Blog

Is There Chance You Might Have Iron in Your Water

Manitoba has some very high levels of iron depending on where you happen to be situated in the province. Along with iron you may have manganese which is a sister element commonly found with iron. If that wasn’t enough, many people will have a rotten egg smell coming out of the well which is hydrogen sulfide gas, also commonly found with iron but not always. Below I listed a couple of signs to look for.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sign: Water is clear when taken from the sink but red-brown or black particles will show as the water is left to sit. You will also see staining in dishwashers, showers, toilets and your laundry never really gets as white as you think they should.

Reason: Dissolved iron and possibly manganese.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sign: You notice a slime which appears to be red brownish, black in colour in the toilet tank or sometimes will clog faucets.

Reason: Iron and/or manganese bacteria.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sign: Sometimes you will leave a glass of water out for 24 hours and you notice that reddish, black colour remains

Reason: This would strongly indicate that you have colloidal iron/manganese in other words organically complexed iron/manganese.

Iron and manganese are two minerals commonly found in the earth’s crust and in the water supply of your home they do not present any health risk. The first problem that people usually have with these minerals in their water is the staining and metallic sometimes bitter taste. What you don’t always see is the buildup of iron and manganese in your hot water tank, pressure tank and the fouled resin in your water softener. Fact is that these two minerals drive up the price of operating your water appliances by up to 30%, decreases their life expectancy by up to 50% and eventually plugs your pipes up to the point that you will lose water pressure.

There are actually two forms of iron you find in your house water:

Ferrous iron – this type creates a clear solution when dissolved in water (often referred to as clear water iron). In the beginning the water appears clear but soon you begin to see black or rust coloured particles that make their way to the bottom when the water is left to sit out. It is because air, chlorine and other oxidants reacts with the ferrous iron that you get the particles and it now becomes ferric iron (the stuff you can now see.

Ferric iron – this is a colloidal iron and is insoluble in water. When the water comes out of the tap with some discoloration initially this is a good sign that you have ferric iron.

The last issue I want to touch on is iron and manganese bacteria found in the toilets and sometimes clogs up your pipes. There is no real health issue with the red-brown/black brown bacteria but it’s a bit slimy and unsightly to say the least. You can remove it fairly easily with a disinfectant of your choice but the real answer is to remove the iron and manganese out of the water.

Affordable water would be more than willing to provide you with a free water test and show you what options are available to you if you are experiencing any of these symptoms. Please click HERE to go to our contact page.   

Water Softener Salt

What are the different water softener salts available?

They are as follows:

Rock Salt

Solar Salt:  salt produced from the evaporation seawater

In Manitoba rock salt (also known as halite) is slightly cheaper than solar salt but contains more insoluble material. As a result, solar salts keep your water softener cleaner. The type of salt you choose to buy will dictate how often you will have to clean your brine tank and also if you will build up insoluble material causing what is known as a salt bridge. A salt bridge over time will block the water from being drawn out of your brine tank. Your Water Softener will cease to work properly and sometimes this will cause your brine tank to overflow. For these reasons Affordable Water Treatments recommends using solar salt.

Also available is Potassium chloride which is an alternative to Sodium chloride. Potassium chloride is more expensive to buy but works in much the same way as regular water softening salt.

Are you worried about your sodium intake, have related high-blood pressure issues; just want to limit the amount of salt you consume? It is true that there is some calcium and magnesium exchanged for sodium during the regeneration of the softener bed. Of course the amount of exchange will depend on how hard your water is. But truth be told there is very little sodium left in the water after the regeneration process.

If you look at your daily intake of sodium less than 3% comes from cooking or drinking softened water. In comparison you would have to drink 6-8 glasses of softened water to equal the amount of salt you find in one slice of white bread, never mind the potato chips. If this is a real concern you might want to consider a drinking water system.

If you would like to learn more or need a free water test click HERE to go to our contact page.