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Old 01-05-14, 07:07 AM   #11
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Thanks Geoff

You said:

" But you're going to have to do some research and talk to some experts to get your
money's worth."


Got any ideas?

Kind regards
David

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Old 01-05-14, 09:18 AM   #12
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I used a simple approach to remove iron. If the iron can oxidize, it becomes heavy and settles..

I used a 500 gal. plastic tank and an fish aquarium air pump. I treated the water from the well in the tank before I pressured it up to use in the house. (Not under pressure, open tank working through the filler hole)

I free flowed water from the well into the plastic tank and bubbled air through it. (Float SW. installed to shut the well pump down when the plastic tank was full) The iron will settle to the bottom of the tank and looks like orange slime, which needs to be removed from time to time. (A small ElCheepo pump and a dip tube that reaches the bottom of the plastic tank works well)

I then pulled water from the tank and pressured it up with a shallow well pump/pressure tank. Ran it through a filter and softener.. Wala.. Best water in the area! (Everyone around me had bad wells) Had neighbors coming to my house for drinking water. Even removed the nasty smell..

Had to use a portion of my garage for the system but it was well worth it. No more orange sinks, laundry and hair. I'm in Ohio so I had to keep things from freezing..

Something like this may help with the solids issue but the salt thing is a whole different story. Good luck..
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Old 01-05-14, 12:45 PM   #13
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For starters, surf the net and fill up with info concerning brackish and sea water treatment options. Here's another website full of descriptions and pictures:

Well Water Filtration Systems, Acid, Low pH, Iron, Bacteria, Manganese, Odors

Use the blue menu bar on top of the page to navigate and learn. I don't know if I would recommend buying from this site, as it contains some of the elements that the well guru guy advised as "shady sales tactics", but the site has lots of practical info. This site as well as many others have forms you can submit to request quotes on recommended systems as well as numbers to call to talk to an "expert" with no real commitment on your part.

The pretreat stage OffGrid described is known as air injection filtration. It oxidizes the soluble iron in the water without using any harsh chemicals. Once oxidized, the iron turns insoluble and can be filtered or settled out. You will definitely need an iron-removal stage in your system. And some sort of suspended solids filter after it.

Your water is well into the brackish range. The only real differences between brackish and sea water treatment are the concentration and the "trace" minerals. One favorable property of your well water is that it has such high salinity, the calcium and magnesium salts are less likely to foul your RO membrane.

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Old 01-05-14, 05:22 PM   #14
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I found a somewhat lengthy article dealing with treating your kind of water:

http://www.usbr.gov/lc/phoenix/progr...roundwater.pdf

I didn't read the whole article, but it did give me a couple of ideas. First, you may be able to blend some of your source water back in with the processed water to increase your yield. Second, you may be able to use a micro or nano filter as a stage immediately before the RO filter to knock out most of the ore that could clog up your RO membrane. This added stage may or may not make your system run better, longer or cheaper.

Once you have an idea of the processes and technologies available, and the jargon associated with the water treatment industries, you can begin to seek out experts in your local area. You said you are near Melbourne, a major city. This is a mammoth resource in terms of resources. There are bound to be many businesses and public health organizations that deal with water treatment. It should not take many phone calls to find someone who will help or even meet face to face with you. Many of the entities that do a decent volume of work can refer you to their customers that have working systems with feed water just like yours. All you have to do is ask.
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Old 01-06-14, 12:12 AM   #15
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Hello Of grid kinda Guy,

Just the man I am looking for. I actually found a large scale system that used poly styrene balls to separate the Iron from the water but I have lost the site . I will try to find it again and perhaps scale it down. I will give some thought to your clever idea too.
This has been really helpful.
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Old 01-06-14, 12:24 AM   #16
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Thanks Jeff,

I have done a lot of work in the past on this with out a great deal of success (lost heart). At the time the Bore/Well cost $15,000 to drill and I was loath to throw good money after bad. Further after the drought subsided most of my garden was dead and I had started growing cacti and succulents . I retired about a year ago due to ill health and I have renewed my interest in making my bore pay for itself. Hence my recent active presence on this forum. Thanks to you and OTGKOG etc I am reinvigorated. Best thing to do now is read all the material you have sent me.

Kind regards ,
David
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Old 01-06-14, 05:37 AM   #17
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I saved lots of money on a softener and salt by treating the water before running it through. Removing the iron was the big issue and the softener needed to do it straight from the well would have needed to be 3x the size..
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Old 02-10-14, 09:45 AM   #18
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Hey David. Any updates on this?
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Old 02-10-14, 11:45 PM   #19
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Hello Daox,

Thank you for the interest.
I have all but given up on my bore/well.
I did not mention that the pump was no longer working.
It cost me $1,000. I simply forgot about it all as there seemed to be no economicaly sensible alternative. However I thought that the system would provide enough water should my home ever catch fire. Australia is a wonderful country but it has been desccribed by a venerated Australian poet (Dorothea Mackellar) in part as follows:

" I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains... "

When I tried the bore the pump failed to work. So much for my fire hydrant.
I pulled it up a few weeks ago only to find it back as pitch and caked in a decomposing shroud. I know the black is probably caused by manganese and no doubt the high salt content has not improved the brew.

I hope to fix the pump and suspend it above the water line to avoid any future repetition of pump failure .

It is not without significance that today is a day of total fire ban as grass fires sweep through the state ( bit of an over statement) and firbrigade vehicles rush past my home and smoke is everywhere though the fires are not that close to me.

I have a 12' plus conifer hedge out the front that is well maintained albeit over 12 foot tall. These are fearsome when they catch fire . I did plan to fillit with sprinklers should a fire become threateningly close.

My plans at present are to create a solar driven cool air supply to my home by inserting a coil of black poly pipe (filled with water) down into my bore . I then propose to place a fan within this coil and some way down my bore. The top of the bore will then become an insulated tube of say 10' diameter that will run to my home where I hope to deliver some cool comfort during extended periods of high temperature .

I may have given up the fight for a gree oasis for the moment but it goes against thr grain to just give up.

So thats the news . Thank you again Daox .

regards
David
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Old 02-11-14, 07:39 AM   #20
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Thanks for the update David. Sorry to hear that it didn't work out. Let us know about your next project though.

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