# Well water and iron....



## New2RuralHomesteading (Aug 27, 2017)

morning everyone;

Figured this the most appropriate category but if I erred, I apologize.

I'm new to HT and even more new well water (believe it or not; I've made more posts/replies here than the amount of times I've interacted with well water (gasp).

Well and septic inspection is set for Monday. They're going to do the water checks, the leak checks and all of those optional and costly tests (pocketbook ouch). Since I'm new to well water, have two immunocompromised house dwellers and the property hadn't been loved in a while, I wanted to ensure everything was good to go.

On to the point: providing everything checks out with the tests, are there any tricks to keeping whites white, basins and water-exposed surfaces from having extra buildup? 

The water came clean when doing walk through. I've not seen an ounce of orange anywhere except for the shower heads. And thankfully it doesn't smell like sulphur. I also know these things can change based on water level, contaminants, rainfall, etc.

So asking in advance if there's things I need to be cognizant of while trying to clean/using the water, with respect to countering many of the iron sads that can happen. 

I swear by OxiClean for keeping whites white (bleach itself is sometimes not enough or not appropriate for the materials). I love to use vinegar on any hard water issues (will a well have hard water? City water does ((eyeroll). 

It does have a filter on it located next to pump but I don't know if a second one would help?

Thanks all!


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Any orange is usually a sign of iron bacteria. Mild cases can be controlled by shocking the well on regular intervals (1 or 2 times a year). 

WWW


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## New2RuralHomesteading (Aug 27, 2017)

wy_white_wolf said:


> Any orange is usually a sign of iron bacteria. Mild cases can be controlled by shocking the well on regular intervals (1 or 2 times a year).
> 
> WWW


Oh wow. Okay, I had heard it could mean that and/or be caused by the clay(?) welling underground. 

So it's your experience then that you don't really have any yellowing/orange going on with your well unless its sickly? That's good. Well at least it's reassuring because there wasn't anything orange in the showers or tubs or toilets that I could see. But, alas, the inspection isn't until Monday. 

The shower heads had orange on them around the sprout holes but I didn't go investigating too much into whether it was rust or not (not my house yet since I'm still closing on it). 

Does vinegar work at getting any of that crud off, you think?


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## PlayingInDirt (Aug 2, 2017)

I've got lots of iron in my well water. We have a softener, but there are still stains. I'm not sure the iron level but it's upwards of 400ppm. I haven't been able to get the stains out. I've tried everything. I'm thinking when we remodel in 35674 years getting copper sinks so you can't see it. But, the previous inhabitants were not caring for the softener and making sure there is salt in there, thus the stains. Bacteria level at my place was tested when we moved in a year ago and is fine.

Also, we don't drink the water. We use an RO unit for drinking water.


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## TerriLynn (Oct 10, 2009)

we have a rental house with water that has a lot of iron in it. I have used a product called Iron Out to remove stains from sinks, showers, and toilets, and it also works well on fabrics.


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

I fight iron and sulfur smell, constantly...the one thing you have to remember is,NO BLEACH!!! pour bleach in with your whites, they will be brown, never to be white again, put bleach product in your toilet bowl, brown ! I have a carbon filter that keeps the odor down so that we can drink the water, but I fight the stains. I have found that a cheap product, found at the dollar store, or dollar general is called "The Works" they make all kinds of products for water that has iron in it. I also use vinegar in my clothes washer in the softener compartment, and use vinegar to clean the lime or scale from the coffee pot, It works well on your faucets and fixtures. the works is usually a dollar for a bottle, so give it a try


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## wraith (Jun 26, 2016)

'Iron bacteria' is different than 'regular' bacteria... searching (googling) 'iron biofouling' will explain it better than I ever could


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## New2RuralHomesteading (Aug 27, 2017)

You all are so amazing! Thanks for all the pointers!

My mother swears by The Works and I always made special trip to get it at dollar store. Will stock up once settled. 

We have a water softener for both houses (the property comes with a fully functioning second house on property; a guest house would be best description) but I've also never used one of those (despite my hardening city water) so I didn't know how much those helped (or how much salt I expect to go through LOL). 

I suppose I'm just trading one grievance for another; hard water/calcium on anything water touches and having to vinegar out my coffee pot. OR, worst case at new place, rusty colored crud that still needs vinegar but maybe isn't as hard and flaky.

Win some lose some. 

And, again, I absolutely love the tips. I can google the biofouling and the pointer on bleach probably just saved my first load of whites because I surely intended to rely on bleach (eeek)


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## Springwood (Mar 8, 2017)

If you have a water softener, you can purchase salt specifically for iron in the water which will help knock the iron out of the water. It's a little more expensive, but well worth it, and since you don't think the water has a lot of iron it will probably do the trick for you. The trick with water softeners is that they regenerate on whatever cycle they have been set on. If there's no salt in the tub, it will still regenerate, but the water will not be soft. Make certain that you keep salt in the tub. You'll love having a water softener, they're wonderful and you will use less soap with it.


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

I second Iron Out.


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## mjm (Apr 22, 2018)

copperhead46 said:


> I fight iron and sulfur smell, constantly...the one thing you have to remember is,NO BLEACH!!! pour bleach in with your whites, they will be brown, never to be white again, put bleach product in your toilet bowl, brown ! I have a carbon filter that keeps the odor down so that we can drink the water, but I fight the stains. I have found that a cheap product, found at the dollar store, or dollar general is called "The Works" they make all kinds of products for water that has iron in it. I also use vinegar in my clothes washer in the softener compartment, and use vinegar to clean the lime or scale from the coffee pot, It works well on your faucets and fixtures. the works is usually a dollar for a bottle, so give it a try


The sulfur smell will go away if you take the rod out of the hot water heater you will notice it’s only when you turn the hot water on . Of course the voids the warranty of the hot water heater but I don’t gag while taking a shower anymore


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