Thank you, Margette, for the iron in water question.  The United States EPA does not consider dissolved iron in drinking water a hazard to anyone's health at any concentration.  It does include iron in its Secondary Drinking Water Standards which deal with aesthetic matters such as the color, taste or odor of the water.

We recently read a few articles written by chemists water professionals who decided to look a bit further into the effects of dissolved iron concentrations in drinking water.  They developed an interesting hypothesis that although dissolved iron does not directly cause health problems, it may indirectly play a part in allowing other, negative things to happen to the human body.

But, for now (at least), word on the street says that higher iron concentrations in drinking water pose no direct threat to human health... though they CAN ruin your favorite shirt/blouse with stains, make your plumbing fixtures look gross with ugly stains, and/or clog up your pipes, water heaters, water filters, etc.

WaterWorks Total Iron Test

Last week, residents complained about the water quality at a Village Board meeting and brought pictures of children with orange hair, damaged pipes and water sample results that documented the iron content was some three times the normal level.

This week, after action taken by the village, residents say things are looking up.

“It is looking better, this is good news,” Karol Armbruster, one of the residents affected by the rusty water, said Tuesday.

Her daughter has had to visit a hair salon on two occasions due to the rust in the water, she said. “It was turning orange and a had a little green tint,” she said,

“It doesn’t seem to be as bad,” said Debbie Way, another resident.

The water problems began Nov. 19 when the motor that runs Well 14 broke. At that time, village officials began sending water to the area from other wells.

The rust is the result of a change in direction of the water flow in the pipes.

“The cause of the rust was a build-up of iron deposits inside the pipes for some 50 years,” said Michael Pubentz, Montgomery public works director. ( source )

For these folks water conditions will improve once the new well pump comes online, according to the article, but what about YOUR water? Do you know how much iron or other metals it contains? While some metals (like iron) usually pose more of an aesthetic problem, other metals such as lead, mercury, chromium, etc. can have lasting detrimental health effects.

Moral of the story?

If you notice sudden changes in water quality could mean problems with the safety of your water and only testing the water for its purity will let you know for sure if the changes mean action needs to get taken by your water company or, if your water comes have a private well, you need to take action.

In this case the water district had a pump fail and needed to redirect water through different lines that had not seen a lot of use in a long time and years of corrosion got pumped to people’s homes. We believe that local residents’ seeking testing and banding together to lobby for prompt action on the part of the water company resulted in the situation getting cleared up a lot faster than may have happened if residents had not presented test results along with their complaints.

Certified water testing data gets results. So, as we like to say, “It’s your water, your health… and ultimately your LIFE.”

Take an interest in the quality of your water and perform spot checks from time to time — especially if you notice a ‘change’ in the color, taste or smell of your water. Doing so could, in some cases, possibly save your life or the life of a loved one.

Interested in removing iron from drinking water? Whether you need a replacement 10″ iron filter cartridge, replacement 20″ iron filter cartridge or a whole house iron removal system, we believe FilterWater.Com may have the correct solution for your unique water quality situation.

It seems that after years of complaining and the outcry for action seen on one man’s Facebook page, local authorities in Malverne finally found a way to force Long Island American Water Company’s hand — by having samples of water pulled from random homes in the area and tested by an outside, independent water testing laboratory.

We will let the article tell you the rest…

The results are in!

In response to the overwhelming amount of complaints from residents about the brown water coming from their tap, the Malverne Civic Association (ar)ranged for a handful of homes to go under the microscope.

Water samples were taken from five houses located on Oak Street, Scarcliffe Drive, Walker Street, Rider Avenue, and Nassau Boulevard in Malverne and sent to an H2M, an independent lab in Melville for testing.

Earlier this month Bill Varley, president of Long Island American Water, the utility that provides water to homes in Malverne and surrounding areas, announced that the results were in. (Days later, the company also finally put its $7.5 million iron treatment facility in Malverne into service.)

As promised, Varley shared the results with the Civic, including Tom Grech, the Malverne man who was instrumental in rallying residents to speak out about the issue using a Facebook page he created called “I Love Malverne…but hate the brown water (From LI Water).”

Residents were mostly concerned with the levels of naturally-occurring iron in their tap water. While the Nassau Count Department of Health does not recognize iron has a health hazard it does set standards for aesthetic reasons, since the iron can turn the water brown and even stain laundry.

The Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for total iron in cold water states that it should be less than 1.50 mg/L. None of the samples taken from homes in the village came close to hitting this limit. The highest level, 1.15 mg/L, was taken from a kitchen faucet in a home on Walker Street.

The samples also fell within the acceptable water color standards. None of them met the criteria for being considered “discolored” or odorous, and were within the pH range of 7.5 to 8.5 units that the health department recommends.

