A water softener is designed to remove positively charged molecules of hardness from well water using their magnetic attraction to the negatively charged water softener resin. As the well water passes through the softener's resin bed, the hardness molecules are attracted and become magnetically attached to the resin.

Once the water softener's resin is full of hardness, the softener goes into regeneration mode. During a water softener's regeneration, salt brine water is pumped through the resin. The salt's positive magnetic charge is stronger than the positive charge of the resin, so the hardness detaches from the resin, and magnetically attaches to the salt molecules. This brine water is then flushed down the drain, and the water softener's resin is clean and ready to soften incoming well water.

Iron in well water poses a completely different challenge for the water softener. Iron one of many minerals that make up a well water's hardness content. As a result, the iron is removed from the water by the water softener with the same effectiveness as it removes the hardness.

Here is where the problem begins. After the iron has been removed from the water, it sits in the resin along with the hardness waiting for the next regeneration. Iron molecules have a very strong affinity to oxygen molecules. Inside the water softener's resin is the iron molecules' first exposure to oxygen. The iron bonds with the oxygen molecules to form the compound iron-oxide (aka rust).

Once these two molecules have bonded, they are no longer in the solution of the water and become a tiny flake of rust. This flake of rust now occupies the spot on the resin bead where the iron molecule was removed from the water.

Once the water softener's regeneration begins, the salt water removes the hardness molecules from the resin as usual. However, since the bond between the iron and the oxygen molecules that formed the rust is so strong, the salt brine water is not able to remove it from the resin. As a result, these tiny rust flakes are left behind after the regeneration.

The spots on the resin where these rust flakes are trapped cannot remove any new hardness or iron from the incoming well water. As this trapped rust continues to build up in the resin, the water softener's efficiency gradually will deteriorate until it fails allowing iron into the home.

Popular products like Iron-Out, Resup, and Softener Guard are diluted acids used in an attempt to break this iron oxygen bond. Although they do make a difference, they are ineffective at removing 100% of the trapped rust, so the resin stays fouled, and the stains keep coming. This is why it is a popular recommendation to install an iron filter before the water softener. The thinking is that the iron filter will remove all iron from the water before it gets into the water softener and becomes trapped.

There are two issues to consider when employing an iron filter.

1. They cost from $800 to $3500 to purchase and install

2. Their media also eventually fouls with trapped iron-oxide and must be completely removed and replaced every three to five years to prevent any iron getting into the water softener.

There is one treatment that is able to remove 100% of the trapped rust from a water softener's resin bed allowing the softener to remove all iron from the well water without the added cost of an iron filter. That treatment is Crystal Clean. Since 1980, Crystal Clean has been used by homeowners and Water Professionals to prevent water softener iron fouling. A water softener that does not suffer from trapped iron build-up will remove all iron from well water just as effectively as an iron filter.

The automatic Crystal Clean System's upfront cost is only $289, with an ongoing treatment cost that averages as little as $5 to $10 a month. The system is also backed by a 60 Day Full Money Back Guarantee. The treatment is available from local Water Softener Dealers, or can be purchased factory direct online, or by calling 1-800-200-4112.

Iron Water Filter