You need to test the water BEFORE any treatment or filters.

Then you can deal intelligently with what needs to be treated.

With well water I'd also get a bacteria test to be safe.

crap.......i see what you are saying....

I guess I'll have to send out another sample.
Instead of going under the house to the spigot/drain valve on the retention tank, can I just remove the in line filter or bypass it, run the water for a while, then take it from the tap??

In the meantime though, what are the typical solutions to the high iron and low Ph problem? I imagine they will at least still be present in the raw water, prior to the filter, if they are present post-filter.

By the way, Bacteria has been tested, none found.

thanks....

Lurker--

Thanks for the help.....i think you helped me when I got my softener a few years back...hopefully you can help me fix my mom's water....

Retested the water.....
results are still the same. Low Ph, High Iron. No bacteria.

Let me ask a quick question upfront: Are there any health hazards to continue using this water as is?
I understand the high iron can cause staining on surfaces (it already has) and the acid can ruin copper pipes (although most of her pipes are PVC or some sort of plastic), but can it cause health problems?

Also, this condition of high iron is recent.
Over the summer, the water from all taps started sputtering, seemingly cause of air in the lines.
The plumber/well guy came out and tried the simple, cost effective solutiuons first.
1. Compressed air in the well to clean the well screen. She has a shallow well. He did this quite a bit. The screen was dirty and we thought that solved the problem....Nope.
2. Changed the pump, retention tank. Nope.
3. Then changed all the piping from the well to the retention tank.
The problem in the end was a collapsed pipe that ran from the well to the tank.

Could the repeated use of the compressed air down the well (in order to clean the well screen) caused some sort of change in the water, like an influx of iron? The iron (at least to the naked eye) has decreased somewhat since the summer, although it is still there as evidenced by the water test. A couple of months ago the iron would settle out of a cup of tap water within a week....now you put a cup of tap water on the counter and the orange iron sediment settles out in a few weeks.
But the water still smells like a cup of loose change....the metal smell.

She's had some estimates so far.
One local guy came to the house, tested the water and said a "neutralizer and Conditioning system" would be about $1900.
CAI online suggested a "chemical injection system with a downstream carbon filter." About $1000 for the equipment, plus the cost of labor for a plumber to install.

Like I said in my original post, unfortunately, she doesn't have much disposable income right now. The quotes of $1000 plus caused her some sticker shock....and some serious agita.
Pllus, on an aesthetic/practical side, the local guy said he would have to install it in her kitchen pantry (where the water heater and current sediment filter is) and it would cause her to have to remove almost all the storage/food shelving in there....

Ugh. I've gone on long enough.

So does she have any options here???

Thanks again. If you need any other info, let me know.
mike

The most cost effective solution is to move Mom in with you.

Properly treating well water can cost more than living on a water system and you know that. With the details you posted you'll be looking at more than a softener.

For your Mom's needs I suggest a local water treatment pro who will service what they sell rather than buying online. Mom's water treatment equipment will need routine maintenance and that's hard to get over the phone.

Treating that well water part way is a waste of money. I suggest you decide whether to do it right or not do it at all.

Treating that well water properly is an investment and will return the cost over the period your Mom enjoys quality water and when she decides to sell the house.

Anybody have any experience with a unit like this for Iron removal?

http://www.equinox-products.com/MetalMaster.htm

I know it won't change the Ph, but it seems to be able to remove the iron....

I have well water very similar to your mother's. Apart from potability testing to rule out giardia, cryptosporidium, coliform et al, there are no health hazards from iron and low pH.
Filters are effective in removing grit that can block valve seats and plug aerators and washing machine screens, but not much else. You could call them pump chokers. I use no smaller than 30 micron, although point of use can be smaller.
The acid condition will degrade most plumbing metals- think of shower mixers, valve bodies, etc. You'd need a neutralizer, which will increase hardness.
Judicious use of bleach might solve the dingy laundry problem.
Any real treatment will involve numbers similar to what you quoted, and like justalurker said, require maintenance...I'd wait and see if she gets a municipal source, and save the money for regular potability tests, given she has a shallow well.