Iron, manganese and sulfur
Orange stains, a metal taste, a rotten-egg smell
They are three separate lines on a lab report, and they often turn up together.
Iron and manganese dissolve into well water from the rock around the well. Water that comes out clear can turn orange or black after it sits, or after it meets air or the chlorine in a laundry load.
Hydrogen sulfide is a gas. It is the rotten-egg smell, and it often seems worse on the hot side because the water heater feeds it.
Which treatment fits depends on the form of the iron, how much of each there is, and how fast the water flows through the house. That is why the proposal comes after the report.
What you see at home
Orange or brown stains
On the tub, the toilet bowl and white laundry.
Black flecks or film
A sign manganese is in the same water.
A metal taste
Coffee and ice cubes tell you first.
Smell on the hot side
Worse after the water heater has been sitting.
What we look at
Dissolved or particles
Dissolved iron needs an oxidizing filter or an air-injection tank to turn it into something a filter can catch. Iron already in the water as particles may only need a sediment filter.
The lab report tells us which it is. We also check your flow, because a tank that is too small for the house clogs early.
A bypass, so water keeps running during service
A drain for backwash, planned before the visit ends
Media and filter changes written into the proposal
Iron and sulfur questions
Will it stain my laundry less?
That is what the treatment is for, and the retest says by how much. We do not promise a result before we have seen your numbers.
Is the smell coming from my water heater?
Sometimes. If the cold side smells too, the sulfur is in the well water. If only the hot side does, tell us when you send the report.
Do I need to treat iron if it only stains?
Federal guidance treats iron as a stain-and-taste issue. Whether to treat it is your call; we explain the options either way.
Will the water use salt?
An iron filter may use a backwash, and some use a chemical to keep the media working. The proposal lists what the system uses.
Send the report, get one proposal
The report sets the system. The pricing page says what sits behind the number.
