What is the best whole house water filtration system for high iron and low pH?

[nico23]

The house we bought last year is on a private well and currently has a small sediment whole house filter. However, this filter is not strong enough to keep the iron out of our water. After living here a year, our white toilets, sinks, and showers are stained brown, and the only water we can drink is from the fridge that has an additional filter (and tested no iron in it). Another technician said that our low pH is destroying our toilets but not our pipes as we have plastic pipes.

We have contacted three water filtration companies and three plumbers in our area, but we have gotten significantly different advice and prices. I'm hoping someone here can give us some trustworthy advice.

Here are the ranges of our two most recent water test results from the well head:

• Total Iron: 2.1-3.4 ppm
• Ferric Iron: 2.1-3.3 ppm
• Ferrous Iron: 0-0.1 ppm
• pH: 6.3-6.4
• TDS: 30
• Alkalinity: 34-44 ppm
• Hardness: 1-1.8 gpg
• Copper: 0.1
• Sulphur/Chlorine/Nitrate/Nitrite: 0.0

After the small whole house sediment filter, our pH remains the same (6.3) and our iron drops to between 0.4 and 1.5 ppm (based on two different water tests).

Here are the companies/plumbers we have called and their recommendations:

• EasyWater: says we just need an ironshield iron filter; says it will get rid of iron and raise pH; says no need for a softener; says there's no salt so low maintenance
• Leaf Home Water Solutions: says we need a neutralizer 1.5 filtration system and a softener 1.0 filtration system; said no need for an iron filter (I'm assuming we would keep the current sediment filtration system in place?)
• Culligan: says we need a iron filter, a neutralizer, and 8" softener
• Plumber #1: says we need an air injection iron filter that will eliminate iron and raise pH (also recommended UV and reverse osmosis systems)
• Plumber #2: says we need an air injection iron filter that will eliminate iron and raise pH, but will then also need a water softener as eliminating the iron and raising the pH will make the water hard
• Plumber #3: says we need a Large CSI Sidekick Auto Backwashing Filtration System (didn't mention low pH or softener)

The other complication is that our current filtration system is in our crawl space. Some have said they can dig a hole to put the large filter in the crawl space, but others said that was a bad idea because it would cost a lot to service if it was in a hole in the crawl space. Some have said that we'll need to build a vertical shed and put the systems in there, and others have said we should replace our washer and dryer for a stackable unit to put it in our small mud room.

I know this is a lot, so here are my main questions:

1. What system do we need for the water results I shared? (e.g., iron filter, neutralizer, softener)
2. Is there any quality compact system that would fit in a crawl space (or above a washer/dryer in a small mud room) so we don't have to buy a stackable washer/dryer, bury the system, or build a vertical shed?
3. Are there any companies/brands you recommend?

Thank you in advance for your help!