Frequently asked questions about common water problems in North Carolina

Frequently Asked Questions

About Common Water Problems North Carolina

Why does my toilet bowl gets all rusty brown?

Why are my sinks and bathtubs turning green?

Why does my water smell bad?

Why won't my soap lather?

How often should I change my carbon filter?

How often do I need to service my neutralizer?

Why is my water hard?

What is a grain?

Why don't I have any water pressure?

What is an R.O. system?

How does a water softener work?

How do I get the chlorine out of my water?

Why do I have a metallic taste to my water?

Do you have a question not here?

Your toilet bowl gets stained because you have either iron or manganese in you water supply.

The solution is to put on a filtration system for iron removal. A water softener or a iron master can be used. With a softener you get rid of the iron and you get soft water. The iron master ariates the water causing the iron to oxidize and it is caught by a filter and discharged periodically.

If this is a problem your water has, fill out an analysis and we'll fix it for you.

Smells and tastes depend a lot on the people. Sometimes there is a hydrogen gas in the water. Other times they come from bacterial iron or from the smell a mineral itself (eg. sulfur, hydro-sulfide) . Quite often bacteria will attach itself to the iron in the water.

Solution: Ariation system which is part of an Iron Master does a thorough job to remove the smell. An activated carbon filter can also be used.

If this is a problem your water has, fill out an analysis and we'll fix it for you.

Carbon filters need to be changed when they are saturated and the bad water symptoms return. A 10" carbon filter on city water can last up to three or four months. There are a lot of variables involved (amount of water used or amount of element causing smell).

Water in North Carolina comes through granite. The water dissolves and picks up hard metals like iron and manganese.

Solution: A water softener is the best solution. An Iron Master can be used as well. The softener is preferred because the hardness can be calculated and taken care of.

If this is a problem your water has, fill out an analysis and we'll fix it for you.

This could be due to an inadequate pump, or one that is malfunctioning. You could also have a malfunction in your water system where the valve is clogged or the back-washing cycle is off.

Solution: Have your system serviced and let one of our serviceman assess your situation. If you have a jet pump instead of a submersible pump, you are limited to the horse power of the original machine. It can only give you so many pounds of pressure.

In the softener there is a little plastic bead called cation resin. As the water passes through the resin bed, the resin trades salt for calcium. If your water has less than 50 grains of hardness or less the taste of salt is negligible. The resin bed is regenerated or recharged with salt periodically and the cycle is started over again. For more information go to water softeners.

Solution: If it's iron have a softener put in. If it's because of low pH then you can install a neutralizer. The neutralizer adds calcium to your water. This balances the acid level. It also raises the hardness of your water. A neutralizer will add two to three grains of hardness. If you have soft water to start with it is usually no problem.

If this is a problem your water has, fill out an analysis and we'll fix it for you.

You have calcium in your water (hard water) It takes more soap to make suds. The same problem occurs in making tea or coffee. It takes more product to overcome the effects of the calcium in your water supply.

Solution: install a water softener. When you have a water softener you will only need a minimal amount of soap to make substantial lather.

If this is a problem your water has, fill out an analysis and we'll fix it for you.

It depends on your water and how much you use. Normally the material in the neutralizer in an average application will last up to a year. The serviceman come and replace the calcite and it will continue to balance you acid level.

A grain is a measurement of the weight of an element. There are 6 grains in an aspirin. So if you have six grain water that the same as an aspirin in a gallon of water. There are 17 parts per million in a grain.

Any water that is above 4 grains is considered hard water. Anything above 8 grains is very hard.

Greensand is a filtration medium used to remove iron from water. It is regenerated using potassium. A greensand unit is used in conjunction with an acid neutralizer.

Reverse osmosis is a method of removing solids from water by forcing it through a membrane. The membrain rejects all solids which are flushed through a drain. The good water is left without any solids. It produces water similar in quality to distilled water. An R.O. system is virtually maintenance free. The modules need to be changed once every three years if you have clean water. You need to fix your water first if you have problems. The harder the water the less you get out of an R.O. unit.

This can only be done with carbon. For a single faucet you need a cartridge filter. For your whole house you'll need a full cubic foot carbon tank.

Even if you have city water, chlorine taste and smell can be a problem. This is an easy problem to solve, let us help.

If this is a problem your water has, fill out an analysis and we'll fix it for you.