As for oxidized iron levels, there were a couple of samples that came back higher than the standards, but these are guidelines set forth by Long Island American Water itself and not any health agency.

…

While some residents reported having “very brown water” two days after the plant when into service, Varley said that homeowners could see the water look worse before it gets better. This is the result of reverse air flow that got into the system when they put the plant on line and is only temporarily. The company has been flushing hydrants around the neighborhood to counteract this.

It appears that some residents are now starting to see the benefits of the plant, reporting noticeable improvements in the color of their water.

One resident, commenting on the Facebook page, wrote, “I have run several baths for my kids over the last few days and the water has been the clearest I have ever seen it.”

Another added, “Mine too – not totally clear, but much clearer than I have seen in years!” ( source )

There you have it. Concerned citizens just like you decided they wanted change and through their diligent efforts they got it. When it comes to the safety of your drinking water, you, too have a say and your opinion DOES matter — but only if you speak up and don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

Testing for iron in drinking water

First of all, not every iron in drinking water test kit does the same job. Some only test for ‘free dissolved iron‘ while others test for ‘total iron‘. Clearly we suggest testing for total iron, but in some instances testing for only dissolved iron does actually make sense.

Got a problem w/ iron in your water? If so, you have joined the millions of other folks who have the same problem.

Iron occurs naturally in the environment and as water passes across it in rock formations small amounts of iron dissolve into the water. Over time the amount of iron dissolved into the water can grow to a large amount and in too great a quantity iron in water can result in stains on fixtures, metallic taste, the formation of precipitates which can clog plumbing and filters, etc.

You can find additional information on iron in drinking water on an earlier blog posting… here

For those reasons, and more, most people prefer to filter iron out of their water before using it in their homes, schools and places of business. The Pentek RFFE20-BB Iron Reduction Filter helps people accomplish that goal.

Configured as a 20″x5″ radial flow ‘Big Blue” cartridge, the Pentek RFFE20-BB reduces iron in drinking water and has a genuine Pentek part number of 155263-03. This product effectively removes up to 3 ppm of dissolved iron from water and in doing so reduces the metallic taste caused by iron and reduces orange/brown staining found on sinks, tubs, toilets and other plumbing fixtures.

Size of Filter: 20″ x 5″, w/ actual measurements of 19 3/4″ x 4 7/8″

Optimal pre-filter water conditions:

• pH: greater than 7.0 (test for pH)
• Silica: less than 100 ppm
• Manganese: less than 1 ppm (test for manganese)
• Iron: less than 3 ppm (test for total iron)
• Iron Bacteria: None
• Hydrogen Sulfide: None (test for hydrogen sulfide)

Using the Pentek RFFE20-BB Iron Reduction Filter to treat water outside of specified limits may result in shortened filter life.

We have had many people ask us about potential problems and/or dangers associated with the presence of iron in drinking water since we started the Water Testing Blog. We attribute the public’s interest in iron in drinking water to its ability to stain fixtures, clog certain types of filters, stain clothes, ruin the taste of food and beverages, cause water to have an unpleasant taste, etc.

Despite all those drawbacks to the presence of iron in drinking water, it does not, at least according to the current Primary and Secondary Drinking Water Standards set forth by the USEPA, pose much of a health risk.

Note: The USEPA has set the Maximum Contaminant Level for iron in drinking water at 0.3 ppm in their Secondary Drinking Water Standards, which deal more with aesthetic properties of water than with health-related issues.

Most often when testing for iron people will test for Ferrous Iron:

* Ferrous — This form of iron results in the most complaints and reasons for examination of water for iron content. If allowed to remain in a state with little oxygen present, this type of iron remains in solution and the water will appear colorless. However, in the case of tap water allowed to remain in service lines coming from a well or other source, rust colored iron particles may begin to precipitate out of solution. These particles obviously ruin water clarity and give the impression of unsafe drinking water. Additionally, they clog certain types of water filtration systems and cause the owners of those water filtration systems to replace them well in advance of their expected replacement dates. Water professionals often refer to this type of iron in water as ‘clear iron’. ( source )

To test for the presence of iron in water yourself, you can choose from several different methods:

• Liquid, Tablet and/or Powder Test Kits — see Taylor Iron K-1716 Test Kit
• Electronic Meters — see eXact Micro 7+ and Color Q PRO 11
• Test Strips — see Ida’s Iron, Iron Check, AquaChek Iron, and Visual Total Iron

These particles obviously ruin water clarity and give the impression of unsafe drinking water.  Additionally, they clog certain types of water filtration systems and cause the owners of those water filtration systems to replace them well in advance of their expected replacement dates.  Water professionals often refer to this type of iron in water as ‘clear iron’.

