Acreage owners around Leduc, Devon and Fort Saskatchewan call us for three things most often: orange staining in toilets and tubs, a rotten-egg smell at the hot tap, and softeners that stopped working within a year of install.
Orange or brown staining is iron. Dissolved iron is invisible in a glass of water until it oxidizes on contact with air, then it plates onto porcelain and laundry. Depending on the concentration and whether the iron is dissolved or already oxidized, the right answer is an iron filter, an oxidizing system, or a softener sized with iron capacity in mind.
The rotten-egg smell is hydrogen sulphide. When it’s only noticeable at the hot tap, the source is often the water heater’s anode rod rather than the well itself — a much cheaper problem to solve.
Softeners fail early on well water when they’re installed without pre-treatment. Iron and sediment foul the resin, and no amount of salt brings it back. Testing before installing is what separates a system that lasts a decade from one that disappoints in a season.
We test iron, hardness, pH, tannins and sulphur on site, then design the treatment train in order. If you’re on a well and something changed, that’s worth a look before it stains anything else.