Iron in Your Water? Here's How to Treat It

Iron in Your Water? Here’s How to Treat It

December 10, 2019

Iron is one of the most common contaminants in water. If you’ve ever turned on your faucet and seen rust-colored or orange water come out, you’re probably dealing with iron in your water—but it’s not always immediately obvious. Sometimes iron presents itself as microscopic flakes, and your water will appear clear. Later, however, you may see this manifest as rust stains on your sinks and water fixtures.

Iron can cause your water, the drinks you make with it and the food you cook it with to taste metallic. It can leave stains on your fabrics and cause plumbing issues. While not harmful to your health, it is certainly an annoying problem. However, it’s not necessarily a good thing for your health, either—we get 95 percent of the iron we need in our daily diets, so having iron-rich tap water is not a boon. Luckily, once you determine that there’s iron in your water in Pisgah Forest, NC, you can install a water filtration system that will meet your needs.

Solutions for iron-rich water

There is a common misconception that simply using a water softener will take care of your iron problem, but that is not the case. Here’s why:

  • Insoluble iron: Insoluble iron is what you’d see if your water was orange or leaving rust stains behind. This simply means that the iron has oxidized and will not dissolve in water. Many people choose to use a filtration system for this, such as Greensand Plus (which needs to be recharged with a caustic chemical and therefore is not a first choice for many homeowners), or Crystal-Right, which is synthetic zeolite and will also remove magnesium. This can be ideal for well water.
  • Soluble iron: If you can leave a glass of water out and see tiny red flakes collecting at the bottom, you are dealing with soluble iron. At this point, the iron in the water is being exposed to oxygen. This is actually a good thing—when you have soluble iron in your water, it needs to be exposed to oxygen so that it will create something physical for the filter to remove. There are specifically designed filtration systems for these problems, and they can often filter out additional chemicals or matter, such as sulfur and manganese.
  • Organically bound iron: This type of positively-charged iron in the groundwater binds itself to negatively charged tannins. When this occurs, an additional filtration system may be needed.

Find out if there’s iron in your water in Pisgah Forest, NC

If your water tests high for iron, investing in filtration is an obvious solution. The right water filtration system will protect you from water-borne detractors by removing them from your potable water supply. Royal Water Works, Inc. can advise you on the right system for your property, and make sure it’s properly installed and serviced. We’re experts in iron removal—one of the most common treatments for improving the quality of water. Reach out to us today to learn more or arrange a consultation!

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