• Have a water filtration system and need replacement filters? Check out the enormous selection of in-stock water filters at Filters Fast!
• Looking to test for ferrous iron? Check out this Total Iron Visual Test Kit with a detection levels starting at 0.3 mg/L and going up to 5.0 mg/L.

Most times the reddish rusty color comes from iron in the water and under normal circumstances that iron comes in two forms: Ferrous and Ferric (AKA: Clear and Red, +2 and +3)

In the past testing for ‘total iron’ required more complex testing methods but recently a simple, at-home total iron test hit the market:

Industrial Test Systems, Inc. (ITS), located in Rock Hill, SC, recently announce the release of its new WaterWorks^TM Total Iron visual test which detects ferric (Fe+3) as well as ferrous (Fe+2) forms of iron. They developed this test to make accurate total iron testing easier and possible without the use of a meter. Test times range around 3 minutes or less and require a very simple test procedure. See below:

WaterWorks^TM Total Iron

TEST PROCEDURE:

1. Add contents of one iron powder pillow to the supplied vial.
2. Fill the vial with water sample to top line.
3. Close the vial with the screw cap and shake for 20 seconds.
4. Wait 3 minutes for the color to develop.
5. Remove the cap.
6. Place vial in white circles and look down into the vial to match to the nearest color block, on the reverse side, to determine the iron concentration.

National Secondary Drinking Water Regulations, as set forth by the USEPA, recommend an iron level of no more than 0.3 ppm. Detection levels for the WaterWorks^TM Total Iron visual test are 0, 0.3, 0.5, 1, 3, 5 mg/L (ppm). The test kit contains 50 individually wrapped foil powder pillows, a test vial with cap, and a color chart card — everything you need to detect total iron in drinking water.

Interested in purchasing the WaterWorks^TM Total Iron visual test kit? Click here.

Note: The USEPA has set the Maximum Contaminant Level for iron in drinking water at 0.3 ppm in their Secondary Drinking Water Standards, which deal more with aesthetic properties of water than with health-related issues.

Its presence in drinking and process water does annoy people, though, so knowing what types of iron may exist in a water supply has a bit of relevance. Below please find four types of iron commonly found in public and private water supplies:

• Ferrous — This form of iron results in the most complaints and reasons for examination of water for iron content.  If allowed to remain in a state with little oxygen present, this type of iron remains in solution and the water will appear colorless.  However, in the case of tap water allowed to remain in service lines coming from a well or other source, rust colored iron particles may begin to precipitate out of solution.  These particles obviously ruin water clarity and give the impression of unsafe drinking water.  Additionally, they clog certain types of water filtration systems and cause the owners of those water filtration systems to replace them well in advance of their expected replacement dates.  Water professionals often refer to this type of iron in water as ‘clear iron’.
• Ferric — This form of iron creates sediments ranging in color from riddish-brown all the way to black and the precipitates formed will not go back into solution.  Therefore they pose a great problem for water filtration systems.  Water professionals often refer to this form of iron in water as ‘red iron’.
• Iron Bacteria — While this form of bacteria does have the word ‘bacteria’ in it, it has no pathogenic properties and exists more as a nuisance than anything else.  You can expect to find this form of bacteria in drinking water showing up in soil, ground water, and surface water.  In a household environment you may encounter this form of bacteria lingering around the metal parts of plumbing fixtures and/or in dark areas such as spaces hidden under the toilet lid tank.  Appearance-wise this form of iron in drinking water can look like a slimy or gelatinous substance hanging in the water.  With regard to color, the substance will typically appear brown, red or sometimes even white.
• Organic Iron — This form of iron exists in a complexed form with a wide variety of different organic materials.  It typically has a yellow or brown appearance and shows up mainly in shallow wells and surface water.

If you want to test for iron, keep in mind that a lot of home water test kits will not detect total iron (Fe+2 and Fe+3).  Also keep in mind that even the total iron test kits do not detect iron bacteria or organic iron.  Therefore, when attempting to diagnose your water’s potential iron problems, make sure that you choose the proper test kit and/or certified laboratory testing service for your individual water testing needs.

What do we suggest as options for water testing when it comes to detecting iron in drinking water?  Companies such as National Testing Laboratories offer nice packages of comprehensive water testing services that you may want to explore.

If you have only ferrous and ferric iron as your main concerns, then a simple home test kit for total iron (Fe+2/Fe+3) such as the WaterWorks^tm Total Iron visual test kit may work quite well.

Keep in mind, though, that nothing takes the place of a qualified laboratory analysis of your drinking water when/if you feel your family’s safety is on the line.