Calcium buildup in water heater

I don't think the tank back in the corner is a vent tank.

Click to expand...

I don't know the difference between a vent tank and retention tank. The label on the gray tank says it's a retention tank. According to the installer it's purpose is to expose the water to air in order to oxidize the iron so it can be filtered.

I can't make any sense out of the plumbing. I only see one line going into the retention tank and one at the filter. I think the injector is behind a pipe in the picture and in the line behind the retention tank. And there's lin through the floor...

Click to expand...

I added some labeling, hopefully you can see how everything is connected now.

The stuff is not plumber anything like I would have done it. And I would not use galvanized anywhere.

Click to expand...

I'm going to be re-plumbing after the iron filter gets removed. What should I replace the galvanized with?

There is no drain on the retention tank and I don't see any way to vent air out of it.

Click to expand...

There's some kind of vent on the side of it about half way up.

Where does the aeration line to the retention tank enter the retention tank?

IMO it should be on top where the plug is now. And there should be a diffuser so the column of aerated water entering the tank is broken up in smaller streams to expose more surface area so the air can do a better job of oxidizing the iron etc..

The vent on the side of the ret. tank, does it actually allow air out of it? If not it's probably due to it being blocked. If it is blocked the water will be absorbing the air into it and that leads to less air to be used for oxidation. I'd want the vent on the top of the tank with a pipe going done to the water level; using a Honeywell float vent valve. That then sets the level of air and water in the tank always insuring proper aeration.

A retention tank hold water for a period of time for proper contact time between an oxidizer and the water. A vent tank does too but it is set up as I describe above; a retention tank is not set up that way and will not work as well as a aeration vent tank will.

The aerator injector should be 1" on 1" tubing. The oxidation process will load up the tubing past it with rust, and it can close off the ID of the tubing to like a 1/4", from the injector all the way to the ret. tank inlet. So that line should be very short and have the bare minimum of elbows in it.

Is teh backwash line from the filter 1/2 PVC (white) or 1/2" or 3/4" Cpvc (tanish/gray/off white)? If it is CPVC, it has to be 3/4", not 1/2" and I wouldn't have used it, I would have used 1/2" ID PE tubing with no elbows. That water flow is flow controlled and we don't want any further flow restriction because it will prevent proper backwash and that will kill the mineral in the filter real quick.

Gary Slusser said:

Where does the aeration line to the retention tank enter the retention tank?

Click to expand...

It's on the back towards the bottom.

The vent on the side of the ret. tank, does it actually allow air out of it? If not it's probably due to it being blocked. If it is blocked the water will be absorbing the air into it and that leads to less air to be used for oxidation. I'd want the vent on the top of the tank with a pipe going done to the water level; using a Honeywell float vent valve. That then sets the level of air and water in the tank always insuring proper aeration.

Click to expand...

I have not seen anything ccome out of it.

The aerator injector should be 1" on 1" tubing. The oxidation process will load up the tubing past it with rust, and it can close off the ID of the tubing to like a 1/4", from the injector all the way to the ret. tank inlet. So that line should be very short and have the bare minimum of elbows in it.

Click to expand...

It is 1" but is several feet away and has 2 elbows.

Is teh backwash line from the filter 1/2 PVC (white) or 1/2" or 3/4" Cpvc (tanish/gray/off white)? If it is CPVC, it has to be 3/4", not 1/2" and I wouldn't have used it, I would have used 1/2" ID PE tubing with no elbows. That water flow is flow controlled and we don't want any further flow restriction because it will prevent proper backwash and that will kill the mineral in the filter real quick.

Click to expand...

It's 3/4" PVC.

The bottom line, the guys that sold you this equipment don't know what they are doing and they are not using industry standard equipment. I'd have them take it out and then I'd start over after a water analysis of the raw water.

I would use a brass pressure tank tee and a brass switch nipple to replace the galvanized and, I'd move the pressure tank over by the line from the well and all treatment equipment should be after it.

Ok, Ill post up my raw water test results after this stuff gets taken out.

Thanks for the help.

Or call me.

You're welcome.

Update:

The company that installed this iron filter removed it and gave me a refund. It's been several months since it was removed. No more noisy water heater or calcium buildup in the screens.

Now I am getting reddish brown sediment in the toilet tanks and toilet bowls. The wife is starting to complain about it being hard to clean this stuff off. When I had the water tested several months ago by a local certified water lab there was no iron detected. I bought an iron strip test kit and have been monitoring the water but haven't had a single positive test result. Is it possible there is a small amount present that doesn't register with the test kit but is enough to show up in the water that sits in the toilets?

How do I figure out what kind of iron this is so I can get the appropriate filter?

Steve

Elliott said:

Update:

The company that installed this iron filter removed it and gave me a refund. It's been several months since it was removed. No more noisy water heater or calcium buildup in the screens.

Now I am getting reddish brown sediment in the toilet tanks and toilet bowls.

How do I figure out what kind of iron this is so I can get the appropriate filter?

Steve

Click to expand...

It's very odd that removing an "iron filter" would cause the little steam explosions in hardness scale in a gas or oil fired water heater stop. But then if the scale was getting softer, by being dissolved by a water softener's soft water, that isn't softening the water now, that may explain it.

Reddish brown is always ferric iron which is oxidized ferrous iron.

So you were going to get a water analysis, if you haven't, do so and see what the iron content is with a test other than the dip strip type test.

It's an electric water heater. The filter they installed had some calcite media in it which raised the hardness. I have no idea why they decided to use that. I've had 3 water lab test over the last 18 months. None of them have shown any iron present.

That would only add hardness IF the pH was low causing acidic water.

The good news is that problem wnt away when they removed the filter. Now I just need a remedy for the iron.

To me, although I haven't read the whole thread over again, it seems that removing the AN filter treated the symptom rather than the cause, and now you get to deal with acidic water IF the AN filter was needed; and an AN filter is not an iron filter.

What iron, you haven't measured any yet. If you have a softener, it should be removing the little iron it seems you may have. If you have one, it isn't working. That will allow more hard water scale formation in the water heater and that seriously increases the cost to heat water and replace elements.

I know the history of this is hard to follow... I don't have a water softener, never did.

Here's a summary:

When I built this house and had the well pump and pressure tank installed the well contractor performed a field test of the water. He said I had iron in the water that needed to be treated and recommended a filter specifically to remove the iron. A month or so after moving in is when I started having all sorts of problems with sizzling noises and scale forming in the water heater and ending up in the house totally clogging all the fixtures.

At that point the well contractor was dumbfounded. I took water samples and sent them into the lab. No iron was found. I called the well contrator wanted to know why he installed this filter when there was no iron present. He claimed his field test showed there was iron but after showing him the water lab test results he agreed to remove the filter and hive me a refund.

Right after removing the filter the water heater quit making the sizzling noises and no more scale was showing up in the fixture screens. I don't understand why but that filter is definitely what was causing the scale problem. Hard water is not that common in my area.

What I am confused about is why the water tested negative for iron but it is showing up in the toilets. Is it possible that the amount present is below measurable limits or they were testing for the wrong kind of iron?

Should I have the water tested again? I have strip tests for iron, hardness, and PH.