Brownish Well Water, any advice?
Question:I just moved into a house that is about 20 years old. The water started out dark brown with red flakes in it. I let it run for a couple hours and it cleared to slightly brown haze in clean looking water. I went out the the water pump and there are two sealed canister very big, and a small bucket with a lid filled with a neon purple liquid. I am not sure if I need to put Morrison salt pellets in the liquid or dump the liquid out. The toilets all have metal stains so I used Iron out to clean them, but I do not want to wash my laundry in that water. In case this helps the water heater was turned off for 3 months before I moved in. Thanks for the help!
Answers:
sounds like you have a potassium permangante filter system these do not use salt...the purple stuff in the small bucket is the potassium permanganate...this will clear the water up if the filter system is in good shape and will backwash correctly...you might need to get a water filter company to come out and check the filter system..you still might not want to wash your white clothes in this water..have or take a sample of the water to your local health deptartment to have it checked..then you will know what is in it and what you need to filter it out...the red stains are ferrous iron oxide stains and will cause everything including your hair to have a red tint to it if your filter system doesnt work correctly..
sounds like rusty pipes and an underused system . Have your well water tested, and run the water till it clears. If it doesn't clear up you may need to replace the pipes.
wwwstat is correct, but for Pete's sake, don't touch that potassium permanganate crap. It can burn your skin. That nasty chemical should never be handled by a home owner.
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