If you have ever lived where iron is a problem with house water supply, then you know the consequences! It is one of the most overt problems with drinking, cooking, and cleaning water because of the flavor, stains and color.

Iron found in water is in two different forms. The first is ferrous iron, or iron(II) oxide (FeO). Water containing ferrous oxide will be colorless and clear. However, FeO rapidly oxidizes when exposed to air and forms ferric oxide, or Fe(III) oxide, or Fe2O3. This form of iron is reddish brown and is used as a cheap pigment to make red paint. This is the form of iron that causes the red and brown stain in the sink, toilet, and tub.

This iron also stains the laundry. Whites lose their whiteness and this dingy coloring cannot be easily removed. It doesn’t take much, only .3 parts per million, to cause these 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. It was finally solved when my wife added borax to the water when she washed whites.

Not only is the staining a bother, but the iron also gives a disagreeable metallic taste to drinking and cooking 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. Fill a clear glass with water and let it sit for fifteen to twenty minutes. If all the visible iron falls to the bottom, then you have ferric iron in the water. They are about Cialis five microns or smaller, large enough to be filtered out.

In this case, a cartridge filter will be able to remove the ferric contaminants from the water. The particles are not too small to be lodged in the filter and thus removed from the water.

On the other hand, if the particles did not fall to the bottom, then a cartridge filter will probably not be able to remove them. In this case either a water softener or an iron removal system will be needed. This article cannot deal with these.

Filtering your drinking water with an activated charcoal cartridge filter has added bonuses. Whether or not iron is a problem with the water, many other contaminants, including some that are harmful, are also removed. These may include many hydrocarbons, pathogens and bacteria, chlorine and chlorine compounds, nitrates and nitrites, and heavy metals.

Iron is needed in our bodies but iron(III)oxide does not provide it. It is an expensive nuisance that ruins flavoring and stains clothing and plumbing fixtures. If you have a problem with iron(III) contamination in your water, consider buying a cartridge filter as a relatively inexpensive fix.

Author Bio: The water filters we use and highly recommend are called Berkey Water Filter and are the best we are aware of. Plus, their Black Berkeys iron removal filter as well as other heavy metals and can be re-cleaned to purify up to 6,000 gallons of drinking water!

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: iron in water,filter iron water,iron water filter,iron water filters,remove iron from water