Friend looking into boarding at a barn that has everything horsie n he need…bbbbuuuuutttttt water in buckets looked like “some sort of mutant watery spagetti sauce” and was told “Rock was hit” when drilling the well less than a year ago water was tested and is safe just high iron…barn owner had been told it could be cleared up by putting salt down the well and then running the water for like a day. Anyone had a well with an issue like this? What kind of test did you have done? Been able to clear it up (pun intended)?
Iron water – from what I’ve heard – is not particularly healthy for horses. Iron overload (can, might. does) cause problems in the long run. I’ve never heard of ‘putting salt down the well’ as a permanent solution to ridding a well of iron. Might be a temporary fix at best. The term ‘shocking a well’ is usually applied to wells that have bacteria growth and the well is shocked with chlorine.
I owned a farm (in the 1980’s) that had a well with high iron content water, and I put in an iron treatment system – can’t remember what it was, too long ago-- but it did work. Didn’t make ‘soft’ water – just took the iron out. But I’m sure there are bettter systems out there now that do the job. So it would be great of course if BO would put in a treatment system.
Any water treatment company will come out and test water for all sorts of minerals and other content – parts per million of iron, etc. + any bacteria or microbes.
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Like danacat my farm’s well have high iron water content. I have an iron treatment system and it is refreshed every year. The refreshment is salt. It costs about $140 a year for the replenishment. I think the system installation was about $1K but I really don’t remember.
You really want to deal with high iron content. First of all, iron can ruin your pipes with clogs and corrosion. Second, if you live on the farm, iron can do things like leave orange stains on your clothing. Third, if you cook with water (as most of us do) foods and beverages may taste metallic. High iron content is not a health issue per se. You would have to drink so much water that the water consumption itself would kill you first. But who wants to deal with orange water that smells and tastes bad?
I hope your BO buys a water treatment system. We have had ours for 18 years and it’s terrific
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Our place in MN had a ton of iron in the water. There was a iron treatment system in the house (installed by previous owners) but it didn’t serve the barn. I’d often get pink buckets of water out of the barn tap.
We didn’t do anything to treat the barn water, but I was careful to use a vit/mineral mix that didn’t contain any EXTRA iron and I also supplemented copper and zinc. The horses did fine once I figured out I needed to add the cu/zn.
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Also, if you Google “iron overload in horses”, you will get many hits discussing why too much iron can cause insulin resistance in horses that are predisposed to it.
Iron depletes copper and zinc; both of which are needed not only for hoof and coat health but to stabilize insulin levels. Needless-to-say, this would be a bad situation for a horse already diagnosed with metabolic issues.
The barn owner needs to do right by all the boarders and have something installed to control the iron. Even if there is a different well for the house, I’ll betcha they’ve got something at the house.
if I had a different option, I would not move my horse to a facility where iron gathers inside the water containers:(
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Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but my well has lots of iron.
House has a system (Kinetico) for filtering it out, but the barn - although tied-in through the house - is not filtered.
My heated buckets have a coating of rust that flakes off when I scrub them hard, but never 100% gone.
So far horses - now on my 3rd set of geldings in 13yrs - have been fine drinking the unfiltered stuff.
OP: the water you describe says to me buckets don’t get refilled/scrubbed often enough,
I am no Equine Martha Stewart, but my buckets never have opaque water in them :dead:
Cloudy from hay getting dunked, yes, but that rusty - NO!
& FWIW: I empty/scrub/refill water buckets maybe once a week. Generally just top off.
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Thanks all…he was pretty sure the buckets were not more than a few hours old he said she was CRAZY CLEAN and saw some water run that was very darkly tinged as it came out, said he had never seen anything like it and feels they will address the issue properly, but til then no change of address. Any of you with high iron had the water come out of the tap red/brown not just a little yellowish?
My barn well has a high iron content…the only time I have reddish water is if a hose hasn’t been run in a few days, but after a few minutes it’s fine. I do drop some chlorine tablets down the well every few weeks when I remember but not sure it really makes a difference. I’ve never had a problem with horses not willing to drink it, and used to have a white horse that stayed white (not orange) even with frequent baths.
Sounds more like sediment than just iron. Throw a cheap ($15) RV inline water filter on the hose and see what you get. I have a sediment filter on the incoming line of my house. I don’t get water that cloudy but the red clay eventually starts coating the toilet bowls without it. You can get a bit more expensive one with cheap replaceable filters.
I laugh when I see the horse version of these hit my news feed. Horse Hydrator.
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When we dug a back up well it tested high in Iron. Discussed this with several vets. Horses like human can’t “absorb” iron from drinking water in any appreciable amount.All of our broodmares lots of them and others have been drinking “high iron” water for years. With absolutely no ill effect on mother or child.
There are different types of “iron” that can be found in water. But if the well has been tested and approved by the Health Dept there are no worries.
