Change Well Water Treatment System
#1
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Change Well Water Treatment System
Almost a yr ago, I (and my plumber) installed a new water treatment system (recommended by vender) to address raw well water quality of: pH 7.1 (1 of 4 tests prior to installation was a 6.7; others were 7 or above); Fe .6 ppm; Mn .6 ppm; hardness 433 ppm; TDS 868 ppm; sulfates 250 ppm; H2S evidenced by smell, silver jewelry blackened, pitted fixtures; bacterial Fe evidenced by occasional slimey orange buildup in toilet tanks. The system installed includes (in order from the well head): (1) chem feeder (not on demand) for pH using soda ash (no longer using after 1st 6 months); (2) Fe-S-Mn filter – Fleck 7000SXT (with air injection) on 9”x48” tank with 1 cf Pyrolox (initially set to backwash every other day); (3) softener, 64K gr - Fleck 7000SXT on 12”x48” tank with 2 cf resin (backwashes on metered volume); (4) RO system in kitchen for drinking water only.
The new system seemed to work well the 1st 3 or 4 months. I then noticed blackened silver again. About a week later, I talked with vender who suggested I change the filter backwash to every day. I made the change but have seen no difference. Later, I quit using the chem feeder thinking that maybe I never needed the pH treatment, as water is generally 7 or above. Currently, harder water is noticeable based on feel and a little scale. Apparently, my well will not produce enough water volume (produces about 11 or 12 GPM) to adequately backwash the Pyrolox. This seems a common problem that I should have discovered sooner, and I suspect the original vender knew it was a problem as he had my well GPM.
I talked with another vender who recommended the following change/correction to the system (in order from well head): (1) new “on demand” pump to feed H2O2 (plumbed in very close to filter); (2) change filter media from Pyrolox to Catalytic Carbon, backwash every 3 days, and reset flow control to 5GPM. I think I would also have to load new resin in the softener, and install new membrane and filters in the RO – all may be fouled.
I’d rather not make another expensive mistake. I’d like to maximize use of my current equipment. Any thoughts/recommendations? Thanks!
The new system seemed to work well the 1st 3 or 4 months. I then noticed blackened silver again. About a week later, I talked with vender who suggested I change the filter backwash to every day. I made the change but have seen no difference. Later, I quit using the chem feeder thinking that maybe I never needed the pH treatment, as water is generally 7 or above. Currently, harder water is noticeable based on feel and a little scale. Apparently, my well will not produce enough water volume (produces about 11 or 12 GPM) to adequately backwash the Pyrolox. This seems a common problem that I should have discovered sooner, and I suspect the original vender knew it was a problem as he had my well GPM.
I talked with another vender who recommended the following change/correction to the system (in order from well head): (1) new “on demand” pump to feed H2O2 (plumbed in very close to filter); (2) change filter media from Pyrolox to Catalytic Carbon, backwash every 3 days, and reset flow control to 5GPM. I think I would also have to load new resin in the softener, and install new membrane and filters in the RO – all may be fouled.
I’d rather not make another expensive mistake. I’d like to maximize use of my current equipment. Any thoughts/recommendations? Thanks!
#2
Pyrolox media is very heavy and as a result, your well can not properly backwash the media. I've said the same thing for 20+ yrs. Using carbon is the best choice because of it's light weight compared to other iron/sulfur reducing medias. I have not used H2O2 but it does the same thing as chlorine.
#4
Not sure but I know for a fact that chlorine works and it is available at a lot of different places. The test kit for chlorine can be picked up at a lot of places as well. I have just never used H2O2 even though I have heard it works well. I got my start in water treatment in the Austin area.