determine how corrosive your water is (in the simplest terms).

I need more infomratin to do an accurate test, but even without those numbers, I can assume your water is corrosive and should be corrected. A simple correction method is to use a calcite filter. Adding a calcite filter can raise your hardness to undesirable levels so a softener may be desirable afterwards. The iron levels are very high and should be treated. A softener is not the recommended method atthis high of a level thought many companies do it in order to save a few dollars. it is highly inefficient to use a softener for iron removal compared to other methods. modern iron removal systems use a manganese dioxide coated media, or pure manganese dioxide and sometime air or chlorine injection, contact tank, etc to remove the iron.

Let us know what your current configuration is so we can come up with a good design for you.

**Kirkridge** · 02-21-2013, 12:25 PM

Thank you for clarification. I'll post info later this weekend as I'm going to the place on Sat. Would pictures of the system help? I believe it is a Culligan water softening system with no other filter or equipment in the configuration.