The presence of iron and manganese is one of the major problems that we find in waters all over the world, and when we want to use this type of water for human consumption, irrigation and industry, it is necessary to apply iron and manganese removal systems that guarantee that the output values of the treated water are within the parameters stipulated by current legislation.

Since iron and manganese have a similar chemical structure, the same filtration technologies can be used for both, being a simple water treatment equipment with minimum maintenance.

Our iron removal filter models can be used for individual water treatment or as part of water treatment plants for well, river, lake and industrial water treatment.

Origin of iron and manganese in water

These compounds are concentrated in waters all over the world due to the contact with rocks and minerals, being present in waters all over the world as well as in many drinking water networks that have not applied a previous treatment for iron or manganese.

In general, the more oxygenated the water is, the lower the amount of iron and manganese in it. The highest levels of iron and manganese are found in deep well waters where dissolved oxygen is low and contact with light is null. Sometimes it can also occur in surface water and shallow springs because the water is not renewed quickly, allowing high concentrations of iron and manganese when it is pumped for treatment.

Iron removal from water

To remove iron from water with iron removers we rely on an oxidation-precipitation chemical reaction where it is first oxidized and then precipitated by means of a specific multimedia bed for iron reduction.

Removing manganese from water

The same process is followed as above, due to the similar structure that manganese has with respect to iron, in many occasions both are present in the water to be treated and must be removed by the same iron treatment filter.

Treatment of water containing dissolved iron and manganese

The treatment that currently gives the best performance for this type of water is the use of iron removal filters with a specific filter media for the precipitation and subsequent removal of iron. This type of filtration systems work with a classic filter but they are designed to carry out a previous oxidation of the water to later precipitate and capture it through the filter media installed inside the filter.

Operating parameters of the iron removal filters

IMA water deferrizing filters are designed for a working pressure of up to 10 bar, falling into the category of industrial quality filters and can be used for urban, waste, industrial and domestic use with a previous sizing.

The work of the filter will be directly related to the amount of iron and manganese to be removed. That is why IMA water engineers ask all our customers the concentration of iron or manganese present in the water to be treated in order to provide them with the filter made to measure for that concentration.

Depending on the concentration, two types of treatment should be implemented:

• Concentration lower than 5 ppm: A single filtration unit with pre-oxidation is manufactured to treat the iron and manganese present in the water in a single filtration stage.
• Concentration from 5 to 100 ppm: A filtration equipment with advanced oxidation and filtration should be manufactured in order to correctly reduce the high concentration of iron and manganese.

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