When it comes to Well Water Iron Filters, you might find that the information available is overwhelming, and to make matters worse, water treatment technology is rapidly changing and what was new technology just a couple of years ago is already outdated. It wasn’t that long ago that you needed to use potassium permanganate for your greensand filter to remove iron and hydrogen sulfide from your well water. If you have ever owned a Green Sand Filter that needed a cleaning with potassium permanganate, you’re aware of the hassle not to mention the mess it can make.
Several years ago, some smart person invented a technology that did not require potassium permanganate in the cleaning of the media bed. The new Well Water Iron Filter used an air pump attached to the system which pressurized the tank during the backwash cycle, and used the stored oxygen bubble along with a different media (Filox) and the result was an iron removal system that was actually “chemical-free”. We offer this system as our Whole House Iron Filter, With the exception of the air pump, which is now integrated into the timers valve.
Basically, the media has the ability to store the iron during backwash, the stored oxygen oxidizes the iron and the stored iron is washed down the drain. So this filter is actually considered a chemical-free iron filter.
These new self oxidizing filters have become popular because of ease of installation and lack of on-going maintenance. However, they do have some important minimum requirements and need to be matched to the water for which they will be filtering iron out.
One cubic foot Zeoprep filters usually will require a minimum of 7 GPM of water for proper backwashing. They also require a ph in a range minimum of 6.8 and will effectively remove ferric and ferrous iron up to 10 ppm. We offer this as our Whole House Iron Water Filter
One cubic foot Filox filters are better suited for lower ph, less than 6.8 but requires that a minimum of 10 GPM of water is available for proper backwash. We offer this as our Filox Iron Water Filter
And one cubic foot Katalox filters require ph of at least 5.5 and 5.5 GPM of water for proper backwash., so this filter is ideal if you have low ph and low GPM from your well. And this is a good example of new water treatment technology. The Katalox filter has recently been introduced and we offer it as our Katalox Iron Removal Water Filter.
The last time I wrote about these iron filters was Sun, 10/14/2012, and you can see things have really changed since then!
All of the above systems can be customized for higher than 10 ppm of iron by increasing the tank and media.
So hopefully you can see the importance of understanding the following about your water before choosing a Well Water Iron Filter.
1.The GPM of your well
2.Your iron content of your water
3.Your ph