Water filter for rust

[rogerwa]

I am in the process of redoing the bathroom at my cabin. i am installing a nice new shower enclosure and unfortunately the only color is white.<br /><br />The cabin has well water which it appears has a lot of rust in it because the current shower has a big rust spot on the floor. <br /><br />Does anyone have expereince with those whole house water filters they sell at home depot that claim to filter rust??<br /><br />Just wondering if it would be worth the $45 and time to install it to save the new shower and make the water more usable??<br /><br />It also stains the toilet which will be new as well.. thanks..

 

[Xcusme]

Re: Water filter for rust

The rusty water can be from the bacteria level in your well. This bacteria can be from iron and/or manganese. <br /><br />Try shocking your well with bleach. <br /><br /> Link<br /><br /> Link<br /><br />Last year had to shock friends well with bleach. Basically you mix 5 gals. water with 1 gal. (if memory serves) and pour down well. We then waited 2 hours. Re-prime well, open faucets until you smell clorine,close valve. Let sit overnight. Next day, run faucets until no clorine smell, you're done.

 

[Link]

Re: Water filter for rust

Good reading links Xcusme<br />Are you sure its the Well Water?<br />Do the sinks (bathroom/kitchen) also have the rust problem?<br />We had the same problem at a cabin.<br />Turned out to be the hot water heater.<br />Just a thought.

 

[tommays]

Re: Water filter for rust

At work we have a very high level of iron in the water it turns every thing brown <br /><br />BUT there are filters that handle it and you can tell there working when you change them really brown <br /><br /><br />tommays

 

[ndemge]

Re: Water filter for rust

At my house, we have one of the inline replaceable filters, takes it about 2 months to get good and red, $4 and replace it. It does pretty good.<br /><br />At my sister's house, the water is so bad, it will turn the shower orange in a week. If you wash the house with it, it will turn it orange.<br /><br />They run ALL water through a water softner, Filter, and they also have something with some type of crystals in it, with eveyrthing working, water is clear and doesn't stain.<br /><br />But if you have a water softner, it will need to run and flush itself, probaly even when your not around, not sure how a cabin that's not used much would do with a softner, lot of wasted salt and water.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Water filter for rust

Rogerwa, you need to know many factors before you can begin to treat for iron staining. Iron is just not as simple as the 4 letter word might imply.<br /><br />First you have to determine if the iron is dissolved or suspended oxide. Then you need to know the pH and the Total Dissolved Solid level. Then you have to understand how those might react to any steel plumbing that you have in the home.<br /><br />In other words you could do a lot of wheel spinning and still have the stains. Your worst enemy for determining a solution is the big box stores.

 

[POINTER94]

Re: Water filter for rust

This unit has found success in many applications.<br /><br /> http://www.softwaterinc.com/_pageimages/Iron%20Curtain%20Brochure.pdf#search='water%20filtration%2C%20iron%20curtain' <br /><br /><br />Be careful with the chorinating of a well, as the high chlorine levels left in your bladder tank can eat away at your tanks rubber bladder and cause failure. Have your water tested for what is creating the stain. Boomer is right on the mark. If it is suspended iron a whole house filter will work but buy lots of extra filters. They clog faster than you will think. Iron bacteria can be a real stinky mess and the solutions can be expensive but effective. You can also use an aeration tank to precipitate out the suspensions. <br /><br />This can be very tricky, but the water test will at least tell you what you are up against.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Water filter for rust

Thanks for all the responses. I am not looking to spend a lot on a solution as it is just a cabin.. Not a "lake Home" as some call their cabins. I had the water tested whenI bought the place a couple years ago. Who knows maybe it will say something about this.<br /><br />The Water heater is new and the plumbing is all PVC except for the line from the well. It would be a pretty simple install to put one of those inlines in and it would be easy to winterize in the fall. More complex solutions may not allow for rapid winterization as we sometimes use it in the fall..

 

[TD_Maker]

Re: Water filter for rust

Do you have a water softener? If so, the salt pellets with a "Rid Rust" additive workd pretty well. Also, Home Depot has a product in the Sprinkler Department called Rust Rid that is a spray-on product. Rust stains will simply vanish, and it is safe for use on all surfaces indoors or out. <br /><br />I live in Florida, and I sent some to my Dad in Kentucky because he had a major rust problem in his home in the mountains. Worked great.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Water filter for rust

Regardless of what you read or hear there is only one reason to EVER chlorinate your well. There are absolutely never any reasons to chlorinate your well for ANY purposes related to iron, in any of it's forms including parasitic iron bacteria.<br /><br />At the very most, it would yield VERY short term results of any kind (most often bad), could create problems with your well pump and as Pointer said, it would be hard on a pressure tank bladder.<br /><br />Rogerwa, if the iron coming from your well is dissolved, a cartridge filter will do ABSOLUTELY zilch, zero, nada. If iron is suspended and if your water is slightly acid, a cartridge filter would like be the same.<br /><br />The only plus to trying one is that they are cheap. But don't be misled. Let the symptoms be your indicator of success. Just because a cartridge filter becomes discolored, it is not an indicator of success. In most cases where people try them, a simple iron test before and after the cartdridge would be likely to show identical results.