Sorry, this is long:
Existing well (6” casing, 65’ deep, 59F, 9.46 GPM pump capacity) & 20 year old Kinetico Mach 175 softener (quad tank). Bought the place 7 years ago and in the receipts provided there is no indication that it has ever been re-bedded.
No other filters or screens
Been experiencing fluctuating water pressure. Checked pressure tank, replaced pressure switch. Still occurred, until one day pressure dropped like a switch was thrown. Bypassed the conditioner and pressure has been fine. I also did a consumer grade water test (this was in June) and the conditioner was still removing all iron. All along we still were experiencing slight iron staining in the house fixtures. Untreated water shows heavy iron as well as iron bacteria at outputs only. Only odor is metallic, like a wet cast iron pan. With the softener bypassed the pump flow rate is 9.46 GPM.
On disassembly some of the media (Macrolite) has broken down and some is mush. Also found the Kinetico head stuck in constant backwash. By rotating the head 6 or more times I was finally able to get that stopped. Water pressure was still extremely low. This also leads me to think the media or buildup is clogging the head, or there is a mechanical problem. I have not opened the head yet.
I do not see the sense in re-bedding the tanks or rebuilding the head at this time on a 20 YO system, and I think our usage is too much for just a softener.
Another part of the puzzle is that my wife was very unhappy with the raw water in her gardens. The heavy iron deposits and bacteria that developed were staining, stunting and killing some plants. Gardening is very important to her, especially since she has been battling cancer for two years now. This heavy treated water will continue as long as she does. What all this boils down to is that I installed a bypass to send conditioned water to her gardens. This, of course, has resulted in extreme salt usage and probably shortened the conditioner's life even more. I am currently spending about $100 a month for salt (8-10 bags) during the warmer months..
In researching a new system I found the chlorination & h2o2 systems. This intrigues me and, I think, l will lower my operating costs. Due to the fluctuating water use between summer & winter I believe a proportional system makes sense. I have talked with the local water guy (who installed this Kinetico 20 years ago) and he has absolutely no knowledge or experience with chlorinators or h2o2. He is pushing a Air-Calcite-Greensand filter. He gave me the impression that the garden use would overwhelm this system and only advised me to not send filtered water to the gardens. Am I barking up the wrong tree based on our water? Iron is a serious problem in ALL the wells around here. It is obvious that the garden use will stress a stand alone water softener.
Based on our water chemistry, does this make sense? I am currently cleaning up and repiping our well house to allow flexibility and correct shoddy work. I am leaning towards a h2o2 injection & catalyzed carbon filter without a softener and see the results first. Or should I be looking at an air injection iron filter? My concern is that the iron filter will require more maintenance and costs due to the high garden use. If we determine that a softener is needed then I will connect that to only the house line. I should be installing a line meter tomorrow so I can better estimate our actual water usage but currently it is just us two, possibly expanding to three, with two full baths. Gardens, plus a large greenhouse (mostly all drip) and koi pond. All general irrigation for trees, berries and lawn is off a separate untreated well.
TIA for your advice. Water test results attached.
Existing well (6” casing, 65’ deep, 59F, 9.46 GPM pump capacity) & 20 year old Kinetico Mach 175 softener (quad tank). Bought the place 7 years ago and in the receipts provided there is no indication that it has ever been re-bedded.
No other filters or screens
Been experiencing fluctuating water pressure. Checked pressure tank, replaced pressure switch. Still occurred, until one day pressure dropped like a switch was thrown. Bypassed the conditioner and pressure has been fine. I also did a consumer grade water test (this was in June) and the conditioner was still removing all iron. All along we still were experiencing slight iron staining in the house fixtures. Untreated water shows heavy iron as well as iron bacteria at outputs only. Only odor is metallic, like a wet cast iron pan. With the softener bypassed the pump flow rate is 9.46 GPM.
On disassembly some of the media (Macrolite) has broken down and some is mush. Also found the Kinetico head stuck in constant backwash. By rotating the head 6 or more times I was finally able to get that stopped. Water pressure was still extremely low. This also leads me to think the media or buildup is clogging the head, or there is a mechanical problem. I have not opened the head yet.
I do not see the sense in re-bedding the tanks or rebuilding the head at this time on a 20 YO system, and I think our usage is too much for just a softener.
Another part of the puzzle is that my wife was very unhappy with the raw water in her gardens. The heavy iron deposits and bacteria that developed were staining, stunting and killing some plants. Gardening is very important to her, especially since she has been battling cancer for two years now. This heavy treated water will continue as long as she does. What all this boils down to is that I installed a bypass to send conditioned water to her gardens. This, of course, has resulted in extreme salt usage and probably shortened the conditioner's life even more. I am currently spending about $100 a month for salt (8-10 bags) during the warmer months..
In researching a new system I found the chlorination & h2o2 systems. This intrigues me and, I think, l will lower my operating costs. Due to the fluctuating water use between summer & winter I believe a proportional system makes sense. I have talked with the local water guy (who installed this Kinetico 20 years ago) and he has absolutely no knowledge or experience with chlorinators or h2o2. He is pushing a Air-Calcite-Greensand filter. He gave me the impression that the garden use would overwhelm this system and only advised me to not send filtered water to the gardens. Am I barking up the wrong tree based on our water? Iron is a serious problem in ALL the wells around here. It is obvious that the garden use will stress a stand alone water softener.
Based on our water chemistry, does this make sense? I am currently cleaning up and repiping our well house to allow flexibility and correct shoddy work. I am leaning towards a h2o2 injection & catalyzed carbon filter without a softener and see the results first. Or should I be looking at an air injection iron filter? My concern is that the iron filter will require more maintenance and costs due to the high garden use. If we determine that a softener is needed then I will connect that to only the house line. I should be installing a line meter tomorrow so I can better estimate our actual water usage but currently it is just us two, possibly expanding to three, with two full baths. Gardens, plus a large greenhouse (mostly all drip) and koi pond. All general irrigation for trees, berries and lawn is off a separate untreated well.
TIA for your advice. Water test results attached.
