Over my last few columns, I have written about troubles with iron in well water. (It can, of course, occur in any kind of water, ground or surface.) Professionals have used many methods over the years to get this iron out of the water. I understand that anywhere from 0.25 ppm to 0.3 ppm iron content is enough to cause staining. I don’t have to overemphasize how unhappy consumers are with water that stains. Just about all the groundwater in Michigan has many times that stain level so, as I have written, high-iron water has been a real problem — at least until recently.
Manufacturers tried many ways to change clear-water iron to what, in effect, is rusty water iron. The rusty water can be filtered, and the iron in the water is history. Most of the methods used to change the chemistry of the water were a bit difficult and, sometimes, complicated. Finally somebody — and I don’t know if it was an academic, a manufacturer or an installer — figured out a relatively simple way to aerate the water and oxidize the iron. This oxidizing is done inside a tank. I understand that this is sometimes done in a single tank, but my experience is with two-tank units and I can assure you they work like a charm. I know this from personal experience and it works just great on my well water, which has nearly 3.0 ppm iron.