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Does a Water Softener Remove Iron from Water?
Pentair Water Solutions
10/23/2024
Iron in water can be a real nuisance. It leaves stains on your fixtures, adds a metallic taste to foods and drinks, and clogs your well, pump, sprinkler, and dishwasher. No thanks.
If you’re looking for ways to remove iron from well water, you might have considered water softeners. But does a water softener actually remove iron from water? Let’s take a closer look at what iron’s doing in your water and how water softeners work to see what your options are.
What Is Iron in Water?
Iron makes up five percent of the earth’s crust, so it’s no real surprise that it ends up in our drinking water. All it takes is a heavy rainstorm to dissolve iron in the soil. Once iron is dissolved, it seeps into the underground aquifers that drinking wells pull from — leading to the telltale reddish-brown hue in your cup.
Not every area suffers from iron in water. Places like Minnesota, which is the top iron-ore producer in the country, have especially high concentrations of iron in the water.
How much iron is too much? At concentrations of 0.3 mg/L, iron starts to discolor water. In areas with severe contamination, iron levels can be as high as 10 mg/L.
Iron in water causes a number of unpleasant side effects. These might include:
- A metallic taste in your coffee, tea, or other beverages
- Reddish-brown stains on laundry, fixtures, and dishes
- Rusty, brown, or yellow water
- A smelly reddish brown or yellow slime
- Clogs in your water-using appliances
How Water Softeners Work
Water softeners have a bed of resin beads charged with sodium ions. As hard water flows through the resin bed, calcium and magnesium ions are attracted to the resin beads and replaced with sodium ions. This softens the water.
While this system is great for softening hard water, it’s not perfect. It does add sodium to the water and you do need to replace the resin beads every so often to ensure their effectiveness, which can become costly in the long run.
Despite these limitations, water softeners can significantly improve water quality and reduce the problems associated with hard water, such as scale buildup and soap scum.
Does a Water Softener Remove Iron?
Now, to answer your main question: Does a water softener remove iron? In most cases, yes, it can tackle iron. But it depends on the type of iron you have.
Water softeners work best for removing ferrous iron from well water. You’ll know if you have ferrous iron water if it comes out of your faucet clear but turns brown or red after sitting for a bit. Unfortunately, water softeners aren’t able to tackle ferric iron — water that’s red or yellow right from the tap — or organic iron — water that’s yellow or brown right from the tap.
A water softener system can often handle iron levels up to 10 mg/L, meaning it should be enough for most households with ferrous iron. However, if iron is the only mineral you have in your water, a water softener might not be as effective. Also, iron can clog up your softener faster, meaning it will require more frequent maintenance.
In these cases, you might want to consider alternative filtration systems, like a manganese greensand filter, shock chlorination, or distillation or reverse osmosis. Luckily, an undersink water filter from Pentair can offer some of these types of filtration.
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Removing Iron from Well Water: Final Thoughts
Removing iron from water doesn’t have to make you pull your hair out. In most cases, you can use a water softener to remove iron. But to know for sure what would work best with your water, consider reaching out to Pentair Water Solutions for a more personalized recommendation. Because we provide water you can trust.
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