Removing manganese from your water.... Mang..

Now that I'm not deleted anymore (:

I have a well with a basic expansion/airator tank and sediment tank. We had an extremely low recovery rate on the well, but great, clean water. It doesn't have a softener or filter because it hasn't been needed before.

We had the well Hydrofracked, and now we've got high levels of Manganese in the water.. It causes the water to have a smell and stains clothes, tubs, toilets, dishwashers etc brownish/black.. Very appealing.

I have the guy from the local water supply products place coming to check it out, service the sediment tank and give us a quote/suggestions on fixing our stinky water issue, but since I know next to nothing about this crap, I figured I'd get some edumacation here, to make sure I don't get ripped off..

What's the best way to go aboot it?

Thanks!

I must need a nap, I read your title as "How to remove magazines from your water"... Sorry, no help with your problem.

petegossett wrote: I must need a nap, I read your title as "How to remove magazines from your water"... Sorry, no help with your problem.

"Dammit, I dropped my GRM in the loo... HELP!"

Get ready for the guy to try and sell you some expensive water filtration system that needs replenishing with stuff only he can sell.

I am very cynical about water filter salesmen.

How long has it been? That stuff either shouldn't be there or it has just been stirred up/will settle again.

Was it maybe in the solution they used in the fracking?

If so maybe you have someone to foot the bill for the removal.

WonkoTheSane wrote: "Dammit, I dropped my GRM in the loo... HELP!"

I dropped a Car & Driver in the pool once...

SpitFireBill - Hence why I'm trying to get some info before he shows up :) Seriously, thus far these guys have been pretty straight with me, I believe... I've stopped in when I first started having supply problems and they told me "You should have your sediment filter serviced every year, you're about 4 years over due, but since you need to have it fracked, it would be a waste of money, come back after you get that done," and "Yeah, that airater system you have is fine, I could sell you a compressor setup to replace it, but there's no reason for that."

Yamaha - It's been about a month and a half now, and the smell comes and goes, so I don't know if it's getting better.

Carguy123 - Those frackin' guys (Hah!) said their solution was just chlorine bleach they used to kill any bacteria that got mixed up with the process, so it was biodegradable.

I had some issues when I first drilled my well. I added a small inline filter and used the white ones, but that didn't tackle the odor. I switched to the charcoal filters which did the trick, but they were much more expensive and really slowed down the flow rate. I switched back to the white filters after a couple of months and the problem was gone by that point. Now I change the white filter about once every two or three months.

Two choices: Add a chlorinator or ionizer. We went with the former, and it has very much improved odor and discolorations. Maintenance is fairly minimal, but always neede at inconvenient times.

Margie

Thanks Woody - I was wondering about those in-line filters they have at the hardware store, I think they're ~$120 or something for the setup. Glad to hear they're a good option.

I think this is what I was looking for Margie! Thanks, I'm going to look into these as well..

Basically the charcoal filters need to be twice the size of the white ones to flow as much. I have both inline at my house.

The white one I can buy @ Lowes, the large charcoal one I have to get from a plumbing supply house at a much higher cost.

Well I'm glad your experience has been better with them than my uncle's was. One of these guys talked him into putting an expensive system on the city water supply to his house. They call me all the time offering a free water analysis. I just laugh at them. I am on the same system and we have very good water here.

I do understand there are times when you do need a good filtering system.

Mine is a Cuno Aqua Pure.

spitfirebill wrote: Well I'm glad your experience has been better with them than my uncle's was....

Yeah, I've gotten that when I was on city water in my old state... "We'll do a free water analysis TODAY!" "... Is it better than the incredibly thorough yearly one that the city sends me?"

Carguy123 - Good to know.. I'll let you kids know what they recommend when they stop by..

Woody - Are the refills easy/cheapish to come by? I would prefer not to be locked to one company to source 'em...

a lot of people never even heard of manganese. or chinch bugs.

I've never heard of Chinch Bugs... I hope I don't have them in the water with the manganese and iron...

WonkoTheSane wrote: Woody - Are the refills easy/cheapish to come by? I would prefer not to be locked to one company to source 'em...

Yes, I get them at a local plumbing store that is notoriously overpriced on just about everything. They sell three white ones for $20. I'm not even sure what brand I buy. They are pretty much generic. I think Home Depot has them too, but this place is closer. It takes about two minutes to change one. The charcoal filters are more, but I haven't bought one in ten years.

My filter was added a month after the house was plumbed. I'll take a photo so you can see how it's set up. It's very simple and can be isolated from the system.

Here's mine:

Obviously, the original water line was just a vertical pipe. When I added the filter, I put in three quarter turn valves. The one on the vertical pipe is closed and the other two are open, so water is flowing through the filter. To change the filter, I close the two horizontal valves and open the vertical one. This keeps water going to the house and bypasses the filter. There is another valve/vent built into the top of the filter housing. Once this is closed, I use the black wrench to unscrew the clear cylinder that encases the filter. Once it's loose, you can remove it by hand. The filter just slides off a fitting, you slide a new one on and then thread the cylinder back on. Then all you have to do is switch all the valves back. It probably took me longer to type this. You lose about a pint or so of water when you change it, so I slide a small bucket in there to catch the water.

If I were doing this again, I would make a couple of changes. I would make the square a little bigger (to make it easier to get a bucket in there), I would add a brace behind the left vertical piece (pipe assembly twists when I'm loosening the cylinder) and I would install two filter assemblies side by side. That way I would have the option of installing both a white filter (sediment) and a charcoal filter (odor) at the same time. With my setup, I have to choose one or the other. My main issue is sediment. The charcoal filters filter out smaller particles and are more expensive than the white ones. They clog up faster when they are the only filter and need replacement sooner. With a two filter system, I could filter for sediment first before flowing into the charcoal filter.

Wow Woody, that was awesome information, thank you so much! We need to have a CT GRM get together..