Iron, Sulfur & Filters
What a softener cannot fix, and what handles each problem.
How do you remove 3 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7?
3 ppm iron at pH 7
oxidising iron filter
at pH 7 the iron is already oxidised — a softener will not hold it, whatever the concentration says
| Treatmentgreensand or catalytic media oxidises the iron, then traps the particles | oxidising iron filter |
|---|---|
| Typical installed cost | $1,200–2,500 |
| Iron form at this pHcloudy straight from the tap | ferric (oxidised) |
| IronEPA secondary standard is 0.3 ppm | 3ppm |
| EPA threshold | 0.3ppm |
| Load added to a softenerabout 4 gpg of hardness capacity per 1 ppm of iron | 12gpg equivalent |
Notes
- pH decides the method, and almost nobody measures it. Below pH 7 iron is dissolved — the water looks clear at the tap and stains minutes later. At pH 7 it is already oxidised, so it arrives as particles and the water is cloudy from the moment it leaves the tap. This single number is why advice online contradicts itself: everyone is right for their own pH.
- A softener is the wrong tool here. 3 ppm would normally be inside a softener's range, but at pH 7 the iron has already turned to particles, and particles foul the resin bed instead of binding to it. The softener stops softening and the water stays stained — the most common expensive mistake in well water treatment.
- Treat iron before the softener, never after. Whatever the method, iron removal goes first in the line. A softener downstream of clean water lasts; a softener taking raw iron is a filter that was not designed to be one.
- Get a real lab test, not a strip. You need iron, pH, manganese, hardness and — if there is a smell — hydrogen sulphide. Manganese behaves like iron but stains black instead of orange, and it needs a higher pH to oxidise. A test strip gives you one of those five numbers, badly.
- Iron bacteria are a different problem with the same symptom. If there is orange slime in the toilet cistern rather than a stain, no filter will fix it — that needs shock chlorination of the well itself first.
Iron removal
77 calculations · browse all
- How do you remove 0.2 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6?
- How do you remove 0.2 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6.5?
- How do you remove 0.2 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7?
- How do you remove 0.2 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7.2?
- How do you remove 0.2 ppm of iron from well water at pH 8?
- How do you remove 0.5 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6.5?
- How do you remove 0.5 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6.8?
- How do you remove 0.5 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7.2?
- How do you remove 0.5 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7.5?
- How do you remove 1 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6?
- How do you remove 1 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6.8?
- How do you remove 1 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7?
- How do you remove 1 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7.5?
- How do you remove 1 ppm of iron from well water at pH 8?
- How do you remove 1.5 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6.5?
- How do you remove 1.5 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7?
- How do you remove 1.5 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7.2?
- How do you remove 1.5 ppm of iron from well water at pH 8?
- How do you remove 2 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6?
- How do you remove 2 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6.8?
- How do you remove 2 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7.2?
- How do you remove 2 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7.5?
- How do you remove 3 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6?
- How do you remove 3 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6.5?
- How do you remove 3 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7?
- How do you remove 3 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7.5?
- How do you remove 3 ppm of iron from well water at pH 8?
- How do you remove 5 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6.5?
- How do you remove 5 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6.8?
- How do you remove 5 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7.2?
- How do you remove 5 ppm of iron from well water at pH 8?
- How do you remove 7 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6?
- How do you remove 7 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6.8?
- How do you remove 7 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7?
- How do you remove 7 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7.5?
- How do you remove 10 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6?
- How do you remove 10 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6.5?
- How do you remove 10 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7?
- How do you remove 10 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7.2?
- How do you remove 10 ppm of iron from well water at pH 8?
- How do you remove 15 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6.5?
- How do you remove 15 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6.8?
- How do you remove 15 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7.2?
- How do you remove 15 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7.5?
- How do you remove 20 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6?
- How do you remove 20 ppm of iron from well water at pH 6.8?
- How do you remove 20 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7?
- How do you remove 20 ppm of iron from well water at pH 7.5?