LESLIE: Charlie in Missouri is dealing with rusty water. Tell us about the problem.
CHARLIE: Well, I have a well and the water, after a while, turns the shower curtain a rusty color, the internal part of the washer; that kind of thing. It’s just got a rust color to it after a while.
TOM: Right. Mm-hmm.
CHARLIE: And I wasn’t sure what to explore there as far as water treatment or what to do with that.
TOM: Have you ever had the water tested for iron content and also for pH?
CHARLIE: We had it tested some time ago. I don’t know the iron content of it; they didn’t say that. It had a little bacteria in it but there were no metal problems with it.
TOM: There are three things that you can do. You can install a mechanical filter if you have visible rust. So, that’s something that will actually trap …
CHARLIE: Yeah, well, I have a small filter on it; a household filter we change about every two months but that hasn’t helped.
TOM: When you change it, do you find rust particles in it?
CHARLIE: It’s kind of black (chuckles) when I take it out.
TOM: Mmm. OK. Alright. Well, the second thing that you can do is install a water softener, especially if your water pH is less than about 6.8, because that will remove some of what’s causing this, which is the iron.
And the third thing is a type of filter called an oxidizing filter and that will actually absorb the iron particles on the surface. So those – that combination of filtration system will stop the rusty water. It’s a bit – you have to be a bit of a chemist to get this right, though. So, do you have a company that does water treatment for you?
CHARLIE: Not at this point; we don’t, no. I’m sure there is …
TOM: You might want to get somebody in there to put a system in because I don’t think this is a do-it-yourself project.
CHARLIE: Right.
TOM: And I think with the right combination of elements, such as what we just talked about, you’re not going to have any more rusty water.
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