Magnetic Separation to Remove Iron Compounds from Water?

Hey Packrat, I am on a well and also have a lot of iron in my water and we use it for the whole house including drinking. In my basement I have an iron removal system made by Aquapure. It utilizes a proprietary media that removes all traces of iron and the only electricity it uses is for a timer that automatically back flushes the system every night. It works great, no iron stains anywhere. The media is fairly inexpensive and I only have to change it out about every 5-6 years, other than that, there is no maintenance. Trace amounts of sulpher is actually good for your plants.

hi kramarat.,

thanks i'll look into it.

packrat

I went to the aquapure site and their iron removal systems also have a water softener included. You don't want that, the salt will kill your plants.

If the iron compond is insoluble and magnetic then yes, you can use magnets to separate them from the water. You might want to add a little bleach into the water: it will oxidize and precipitate out most iron compounds.

hey DVader, bleach: will think about it, would need some kinda tank or injector. no tank on system now.

packrat

Maybe I'm missing something here…

- The water is non-potable for intermittent irrigation.

- The water is leaving rust stains on the walls and fences.

- The plants like the present water content.

Would it not be easier to design an irrigation system that did not spray rusty water on the walls and fences? You could install a drip system or perforated hose under the surface of the dirt.

Delmar , you are right on the money there with your comment. the majority of the system consists of soakerhoses, these are the rough looking black rubber, the only thing I'm anticipating as a negative , is the possibility of quick clogging from the dissolved minerals.The potential staining problems are just in a few areas where i would be hand watering. And I am a bit of a spaz when it comes to using the hose.. Its actually not a big concern and more like me just thinking out loud. I was just curious if it's possible to remove the iron from the waterwith a magnet, yes, no or unanswered it's definitely not important.

Packrat

Why not just let it be?

Let it be...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdopMqrftXs

Since there appears to be H₂S, it is possible that the iron is present as sulfide in which case magnetic separation may not work. Try leaving a permanent magnet in a pail of this water to see if it traps any particles. The problem may be the that the dissolved iron compound gets deposited on the wall and later oxidises in air to show up as a stain.

Hey all,

Packrat will be gone for a little while, no it's not jail,..... this time. I should be back in a week with all new episode, same time same channel

Packrat----over and out

The answer is yes...The problem you face, is the "strength" of the magnetic field. It will have to be powerful enough to overcome the the forces of the water traveling in the pipe. Some experimentation would need to be done to determine the strength of the field relative to the volume of water with the respect to its velocity.

We used to get iron particles from rusted pipe lines into our process water, which used to give the rust stains on textile fabrics.

Your iron pipeline with side reaction could cause the problem.

One simple solution which worked for us.

We used to tie nylon or polyester bolting cloth at the out let points/taps[ open gauge fabrics used for printing screen] and get the rust particles successfully separated by filteration. You may clean it periodically .

If your iron particles are of similar form you may try the same.

Adding my 2 Cents worth...

Since a magnet will not remove your iron, there is one tried and true method and that is to employ chemical injection to remove the soluble iron by means of precipitation.

Easiest and most cost effective way to remove the iron is to hire a water treatment specialist like Culligan, or who ever is qualified in your area. Look out for pure quacks that will try to hoodwink ya and sell you or rent you worthless pieces of equipment and services!

You will only need a small chemical metering pump, small diameter metering pump hose, an inline complete-mix injector and some solution tanks to inject liquid sodium hypochlorite solution (same stuff you use in a swimming pool that is mixed with water in the holding tank) into your raw water supply line. The injection rate will depend on the actual amount of soluble iron present in the water, in ppm or mg/L.

I would suggest that you take a water sample (in a new clean plastic bottle) to a qualified laboratory for determination of the quantity of iron and manganese in your water PRIOR to talking to any water treatment companies. You could also take the water sample to your nearest municipal water works department that has a good analytical lab where they're also willing to help you perform the water quality testing. There may be a fee associated with the testing because afterall time is money and you'd be using chemicals in the testing, all obtained and paid for by taxes.

If you really want to remove nearly all of the iron (and possibly manganese) you may also have to chemical dose the raw water with Potassium Permanganate. this will require you to have a second chemical metering pump and a second solution tank.

Also, do a Google search on removing iron and manganese from water....there's a wealth of information out there to explain the basics.....hopefully you had some elementary chemistry course in HS and/or college in order to follow most of the info you'll find on water chemistry.

Good luck!