As to water treatments to get the pesky stuff out. There is no quick, cheap fix. There was a great thread on this a while back. A number of people chimed in on what they had installed, the cost and results. From a reasonably inexpensive system of $800=1,000+ to well over $5,000+++. All had very mixed results and not very satisfied. Especially with the expensive systems.
I’m glad I read because we were on the verge of spending big bucks.
Installing a large inexpensive in-line filter works but with quick diminishing returns. Depend on iron levels. The large filters will clog up. The “trapped” iron quickly oxidizes in the filter housing and filter creating a slimy mess. That needs to be cleaned out when the filter is changed. The after effect of the oxidized iron is not a pleasant smell when water is being drawn. Especially when taking a shower. About the same after effects of eating a large bowl of baked beans.
As others have said iron water is a total PITA when washing whites or any other light colored clothing. Iron is attracted to and adheres to body oils, oils in general. It doesn’t wash out. White sheets start to look like the “shroud of Jesus” where one sleeps.
The yellow rings in sinks and toilets come from the iron oxidizing with the surface air. We hung a sign in our bathroom that said “the yellow is from iron water, not need to flush twice”.
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FWIW, the RV park where I lived for the last eight months made me crazy sick. I drink several liters of water a day and was filling at the sink, and every time I changed the filters the water would come out like creamed coffee. It was GROSS. When I started using bottled water, my issues cleared up. It was so bad I had to call out of work twice because I’m not guaranteed bathroom breaks in my job. Their excuse? My spigot is rusty and needs to be replaced.
Oh and I have to clean the toilet every two or three days.
Here is some information on iron in well water. Maybe this will help some.
When we moved to our farm we had huge issues with iron. Our water came out orange, stained everything (buckets, clothes, cement if a tap was dripping, toilet, shower etc- even my hair!). We were told to run our water (as our farm was vacant for a year before we moved it) and we ran it on and off for days. This did not help at all. Our water had that metal smell, my hair would stink, it was terrible. Water spots on everything (we always had to wipe off our trucks as soon as they were washed or it would leave water marks all over).
If I filled a bucket, it was orange right though. You couldnt even see the bottom of the bucket, it was murky and gross. If you let it settle for a day, the iron would all sink to the bottom of the bucket and would be an 1" thick. It was unreal. If I accendently got some water in my mouth, it tasted pretty much like blood - like I bit my tounge. I’ve never seen anything as bad as our water…
We had our well water tested and it was high in iron (surprise!!). We spoke with some water compaines and they suggested to get a water softner first as it can help with removing iron just by itself. They said if that didnt really help an iron filter could be added and then an IV light as well so we could actually drink the water if we want.
We went ahead and started with a water softner and do buy potassium chloride for it (as it was suggested that it would be better for the horses to drink). We noticed a huge difference right away. We ran the softned water to the barn as well, but left one tap just by my garden that isnt softned (though I was told potsssium chloride is ok for plants as well). We now have totally clear water (we were living with the high iron water for a few years, so this was a HUGE difference), and no smell. We have also added an iron filter and an IV light so we can drink the water. The system wasnt too bad, about $1,500 total, but it was really worth it! No more orange, stinky water.
DiamondJubilee, you know what brand?? I just had my well checked and it is a 9 for hardness (city water is a 2, anything above 6 damages appliances) and she would get back to me on iron… said she wasn’t sure if a softener would get all the iron, but said theirs was a “better system” and it “double filters” and backwashes or something, etc… anyway just a softener from this one co is gonna be $1800 :dead:.
@TheJenners My softener system is by Kinetico. Not cheap - IIRC closer to $3K - but I am saving a LOT on salt.
Old system used 2 40# bags every couple weeks - so much that I never had to put it in the shopping list - just bought 2 bags routinely. At ~$7/bag (for the rust removing stuff) it adds up.
Now I have to remind myself to check & seldom need to refill. 80# of salt (2 bags) lasts over a month.
Installer also told me it’s not necessary to keep the bin 3/4 full (as friends had advised) but letting it get down to about 1/8 occasionally is good for the system.
Flushes it or somesuch.
P.S.
LOVE your avatar.
I’m surprised Odie let you have that much of the pic :lol:
@TheJenners - I will check for you. I really don’t know the brand. We use quite a bit of water as we use it for our 4 ponies, washing lots and lots of cars/trailers/equipment, and we go through very little salt. I was very surprised! The bags are over $30 each for 40lb, but one bag easily lasts over a month. We kept the bags for a year to see how much we would use (as they told us we would use a lot since we water our horses with it) and I believe we went through 8 bags last year.
Now, its hard to find that type of salt, as most people don’t carry it, so we do have to go to Home Depot to get it. No one delivers it.
We were also able to get a good deal as my husband is a carpenter and knows quite a bit of people - he was able to get a great deal from someone he knows.
I will check out the name tonight and let you know.
