Our clients in the Village of Lakemoor IL had a private well water problem.
They had a Culligan Mark 89 water softener. It used salt. A LOT of salt. But they still had rust stains. Their water smelled. They were not happy.
It was time for a change. A neighbor referred them to Garrelts Water to help solve the problem.
Why the Water Softener Couldn’t Stop the Rust
With 3.5ppm of Iron, our client’s well in Lakemoor IL is almost 12x over the staining limit.
There were two problems that made complete rust removal impossible with a water softener:
High pH
Neutral pH is 7.0. This well has a natural pH of 7.2. Iron begins to naturally oxidize as the pH level increases. Once Iron is oxidized, a water softener CANNOT remove it.
Iron Bacteria
Iron Bacteria can give water a discolored look. It usually gives a strange odor that often smells like sulfur or sewage. Iron Bacteria creates a slime that plugs up water softener resin. Once resin is fouled, it makes even basic softening hard to do.
Then there was the smell in the cold water.
Non-detectable levels of Hydrogen Sulfide gas were detected during testing. It turns out that Iron Bacteria was the actual source of the rotten egg odor.
Iron Curtain + Disinfection = Strong Foundation
The first step was to control the Iron and Iron Bacteria.
We started with a custom 12” Iron Curtain Junior Filter system. The H125 is a 1.25” light-commercial filter valve with custom software. The software allows us to connect special wiring that controls a chlorine injection pump.
The Iron was gone. The smell was gone. Now it was time to get the water nice and soft.
New Modern Water Softener = Fresh Start
Our customer had an old Culligan Mark 89 water softener system. With water like this, a softener is an ABSOLUTE MUST HAVE!
This well had a massive hardness level of 35gpg! That’s 7x worse than the national average!
To soften the water we installed a larger 48,000 grain E3 Water Softener.
The E3 line has an accurate meter and advanced tracking software. It records, learns, and adjusts based on changing water use.
Best of all, the E3 uses a heavy-duty design for maximum reliability. Its really just a scaled down version of its commercial “big brothers”. You get a simple, reliable water softener. What you don’t get are all the service headaches our clients had with their old Culligan.
Another Happy Customer
Our Lakemoor customer’s complaints with the Culligan softener were Iron staining, odor, and high salt consumption.
Now their home is rust-free. The smell is gone. They use a fraction of the salt that they used to.
They got exactly what they wanted. In our book, that’s a success!
What Now?
Are you battling the water quality coming out of your tap?
Why wait any longer? Give us a call for a FREE Water Test. We’ll come out for a “No-Obligation Water Test” and explain what options you have. No pressure, just the facts. You can also call us at (815) 344-8186 to get started!