Are Your Customers Complaining About Water Stains?
Abby’s water is staining her sinks, and she’s getting strange spots on her laundered clothes. When she tried to clean the sinks with bleach, the stains got worse. Her problem? Manganese and iron in her water.
Iron and manganese are common minerals in water that can sometimes cause your water to smell and taste bad. While they won’t make you sick, they stain everything. And once these minerals invade your system, they won’t go away without treatment. So when you’ve got an iron and manganese problem, you first need to know where it’s coming from and how concentrated the problem is so you can fix it.
Mineral Buildup and Discoloration Due to Iron in Water
So why does iron in water cause rust-colored stains and manganese in water those blackish marks? When the water containing the minerals is exposed to air—or oxidized—the colored forms become visible in the fluid. The change gives the minerals their staining properties. Soaps and detergents won’t remove them. And sometimes laundry detergent will react with manganese to turn the water purple. When exposed to air, water containing these the two minerals will change from clear to stain-inducing.
Clothes and sinks aren’t the only things that can be damaged by an iron and manganese invasion. The minerals build up in pipes, water heaters, and water softeners. The buildups restrict the flow of water, so it takes more power to push water through the system. If the heating rods in your water heater are coated with the minerals, it will take more energy to heat your water. In your toilet, you may get a slimy buildup from the bacteria that often accompanies the two minerals. The slime can clog other parts of your water system too. So even though they won’t make you sick, if no action is taken, manganese and iron in water can result in costly repairs and replaced appliances.
Solutions for Crystal Clear Water
Iron and manganese occur naturally in soil. When water percolates through layers of soil and rock, iron and manganese dissolve and are carried away into groundwater. Sometimes iron pipes will corrode and leach iron into your water. Because the minerals are naturally occurring, there’s no way to stop them from getting into your water.
So How Do You Combat Minerals that Occur Naturally?
The solution is treatment. After you’ve had your water tested to determine how much manganese and iron it contains, you’ve got some options to treat your water. The choices include phosphate treatment, ion exchange water softener, oxidizing filter, aeration/filtration, chemical oxidation, raising pH and particle filtration, and multistage treatment. Phosphates or the water softener are good options if your mineral levels are low. An oxidizing filter works for moderate levels, while aeration/filtration and chemical oxidation are good for high levels. If the source of your iron and manganese problem is corroded pipes, it’s a good idea to raise your water’s pH and use a sediment filter. And if you’ve got high levels in solid and dissolved forms, you’ll need multistage treatment.
Having iron and manganese invade your water in specific geographic areas isn’t uncommon. And while it won’t hurt you, it’ll damage homes and clothes if you don’t get it under control. With a variety of options to treat iron in water and manganese in water, there’s a solution for every mineral contamination situation.
