Well Water. Got that rotten egg smell? Iron? Maganese?

Well Water. Got that rotten egg smell? Iron? Manganese?

 The smell is a dead giveaway for hydrogen sulfide, that rotten egg odor, or sulfur odor permeates the air as soon as you turn on the tap,and then it lingers. in the air, your clothes, your hair... Iron and Manganese creates staining problems, and creates a great environment for specific bacterial that thrives on it. These problems not only assault your senses, it will affect your health if you don't do something about it.

If the levels are low, you could use a Centaur Carbon Filter with a KDF85 media guard.  If the level of contaminants are high, then a filter with specialized media would be the route to take.

There are many tried and true ways of dealing with it. The one product I like best is Pyrolox. It deals with all three issues. It's in it's pure form of manganese dioxide. Birm just has a coating of it. Greensand is rapidly being discarded as a treatment option, mainly because of having to use potassium permanganate to regenerate.

Whole House Iron/Manganese/Hydrogen Sulphide Removal Filter

If you have a problem with iron, manganese or hydrogen sulphide, the need for a filter to remove these substances will be obvious. The smell of hydrogen sulphide is a characteristic "rotten egg" odor which permeates the air everytime you turn on a faucet. Iron and manganese will stain, producing a reddish rust color in the case of iron, and a black coloration with manganese. Iron and manganese can be the host to bacteria that will form a bio film throughout your plumbing system.

Pyrolox™ is a granular water filtration media used for the removal of hydrogen sulfide, iron and manganese. Through a natural chemical reaction, Pyrolox™ has the ability to help you produce clean, high-quality water. Pyrolox works because of a catalyst reaction whereby hydrogen sulfide, iron, and manganese are oxidized on the media. Daily backwashing then flushes trapped particulate from the filter bed. Pyrolox™ is a natural mineral form of manganese dioxide, making it an environmentally sound means of water filtration. Pyrolox™ is a pure granular form of manganese dioxide whereas greensand and Birm® are merely other minerals coated with manganese dioxide.

Pyrolox™ is a highly effective media for the removal of iron, manganese and hydrogen sulfide. This robust product has proven highly successful in both point-of-entry, municipal and point-of-use applications. Though each treatment application is unique, there are certain general guidelines that need to be followed in order to realize the full benefits of Pyrolox™ as a permanent media.

 

As with any media, frequent and thorough back-washing is essential for long-term success with Pyrolox™. The specific frequency of regular back-washing is dependent on water quality and application rate. A daily backwash at the appropriate rate is required to remove precipitated contaminants from the filter bed.

To maintain and further augment the long-term performance and removal capacity of the media, an oxidant feed of some type is strongly recommended. This will maintain the media and enhance removal capacity. Chlorine injection  immediately up stream of the filter feed is a simple way to meet this requirement. In municipal water, chlorine is already added to the water source. In well water systems, a chlorine injector should be installed. The chlorine injector will also assure you that the well water is disinfected. Hydrogen peroxide is specifically prohibited for use as an oxidant in a Pyrolox filter.

You want to follow this up with a carbon filter to remove the residual chlorine.

 

So, a chlorinater, a Pyrolox filter, a carbon filter...If your water is heavy with sediment, you had better add a Filter-Ag Sediment filter first, otherwise the sediment will choke everything downstream!

Once a week or so, I would by-pass the carbon filter and run chlorinated water through the plumbing system to keep it clean. Keep a supply of chlorine testing strips, make sure you keep the chlorine levels between  between 0.2 to 0.5mg/l .AFTER the Pyrolox filter. You need that level at least to keep your plumbing healthy.  You will get no readings after the carbon filter, it removes the chlorine completely.
Read about the different media suggested.


http://www.caitechnologies.com/images/pdfs/specs/filterag.pdf
http://www.pyrolox.com/
http://www.calgoncarbon.com/carbon_products/documents/Centaur12x40.pdf
http://www.kdfft.com/products.htm
http://www.webs.uidaho.edu/gwemo/reports/Iron_Bact_Remediation.pdf
www.fountainheadwatersystems.com