Water Softerner

[Chinese]

Hi,
We just purchased a house which has its own well and
water softerner system. The system is Rain Soft and
salt is Morton Rust Remover Super Pellens salt. Since
I have no idea how the system should work and I went
to the web and found your web site.

I hope you can help.

Here are my questions:

1. There is the rotten egg smell in the water. How
can I get rid of it?

2. I have electrinic water boiler which also keep the
hot water for drinking tea. It always builds up a
layer of white stuff, look like the wax -- floating on
the surface of the water and also builds up in the
interior surface of the themertal. What is this stuff
and how I can get rid of it?

3. The ph of the water seems very high. How can I
test the water to find out the ph and how can I make
sure the wast is in the right ph level?


Thank you for your help


Juliet

 

[tr6]

Dear Chinese/Juliet,

A "Rotten Egg" smell usually signifies the presence of hydrogen sulfide, H2S. A water softener will not remove H2S. While not a health risk, it is a nuisance. H2S is formed by sulfur bacteria that may occur naturally in water. These bacteria use the sulfur in decaying matter and soils as their food source. The result of their feeding is hydrogen sulfide. Another source of H2S could be the water heater. Hot water heater manufacturers place a magnesium rod inside the heater to help prevent corrosion. Sulfer that is dissolved in the water can react with the magnesium rod to form H2S. There are a number of treatment methods available to a homeowner, ranging from simple, activated carbon filtration, to more elaborate, aeration. In fact a number of companies manufacuture domestic type water treatment systems - Marlo, in Racine, and The Good Water Company, in Kansas City, as does Culligan.

The method of treatment depends on the concentration of the H2S. Small (less and .3 mg/L (ppm parts per million))can be treated with activated carbon. After a period of time the carbon will have to be replaced, but depending on the size of the filter, this should not be a big deal.

In fact the web site

http://www.cce.cornell.edu/factsheets/wq-fact-sheets/fact-sheets/fact7.htm

describes H2S and the various methods of treatment. There are any number of websites under "Hydrogen Sulfide".

The "White Stuff" on top of the water could be the result of corrosion resulting from the H2S. You mention white deposits on the interior of the metal surface. If you are referring to the tea kettle, then these are probably the dissolved minerals as the water boils away.

There are a number of places you can get your water tested: your county certainly, a tropical fish store, or your locale water softener dealer.

Hope this helps. If it were mine, I would start with a carbon filter, as it is the cheapest solution.

I am curious, what part of the country do you live in?

 

[Chinese]

Thank you so much for the response. I live in north of Detroit area.

Another question, it seems the hot water is so rusty. If I let the hot water dripping in the bath tub, it will have a yellow strip on the tub. How can I get rid of the yellow from the tub and ultimately how to get rid of the rusty from the hot water?

Thanks

 

[tr6]

I would say that the rust out of the tap is the result of corrosion, probably due to the H2S. You orinally stated that your pH was high. So corrosion due to an acidic condition is not the problem. It is very possible that the bottom of your hot water heater contains a layer of "rust sediment". It would probably be a good idea to open the valve at the bottom of your hot water heater to flush out any sediment. This may help your hot water "rust" problem.

As far as the stain in your tub; your water also contains dissolved iron in the reduced "ferrous" state (Fe++). The ferrous iron is precipitated from solution into the subtantially insoluable ferric hydrate (Fe2OH3) by oxidation when exposed to oxygen - or air. To remove the stain, hydrochloric acid would probably work. This can be obtained from a pool supply store under the name of muratic acid.

As to how to treat your overall and combined problem is concerned; again, there are a number of solutions. A water softener will remove small amounts of dissolved iron, but you should be using a salt that is able to remove the iron from the softener ion exchange resin. I believe the Morton "System Saver" with rust removal, should work. Depending on the condition of your resin, you may have to do a double, or possibly a triple, regeneration. If that does not solve the problem, then you may be forced to replace the resin, or replace the entire softener. On the industrial scale, when cation (softener) resin becomes fouled with iron, a dilute solution of Hydrochoric acid is used. This is not an option for the home owner due to the corrosive nature and the corrosive impact it would have on your entire water and septic system.

I forgot to mention in my first message, there are two types of carbon: activated, and catalytic. For the removal of H2S, the catalytic is better. I am not that familiar with it in the removal of dissolved iron, but it appears to have some of the characteristics where it may be effective.

Additional solutions for both or your problems include: aeration, Ozone injection, chlorination, and manganese greensand. Dissolved iron typically fouls a reverse osmosis system and RO will not remove H2S. So, that is not an option.

Again, if it were me, I would try the catalytic carbon filter for the H2S, and try to get the softener operational.
I would regenerate the softener a few times then drain the hot water heater to get rid of the "contaminated" water. If these steps do not work. I would contact the local Culligan Man. but you want somebody that knows water chemistry, and somebody that just wants to sell equipment.

Hope this helps. I would be interested in how all of this turns out with you.

 

[Chinese]

Thank you very much. I am so glad I found some one really know this stuff.
I just call the local Rain Soft dealer and start regenerate the softer system. It seems the system had been turned off for a while. So I set the generation up for four time per week. Hope the water will get better. Also I will drain the hot water this weekend.

Thanks again. Will let you know the process.

Juliet