Reduce Iron in Water: Chlorination or Filtration?

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Chlorination of water containing ferrous iron (Fe2+) converts it to ferric iron (Fe3+), which is less soluble and can precipitate out as hydroxide. While chlorination does not reduce the total iron content by itself, it facilitates the removal of iron through subsequent filtration, where the precipitated Fe3+ can be filtered out. Some users have observed a reduction in iron levels after chlorination alone, likely due to the formation of precipitates that settle out before filtration. However, for effective iron removal, a filtration process is necessary. In systems with high iron content, such as well water, chlorination combined with filtration methods like green sand filters is often used to manage iron levels effectively.
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as i know, ferrous iron (Fe2+) will convert to ferric iron (Fe3+) if we mix water contain iron (such as groundwater) with chlorine. then the water should go through filtration process to filter the extractable iron (Fe3+). that how we can reduce the content of iron in water.

my question is...which process is reduced the iron content? chlorination or filtration? because as what i understand, the chlorination process will convert Fe2+ to Fe3+ only, the content of iron still not change. But the process that remove the iron in water is filtration.

am i right? because when i put some chlorine in water and then i tested it without go through filtration process, i figure out that the iron level in the water was already reduced, and reduce more when i filtered it. is that chlorination process can reduce level of iron in water by itself without filtration process?
 
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pijoe said:
as i know, ferrous iron (Fe2+) will convert to ferric iron (Fe3+) if we mix water contain iron (such as groundwater) with chlorine. then the water should go through filtration process to filter the extractable iron (Fe3+). that how we can reduce the content of iron in water.

my question is...which process is reduced the iron content? chlorination or filtration? because as what i understand, the chlorination process will convert Fe2+ to Fe3+ only, the content of iron still not change. But the process that remove the iron in water is filtration.

am i right? because when i put some chlorine in water and then i tested it without go through filtration process, i figure out that the iron level in the water was already reduced, and reduce more when i filtered it. is that chlorination process can reduce level of iron in water by itself without filtration process?

Fe^{3+} precipitates as hydroxide because this is much more insoluble than that of Fe^{2+}.
Fe^{3+} + 3H_2O --> Fe(OH)_3 + 3H^{+}
 
chlorination without filtration: is it works?

thank you for your reply.

but i want to know whether chlorination process can reduce the level of iron concentration in groundwater by itself or not? i mean without followed by filtration process.
 
pijoe said:
thank you for your reply.

but i want to know whether chlorination process can reduce the level of iron concentration in groundwater by itself or not? i mean without followed by filtration process.
My house sits a top a huge deposit of iron and manganese ore. We must use a green sand (potassium permanganate) filter to remove the Fe and Mn. In addition, we have to eliminate Ni and Cd (not sure of the source). Following that, we have a water sofener.

I'm not sure what one is asking. The chemical process is necessary between the well and home distribution system. One really cannot change the chemical nature of the groundwater - there is just too much water coming from an even larger volume of ground.

If one could remove the Fe from groundwater, where would it go?

The only way to get reduced Fe in water is to find a geographic location in a geological formation that does not contain Fe. I worked in a municipal water production facility, which supplied a small town of about 40,000 people. The water source was an underground acquifer that had naturally soft water (Na) and low heavy metal content.
 
pijoe said:
thank you for your reply.

but i want to know whether chlorination process can reduce the level of iron concentration in groundwater by itself or not? i mean without followed by filtration process.
No; chlorination just oxidize Fe2+ to Fe3+.
 
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Use green sand filter. the disadvantage is that you need to generate it using potassium permanganate solution.
 
pijoe said:
am i right? because when i put some chlorine in water and then i tested it without go through filtration process, i figure out that the iron level in the water was already reduced, and reduce more when i filtered it. is that chlorination process can reduce level of iron in water by itself without filtration process?

We are on a well system where the water has a high iron content. In our chlorinated water treatment system, our primary filter is actually the reaction vessel [for the chlorine and iron] in which a good portion of the iron precipitates out of the fluid stream before the filters. Perhaps you were losing some iron as a precipitate.
 
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