Water Softener Solutions
A water softener is effective in removing some of the most common contaminants found in private wells supplying homes in Sharon. The main private well culprits are iron & manganese as well as the hard water minerals (magnesium and calcium). Small amounts of these minerals can have large affects on your home’s water quality. The EPA maximum allowable levels for iron as a secondary contaminant is .3 parts per million (300 ppb). The EPA maximum allowable level for manganese as a secondary contaminant is .05 parts per million (50 ppb). As you can see, these are very small amounts, but their affects can create quite an impact. Water Softening will be very effective if you have hard water, iron or manganese in your well water. Up-flow versus down-flow water softeners are most effective, particularly if there are elevated levels of iron or manganese in your water.
High Efficiency Water Softener
A water softener is effective in removing dissolved forms of iron & manganese and hard water minerals. To remove particulate iron or manganese, a cartridge filter with proper micron rating will be effective. Depending on the specific situation, this could require a series of filters with different size micron ratings to handle heavier levels in the water. Selecting the appropriate micron rating and style of filter can be determined by a water treatment professional based on water test results and other symptoms. For more information on Iron and Manganese in water, see articles in Water Technology Magazine at the following link: http://h2o/publications/.
Dissolved Iron Staining
AFFECTS OF IRON, MANGANESE & HARD WATER
Hard water affects include corrosion and scaling inside pipes, major staining throughout the home’s showers, bathtubs, and sinks and destruction of hot water heaters way ahead of their useful life (scale build-up inside hot water heaters can insulate the temperature sensor inside the tank causing them to work much harder to bring the temperature up to the set level). Iron and manganese in water can create rusty or black/brown staining and corrosion in the home as well. For those using their well water for outside lawn irrigation, iron and manganese can cause major staining of outside walkways, house siding and anyplace the water touches. See the link at http://h2o/lawn-irrigation/. For more on hard water, see hard water usgs.
Damaging Scale
