If you ever lived where iron was a problem in the water, you were probably glad if you were able to move away! Iron in household water systems is one of the biggest nuisances and is the cause of some refusing to live in certain neighborhoods.
Iron found in water is in two different forms. Ferrous iron, or iron(II) oxide (FeO) is the first. Water out of the faucet containing FeO is clear and colorless. Ferrous oxide, however, oxidizes when it is exposed to air and then it forms ferric oxide, or Fe(III) oxide (Fe2O3). This form of iron is reddish brown and is used as a cheap pigment to make red paint. This is the compound of iron that makes the red and brown stain in the toilet, sink, or tub.
Ferric oxide’s ability to stain also appears in the laundry. Whites are no longer white and this problem is not easily corrected. It only takes .3 parts of iron per million to cause these staining problems. Formerly, when we lived in the country and had a well, my white shirts gradually lost their whiteness, especially on the sleeves. The water was not clear or bad tasting, but the presence of iron showed up in the laundry. The problem was finally solved by adding borax to the whites’ laundry.
The staining is a bother, but also the iron leaves a disagreeable metallic taste to the water. Speaking of staining, the iron also reacts with the tannin in coffee, tea, and alcohol, producing an undesirable gray or black appearance.
Here is a simple test to see what kind of iron (if any) you might have in your water. First, fill a clear glass with your suspected water and let it stand for fifteen to twenty minutes. If the water becomes clear as the iron settles to the bottom, you have ferric iron in your water. This means that the particles are large enough to filter out, about five microns or smaller.
In this case, a filter like the Big Berkey Water Filter will be able to remove the ferric contaminants from the water. The particles are large enough to get caught in the filter leaving your water free from the ferric iron problems.
If, on the other hand, the particles remain suspended in the water, the cartridge filter will be unable to filter them out. You will then need to turn to a water softener or an iron removal system. These are beyond the scope of this article.
Filtering your drinking water with an activated charcoal cartridge filter has added bonuses. Many other contaminants besides iron (many of them harmful) are also removed. These include heavy metals, pathogens and bacteria, chlorine and chlorine compounds, nitrates and nitrites, and many hydrocarbons.
Yes, our bodies need iron but not in the form present in contaminated water. Ferric oxide ruins flavoring and stains clothing and plumbing fixtures. If your drinking water contains iron(III), consider purchasing a Berkey Water Filter as a relatively inexpensive fix.
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Tags: filter iron water, iron in water, iron water filter, iron water filters, remove iron from water
