Limits for drinking water: manganese – 0.05 mg/l (ppm), iron – 0.2 mg/l (ppm)
- Rusty water turbidity or brownish coloring
- Iron smell and bitter taste
- Sediments in pipes, fittings and appliances
- Breeding ground for colonies of bacteria
- Reduction in efficiency of appliances and others
- Increase in the cost of operation and heating until complete destruction of the equipment through which hard water flows
Removal of iron and manganese from water
- The principle of ion exchange, electrocoagulation or oxidation with filtration
Increased iron content in water can be recognized by brown or orange color. This turbidity can also be smelled and the water has a typical bitter iron taste, if you drink it. The accompanying element of iron in water is manganese, which causes oily spots on the surface, water colored in black and dark sediments.
There is no health risks from iron and manganese in water. However, it is very likely that there will be colonies of bacteria that are the cause of many infections and for which such environment is a breeding ground.
Iron and manganese cause mainly technological problems. They settle in pipes, fittings, boilers, heat exchangers, and wash out as rusty or dark brown clouds. Installations where water with increased iron and manganese is flowing will have increased operation costs, greater heat loss and may even get destroyed.
Iron and manganese most commonly occur in groundwater. However, due to the corrosion of water distribution, they may also occur in hot water or in cooling circuits.
