I just bought a house and come to find out, we have (very) hard water. Yes, I know, I should have known this before purchasing, but that time has come and gone.

The water is fine after a regen for about 24 hours then starts to stink again and turn everything yellow. We're using Super Iron Out layered with salt in hopes of eliminating the problem. Tonight we went to boil some water for pasta and found the water turned yellow after heating. This has to be resolved.

We're told by the previous owners that we could hook up to town water for ~$3500. The water softener has a service light lit, so we may gain some by having the softener (sanitizer, actually) serviced. We could add a birm filter or something else to eliminate the iron before it gets to the softener.

My question is, should we just go for the town water hook up or can this be resolved cheaper with the proper equipment? I don't know the PPM content of iron in our water, but I have to imagine it's quite high. We have the red iron type it seems.

Thanks, Mark.

 

Hi mgandalf and welcome to the board. First, make sure the towns water supply is a good one. I have run into some I couldn't drink. Then get some quotes for connecting to the town supply. I'm sure it varies by location, so $3,500 may be high or low.

My vote wound be good city water and get rid of the hassle, but let's see what others say who have to deal with filters and such.

Bud

 

No one here can provide any sound advice without an accurate water analysis. Get that first and get vback with us.

Look for hardness, iron (ferric/ferrous), TDS. Also, getting a test from a health bosrd is also essential.

Your water is most likely treatable but don't look for a solution without knowing the problem.

Did you hav a home inspection?

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

 

Depending on your market area you should be able to get that resolved reasonably. Without knowing your water characteristics its pretty tough to know though. Call a local water treatment company and they should provide you with a "free" water analysis and a recommendation. Then post your results

 

Personally, if I could get the well water to where it was potable and usable for washing, etc... I would stick with the well. For the time that you will be at the home, you will not have to pay for water vs. going with the city, you will pay for every ounce of water that you use in addition to the hook up. In the long run, you will save lots of money by having a well.

When I lived in Virginia, our water rates were pretty cheap, we generally paid $25 a month for water.

 

Thanks for all of your replies! Since I've moved into the house, I've been using Iron-Out in layers added to the salt. This has made the water quite a bit better. Additionally, I've gotten the water sanitizer serviced which removed the excess salt in the water. At this point, my water is quite usable - it no longer turns to a mud color when boiled or stains everything in sight.

From what I understand, my well produces water that's 40ppm hardness (I'm not sure if that's all iron or what). When the service guy arrived, he immediately tested the water out of the kitchen sink and said the iron was at 6ppm, which was better than town water. He said that after his maintenance and a full regen (which occurred last night), I should see no hardness or iron. I've ordered a test kit for both so I can closely monitor the levels. He also set my regen back to 450 gallons or 4 days. We had it to as low as 275, but now that it's been serviced, he said we shouldn't need that frequency.

My hot water still stinks. He checked the water heater and stated that the anode rod had already been removed. He suggested that I drain the tank 10 gallons or so to remove the sediment and also to remove the anode rod plug and pour in a gallon of bleach (and not to wash non-white laundry for a couple days afterward). We haven't tried this yet though.

- Mark.

 

WOW, Your post has some very unusual statements and recommendations.

Are you sure the hardness is 40ppm (less thant 3 gpg) or 40 gpg? At 40ppm, a softener would hardly be needed but could show some marginal improvement.

And 6ppm iron!!! Don't you mean 0.6ppm? ^ pars is extremely high iron and would serious stain all fixtures in a day...very bad. So my surprise on how that could be BETTER than the city water...

A gallon of bleach in the water heater!!! I would be weary of putting a gallon of bleach in a 1000 gallon cistern. Use no more than a cup and let it sit overnight.

Is your heater gas or electric?

Get back before you do anything.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

 

Having had alot of experience with both shallow wells and artisian wells, it sounds to me that there is a sulfur flow down in the ground near where your water comes from. I noticed that your tests did not mention the sulfur content. It is usually the sulfur that gives you the oder and the yellow tint.
It comes and goes. Since you have city water available, I would probably hook up to it. The cost is cheap compared to having to drill a new well or have well work done. You never know when your water table in the earth may drop and your out of water. Just my thoughts. Jack

 

I have always found that sulfer (H2S) will produce black staining. Iron reducing bacteria will smell like sulfer, but the staining is yellow to orange or even darker.

 

I'm not that familiar with all of this yet. I only know what I was told. I've ordered a test kit so hopefully I can get more hands on and learn more.

Yes, one gallon. Here's where I have to disagree with you. One cup of bleach in a 50 gallon tank with quite a bit of water line (it's a big house) isn't nearly enough. I've seen recommendations of starting with one quart and increasing by one quart at a time if the problem persists. Given the number of bathrooms (3.5) and their distance away from the water heater, I'm going for a gallon, letting it sit over night, and flushing it out in the morning. I expect I'll have to do this three or four times a year or opt for a pellet release system or direct injection.

- Mark.