Treating Metals in our Water
Manganese & Iron:
Manganese is a rare metal that is brought into water by dissolving in acidic rain. Like iron, manganese oxidizes when exposed to air or heat. Staining occurs on surfaces it touches at levels as low as 0.05 parts per million.
To put this into perspective, it is not uncommon to find levels as high as 2 parts per million, 40 times higher than the level at which it starts staining. RAdata looks for the number of ppm, or parts per million of iron in the water. Because manganese can stain clothes and appliances at .05 ppm, the EPA has set the regulatory standard at .05 ppm. More on Manganese
Copper & Lead:
Contamination from your piping system may cause lead/copper to dissolve (leach) into your water supply if you have a lead service line connecting your home to the water main in the street and or your home has lead water supply pipes; and/or You have lead containing soldered joints in your copper supply pipes (installed from 1983-86); Homes built before 1986 are more likely to have lead pipes, fixtures and solder. However, new homes are also at risk: even legally “lead-free” plumbing may contain up to 8percent lead.
Prior to installation of any water treatment system have your water tested to insure the proper equipment is being installed for your particular needs. Schedule a Test
Treatment: Cation Exchange Softeners
A water softener uses the principle of ion-exchange – in this case,
cations – to remove lead from raw water. The equipment contains a “bed”
of softening material known as ‘resin’ through which the untreated water flows.
As water passes through the resin, the lead in the water attaches itself to this material. At
the same time, sodium in the resin is released into the water. This ion-exchange process occurs
literally billions of times during the softening process.
Treatment: Block Carbon Filters
If the pH of the water is over 7, the lead will be in the form of
sediment. In this state, an ion exchanger is ineffective for purifying the water. In these cases, block carbon filters are used to remove the lead sediment. Carbon filters are created by tightly packing carbon particles together to filter outminerals, bacteria, and other harmful substances from your home’s water supply.
A block carbon filter is a very densely packed filter formed into a block with a binding medium.
There are numerous advantages to block carbon filters. They are able to filter out much smaller particles than other filters. They are also not subject to bacterial growth inside of the filter like other carbon filters.