Dealing with iron bacteria stricken water softener, advice?

deoeee

Hi - I'm new to this forum. I found it googling when I was told I had minute traces of iron bacteria in my new well. It seems there are some pretty informative people here so I thought I'd ask a few questions. Here goes:

1. We sometimes notice pale yellow water in the toilet bowl:-) and that's when we requested water testing. We have a water softener and use rustout softener tables. Is the yellow from the bacteria? Or the rust? Shouldn't the iron out softener tablets remove the color? If we eliminate the iron as the water comes into the house, wouldn't that also take care of the bacteria as there is no source/food for it to thrive?

2. I understand the chlorine shock treatment is hard on a septic system so you don't let the clorine treatment go through it. What about the iron bacteria in the septic system. Will it grow and clog that also? Or will the Rid-X (as suggested here) keep that from happening?

3. How did the iron bacteria get in my well? Was it contamination when the well was drilled, or is the bacteria naturally there? If the bacteria is naturally there, does well depth make a difference? Is it more apt to occur in a deep well, versus a shallower well, or vice versa?

Thanks for any help you can give!

lilh2o3

There is no reason for why iron bacteria shows up it just does. It doesnt need iron to live all it needs is dissolved oxygen. As for the iron remover salt it does not remove iron it actually just helps clean the cation resin that is in a water softener. it will not alone "remove" iron from water.

lilh2o3

I read that someone metioned a pellets chlorinator that drops tabs down a well. That is a BIG NO NO. It will destroy a well by either rotting out the casing if it is a steel well or the pellets will build up around the pump and when the pump needs to come out of the hole it will be stuck!! (steel or PVC casing it doesnt matter). So just a friendly worning dont use them!!!!

notenoughtime

visit http://www.equinox-products.com/MetalMaster.htm for product to place upstream of water softner.


One other option may be to use a filter containing nanoalumina particles...google Argonide or Ahlstrom disruptor.

lilh2o3

The first thing mentioned above is called metalease it was developed by a compnay called safewater tech. in chicago ill. It works, sometimes but i have had bad luck with it. The second thing called microfiltration it is used in some bottled water manufactuers but is a fairly new technology and very expensive for a single home. (so ive heard never priced one out)

Gary Slusser

I R B = iron reducing/related bacteria.

From the name alone it says IRB eats iron, no? And most things that run out of food die right? Right. IRB doesn't need iron... wrong.

As the colony increases in size, they eat themselves out of their food source and the colony collapses. The iron content of the water will fall while the colony is growing and then increase as the colony dies off, that is one cause of fluctuating iron in well water.

The BARTS tests prove IRB eat iron, it's why 70% is it of the Titanic is gone. And that's where IRB was identified, and made the guy that proved his theory that there was an iron eatig bacteria, a very wealthy man. That was about 20 years ago, right after the Titanic was found.

Pellet droppers done right are not the problem most guys gossip about, and most guys that are against them and gossip about them, have never sold one. I've sold a small number of them over the last 15 years and they work very well IF you can and will pay atention to detail and get it right. They require fine tuning after installation, but once tuned properly, they use very little chlorine and so far I've not heard of any problems from any of my customers.