OVERVIEW

You probably are well aware if you have iron in your water. Iron can cause black, red, or orange staining on your plumbing fixtures, toilets, tubs, and other household appliances. High iron levels in your water supply can also give it a taste of metal. Iron levels as low as 0.3 mg/L can can cause discoloration of clothes in the laundry.

Iron is frequently present in water because of the large amounts present in the soil. Corrosive water will also pick up iron from pipes.

SOURCES

Iron typically gets into water supplies from the rocks and soil around the source. As water moves through the rocks and collects in an aquifer or well, it dissolves the iron that’s naturally found in the environment. There are numerous types of iron, but we generally divide them into two categories: ferrous (soluble) or ferric (insoluble). Soluble iron, or “clear water” iron oxidizes to insoluble (ferric or “red iron”) when it is introduced to oxygen either in the well or in your home. You can tell what type of iron you have by simply pouring a glass of water into a white mug or clear glass. Soluble iron will appear as reddish brown particles if present and allowed to oxidize. These particles will eventually settle to the bottom of the cup. When red iron is poured into a cup, it will instantly appear rusty in color. Insoluble iron tends to create serious taste and appearance issues in water.

HEALTH CONCERNS

Most of the time the amount of iron in water from a well is more of a nuisance and unaesthetically pleasing rather than a health risk. This is a contaminant that is removed because it’s clogging pipes, making laundry discolored, or tastes “like a penny”. Sinks, tubs, and toilets can look dirty even after you clean them and clothes can be ruined in the laundry.

Iron bacteria is another common form of iron found in many households. This bacteria often produces a bad odor and forms a brownish yellow slime in your plumbing. Although it is not dangerous, most people prefer not to live with this in their water.

TESTING

When concerned about iron in your water, it’s imperative that you perform a thorough water test. This would include testing for contaminants such as hardness, pH, nitrates, tannins, sulfur, TDS, manganese and more. The inter-relationships between the competing contaminants will help in choosing the best technology to solve your specific contaminant problem.

TREATMENT

The Lantis OZ3 aerZone™ is an innovative and dynamic approach at removing iron, manganese, and sulfur from your drinking water. But there are a plethora of approaches to treating water with high iron content. Some parts of the country use softeners to remove low concentrations of iron while softening their hard water. Different areas oxidize then filter the iron out with air or ozone, while others chlorinate with aggressive chemicals. In all, removing iron depends upon numerous factors. Clear iron vs red iron, low pH vs high pH, levels of alkalinity & manganese all can play a factor in the approach to treating iron, making it important to reach out to your local water treatment specialist to guide you with your particular water issue(s).