Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Water chemistry Why isn't iron in water attracted to a magnet????

Over the last week or so, we installed an above ground pool. The local water truck can't bring enough water in one load to fill the pool. To make up the short fall, to make sure the pool bottom doesn't have any leaks, and to make sure the pool was really level, I put in about 18 inches of water from our well. The water was quite red. (We have a very complex system to remove the excessive iron from our well water.)

So, to my question . . .

I went down to my shop and got a very heavy duty dual-magnet I use to hold things in place when I'm welding. It is strong enough to pick up my small 50 lb. anvil.

I put it on a rope and lowered into the pool to see if it would attract any of the iron. Nothing! I then set it against the liner on the outside of the pool for a couple of hours to see if it would pull iron near it. Nothing.

So, why doesn't a magnet attract iron present in water?

Ken

Because its an iron oxide and not actually the metal iron?

I believe Cecil is right. We use well water in our pool, and now have a prefilter that attaches to our hose. Once the water is in the pool the chlorine and ph have to be lowered to allow "binding" of the iron. If you try to add sequestrants the chemistry is not right to allow binding of the iron and the resulting compound will not flocculate and settle out of solution.

Wow, me use big words

hey bevis, I said flocculate, he, he.

Chlorine causes it precipitate almost immediately but I wasn't aware the PH had anything to do with it. If you want to see a neat system I put together, copying from the clarifier in Small Scale Aquaculture by Steven Van Gorder, to produce gin clear mostly iron free water in 24 hrs., see my article on the RAS. No chemicals involved.

compare a piece of hematite (oxidized iron) and magnetite (reduced iron). the hematite barely has any magnetic quality at all while the magnetite sticks like glue.

its all about the oxidation state of the iron.

OK,,,,, Then what about iron in your blood???

Do not try to stick weld it.......wire welder might work.

If I recall correctly, I started this serious thread about a year ago because of iron in my grand daughter's swimming pool. I'm again going to set up this 5000 gallon monster tomorrow. This time I plan to buy "city water." We'll see what happens.





This part is not funny! I learned to weld with a Lincoln 220 "tombstone" about 50 years ago. I now have a little Lincoln wire welder, but I have access to an old tombstone. Both types have left some nasty scars on my wrists -- and my left knee.

I can verify that you can attempt to weld to the iron in your blood with both a stick welder and a wire welder. I've also got proof that you can try to weld to your body parts with an Oxy/Acetylene setup.

Anybody want to see my scars?

Who's ever welded (stick or wire) with fabric tennis shoes on? How many have done the dance when the little dingelberry bounced off the floor, onto the top of your shoe, then promptly melted thru the shoe and sock, (and part of your skin) coming to rest between your toes? I've got both hands up because I didn't learn my lesson the first time. (and I ran out of hands because I didn't learn even after doing it twice........)

Thats Funny, because one day I had to pull a wire out of a coworkers gut. He leaned over the work bench with a live Mig gun under him, accidentally triggered the LN7 which had made ground, then straight into his gut. It burned all the way in. He cut the wire and asked me to pull it out. I grabbed it with a pair of pliers and tugged on it only to see the spare tire changing shape. He said, No No No!, just yank it out, so I did. It had juice all over it, but it burned clean on the way in.

That kept me from grilling for a while

Sounds like a Tim the Toolman Taylor episode, complete w/ER visit.

I have my share of welding scars and permanent problems. Also been zapped more than once in damp locations. I always feel better after AC current runs through me. DC, not a big event.

I really dislike them getting into your ears. When one hits just right, you can hear the sizzle and burn really well.

That was a long time ago, and the guy was a former Marine. Probably about 32 or so years ago.

Tim was barely planning his troubles then

I fill my pool from my well every year... same problem pour a large bottle of iron out in and let it run for 24 hours then backwash. POOF no more red.

Isn't it cool the way those little molten balls of fire will melt down into your skin? I've had to dig my share of those out many times. They leave little craters behind.

I don't think I own any workshirts that don't have holes burned through them.

I think JKB is right, though. Having one land in your ear is liable to expand the vocabulary of anyone within hearing range.

I've got a nasty weld burn on my wrist.. Giant hot splatter burnt about a quarter inch round a quarter inch deep into my wrist.. LOOKS LIKE A GIANT WART now that it's scarred over.. Sucks I've also got a Nasty weld burn across my stomach from beverage welding (the act of welding after to many beverages with no shirt on then leaning across the weld) it was about 3" long but the scare only about 2" so I quess it healed well lol..

I'm not a very good welder. I can stick things together and hope they hold. Stepping on hot metal wearing sneakers has taught me some pretty serious dance steps and added to my vocabulary.

I had forgotten about that, but you'r right. It only happened once. When you're welding in tight places you also learn to grin and bear it when something hot lands on you. Smacking your head or elbow on steel hurts worse than the spatter.

Dave, I'm not much of a welder either. For those of us who aren't arteestic welders, they at least make angle grinders.

And then, I'm not sure I'll ever learn not to pick up something I've just welded -- after I've removed my helmet and taken off my welding gloves!

I gotta party with you guys.

Sniper -- we'd be glad to party with you. You just might not want to party with us. Looking at some of the people who have posted above, and having "partied" with a number of them -- think assisted living facility bingo party!

But, back to welding --



If you were at the PB IV (I know that sounds bad -- like those of us who partied at the conference were pushing around our IV carts) we had a great presentation about feeding birds. There is also a great article in the latest PB issue about humming birds.

The photo above shows an injury-free welding project that holds two hummingbird feeders and a rain gauge in our kitchen garden. Just some scrap re-bar and two chain-link fence clips. For stability, the bottom is built like a trident. The top is just a cross piece with the two fence clips.

And, for partying and welding -- this is an indication of the exciting lives we live. Last New Years Eve, Sears was having a tool sale. At mid-night I bought a self-darkening welding helmet for $100 off! That is true celebrating and partying! (I also got a new compressor.)

catmandoo: That is cool. You can see the rain amount from Denver.

Listen, if I party with you guys, I'm bringing my kevlar vest, BC/BS card, and a bail bondsman.

Welding is a great thing to learn. I'll have to put that on my bucket list.

I remember once when I was fabricating parts out of 1/4" x 1" hot- rolled. I needed to bend a tight radius, so I hunted through the scrap pile and found a 1" drive ratchet with busted internals. I clamped it in the vise, and proceeded to bend the straps around the ratchet's handle. A judicious application of heat from the cutting torch was making easy work of the job. I'm talking dull orange here.
I finished bending the bars, carefully quenched them, and set em' aside.

I was already planning the next step in the fabrication process, and reached over and grabbed the ratchet to remove it from the vise. No gloves, bare-handed.

The knurling pattern on the ratchet's handle was still branded into my palm and fingers 6 months later.

I worked for a while in a forging/stamping shop. Some of the parts that we made were Buick V6 camshafts, Ford Taurus hubs, ring and pinion gears, etc. All steel parts. We wer awarded a contract to make the lower control arms for the late 80's corvettes. Aluminum. Well, one of the pieces landed on the floor right after it came out of the die. One of the guys picked it up without tongs or gloves because it wasn't flowing red - so it wasn't hot, right? Not a pretty sight - we had to call the paramedics to take him to the ER and he eventually had to have extensive reconstructive surgery on his hand. Worse than 3rd degree burns. The aluminum was just barely out of the plastic stage..........

Maybe I'll hold off a bit on welding school.