Local author and financial expert Rob Severson had typical Deephaven well water: rusty, stinky, and hard. He had rented a water softener for years, and it kind of worked. They still fought rust stains, cringed at the odor, and they had to buy bottled water. They were ready for an upgrade.
“I was in the middle of a kitchen remodel and didn’t want my new appliances to get destroyed like the old ones. We had constant rust problems that were affecting our home and my wife’s hair too.”
Rob contacted Premier Water to design a water treatment system to meet his needs:
- Completely eliminate the iron and odor issues, not just a “partial solution
- Minimal salt used by a water softener
- Clean, fresh tasting water – without bottles!
- Eliminate the lifelong expense of renting, bottled water delivery, and heavy salt use
Of the 3 packages we designed, Rob chose a great package using the following systems:
Hellenbrand Iron Curtain Filter
Hellenbrand H125 Iron Curtain System
We started with a dedicated 2-stage iron filtration system as it would solve a majority of the water problems. In Step 1, water is sprayed through a compressed pocket of air inside a 13”x54” pressurized aeration vessel. As the water and air mix, the iron molecules and hydrogen sulfide gas precipitate out of the water. In Step 2, a 13”x54” filter vessel is used to capture those precipitated molecules and periodically flush them away. The unique design of the filter vessel uses 30% less water to clean and gives 40% better filtration than other filters on the market.
Hellenbrand Water Softener
Hellenbrand H125 Water Softener
Step 3 of our new water system used the Hellenbrand H125 light commercial water system to remove hard water scale from the iron-free water. By removing the iron first, we were able to use 59.6% less salt. The new system regenerates on a metered/on-demand schedule and uses variable reserve technology that precisely adjusts to changing water use. The previous system regenerated with salt and water every other day – even if no one was using water! With the Hellenbrand iron filter and high efficiency softener, we were able to reduce salt by almost 80%.
Hague RO3500 Reverse Osmosis
Hague RO3500 Reverse Osmosis
Step 4 – provide clean drinking water. Private well systems operate at much lower water pressure than city water supplies. Reverse osmosis membranes become less efficient, and produce lower quality water under these circumstances. We used the 4 stage Hague RO3500 because it has an integrated non-electric, water-driven pump. This pump allowed us to overcome the pressure limitation and deliver a steady stream of pure, fresh drinking water.
Complete water system
Conclusion
The entire system was neatly installed along a wall in the basement mechanical room. All 3 iron filter and softener tanks have dedicated bypass valves and can be easily disconnected for future service/cleaning. The reverse osmosis system was wall-mounted at eye level to make future filter changes a snap.
Our client now has soft, iron-free, odor-free water throughout the entire home. The water coming through his refrigerator is pure, clean, and fresh!
“You did an excellent job setting up my system and explained everything thoroughly to me. I now give my water 5 out of 5 stars!”
Water Quality BEFORE
Hardness: 19gpg
Total Iron: 7ppm
TDS: 355ppm
Water Quality AFTER
Hardness: 0.5gpg
Total Iron: 0.0ppm
TDS: 25ppm
Click here to download this case study as a PDF
5gpg is the average national hardness
0.3ppm iron is the limit before staining begins
100ppm+ TDS decreases ice cube clarity
Premier Water is a Chanhassen, MN based company that provides residential and commercial water softening, filtration, and purification solutions. Capabilities range from small point-of-use systems up to high volume whole-house/whole-business applications. Please call (952) 479-4553 for more details.
Hi I have question – I’m in the midst of adding on an iron filter to my existing system that only has a softener. I’ll be using the same technology as this with the aerator, and my question is with the RO system…is the feed water coming from the iron filter or teh water softener?Also have you ever experienced plugging issues with the aerated water mixing tank (Step 1)? Wouldn’t some of the precipitated metals settle out in the bottom of the tank eventually?
Hey Jen,
Thanks for writing in! I you have a working water softener, you should use that to feed the RO. Most RO membranes do not like water hardness levels over 8gpg.
Before you use an Air Injected Iron Filter, test for Iron Bacteria and Sulfur Bacteria. If you test positive – dont inject air(without an additional disinfectant)! Its like giving the Bacteria steroids!
In my experience, retention tanks usually get flushed out when the Filter backwashes – assuming the Filter backwashes vigorously enough.
We just bought a home in May that had a fairly new well water system put in. It is setup to eliminate the iron bacteria. This is all very new to me, so pardon me if I don’t make any sense term wise. There is a smaller black tank that is suppose to get chlorine tablets months. I checked it and almost looks like a super thick gravy and their is still part of a tablet disintegrating in the “goup”. Is this normal? Ive searched the web high and low for an answer. Any advice would be much appreciated!!
We recommend liquid chlorine to avoid this problem. This is most likely a paste formed by the binders in the chlorine pellets – same thing happens with salt pellets.
Thanks for posting!