Borehole Water Treatment - Iron - Irrigation only

Spray the water into a tank. It stains the back of the tank. Then you need another pump to pump the tank water through your irrigation system.
 
Final Update:

System is all connected and plumbed. Have had a sample of water sitting for a few days now and no signs of any settlement so appears to be a success. Next step is to now repaint all affected walls.

Setup is Borehole Pump > Filter > Jojo > Irrigation Pump

Bottom connection on the tank is just to flush anything that does settle, if anything. Also to avoid the tank water level dropping below the output line for the irrigation, there is a A02YYUW sensor in the top that will start the borehole pump when water level drops below 80%, and then will stop once 100% is reached.

WhatsApp Image 2025-12-16 at 19.26.26.jpeg
 
Coming back to this, and maybe someone has an idea.

Currently it seems the tank level is dropping when the irrigation is off and it appears that the pressure from a full tank is pushing water out through the irrigation as I can't find any signs of leaking along the pipe.

Is it possible, and more so advisable, to install a pressure regulator on the outlet so that the pressure is kept at a level that doesn't cause this kind of leaking?

I'm really stumped on this one so any advise is welcomed. Only thing I have done now is disabled the automatic filling of the tank and rather set it to start 30 minutes before the irrigation is set to start, which is not ideal.
 
acidrain said:
Coming back to this, and maybe someone has an idea.

Currently it seems the tank level is dropping when the irrigation is off and it appears that the pressure from a full tank is pushing water out through the irrigation as I can't find any signs of leaking along the pipe.

Is it possible, and more so advisable, to install a pressure regulator on the outlet so that the pressure is kept at a level that doesn't cause this kind of leaking?

I'm really stumped on this one so any advise is welcomed. Only thing I have done now is disabled the automatic filling of the tank and rather set it to start 30 minutes before the irrigation is set to start, which is not ideal.
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A pressure tank should be installed between the pressure controller on the pump, and the master solenoid.

There is no point having a pressure tank on the inlet of the tank.

Basically: Jojo -- Pump - - Pressure tank - - Valve/solenoid/tap

I apologize in advance if I misunderstood something.

TO ADD: Water flows through a pump when it is off, if there is no valve. It does not stop the water flow.
 
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acidrain said:
Coming back to this, and maybe someone has an idea.

Currently it seems the tank level is dropping when the irrigation is off and it appears that the pressure from a full tank is pushing water out through the irrigation as I can't find any signs of leaking along the pipe.

Is it possible, and more so advisable, to install a pressure regulator on the outlet so that the pressure is kept at a level that doesn't cause this kind of leaking?

I'm really stumped on this one so any advise is welcomed. Only thing I have done now is disabled the automatic filling of the tank and rather set it to start 30 minutes before the irrigation is set to start, which is not ideal.
Click to expand...
On your outlet tot the irrigation you should have a solenoid valve that is closed when the pump is not running. The solenoid valve should open on startup of the pump. If you have multiple station for the irrigation, you put a solenoid valve on each station to control which section of garden is irrigated. This valve should sit downstream of your pump to keep the pump primed.
 
Sheppard_za said:
On your outlet tot the irrigation you should have a solenoid valve that is closed when the pump is not running. The solenoid valve should open on startup of the pump. If you have multiple station for the irrigation, you put a solenoid valve on each station to control which section of garden is irrigated. This valve should sit downstream of your pump to keep the pump primed.
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Indeed. The zone valves are upstream from the master valve. Not all controllers has support for a master valve though.
 
Thanks for this thread and all the detail @acidrain. Have installed a borehole recently as well and trying to get it to a usable level for garden irrigation and hot tub. Seems to be very high in iron.

Where do you recommend getting the water tested?
 
r0d said:
Thanks for this thread and all the detail @acidrain. Have installed a borehole recently as well and trying to get it to a usable level for garden irrigation and hot tub. Seems to be very high in iron.

Where do you recommend getting the water tested?
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Not sure of your location, but in Cape Town there is Bemlab in Strand. Was R531 for the test.

If not in Cape Town, reach out to the water guys, they will either assist in being the middleman or direct you to someone who tests. I got my filter from filtershop.co.za. They will also likely be able to facilitate the water test as they won't recommend anything without it.
 
acidrain said:
Not sure of your location, but in Cape Town there is Bemlab in Strand. Was R531 for the test.

If not in Cape Town, reach out to the water guys, they will either assist in being the middleman or direct you to someone who tests. I got my filter from filtershop.co.za. They will also likely be able to facilitate the water test as they won't recommend anything without it.
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Awesome thanks, I am out in Hermanus so they are probably a good option. Well done on your system. Looked like it worked out nicely. Is that Katalox filter sitting outside?
 
r0d said:
Awesome thanks, I am out in Hermanus so they are probably a good option. Well done on your system. Looked like it worked out nicely. Is that Katalox filter sitting outside?
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No, I have it sitting inside the workshop, but that is only due to the location of power points, my pump and drainage for when I backwash.

So far so good, have noticed no more staining.
 
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r0d said:
The orange colour!
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OK, so the mineral/iron content is THAT apparent haha.

I am asking because I also have iron, but you cannot see it in the water , even if the water stands in a glass for a week.

I can however see it on the irrigation sprinkler nozzles.

So I am spraying the water into a tank, so it stains the back of the tank, and the water that settles in the tank does not stain walls. (At least it hasn't for 4 years)
 
Stephan Maritz said:
OK, so the mineral/iron content is THAT apparent haha.

I am asking because I also have iron, but you cannot see it in the water , even if the water stands in a glass for a week.

I can however see it on the irrigation sprinkler nozzles.

So I am spraying the water into a tank, so it stains the back of the tank, and the water that settles in the tank does not stain walls. (At least it hasn't for 4 years)
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Yes its pretty bad. I have a 5000 litre settlement tank the water is pumped in there first, then the water flows from the top of the settlement tank into the "supply tank", also 5000 litre. The water is then taken for use from the middle of the supply tank. So will see how that helps but so far doesn't seem to be effective enough. May need to add in a proper filter somewhere. Going to send a sample away first. But yes the cement and paving around the tank has turned bright orange...not what i was expecting! Borehole is only a month or so old, but I don't think it will improve too much with time...
 
r0d said:
Yes its pretty bad. I have a 5000 litre settlement tank the water is pumped in there first, then the water flows from the top of the settlement tank into the "supply tank", also 5000 litre. The water is then taken for use from the middle of the supply tank. So will see how that helps but so far doesn't seem to be effective enough. May need to add in a proper filter somewhere. Going to send a sample away first. But yes the cement and paving around the tank has turned bright orange...not what i was expecting! Borehole is only a month or so old, but I don't think it will improve too much with time...
Click to expand...
So the difference is spraying the water into the tank using a spray nozzle, not just running out of the pipe.

I am not sure if you are already doing that.
 
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Stephan Maritz said:
So the difference is spraying the water into the tank using a spray nozzle, not just running out of the pipe.

I am not sure if you are already doing that.
Click to expand...
Thanks Stephan, I can give it a try. I have a 40mm pipe coming in, but would probably need to change the tank fitting to something with thread so that i can screw the nozzle in on the inside of the tank. Will figure something out
 
Hi there @acidrain
I have installed the karalox filter vessel. My only problem is getting it to run on auto.
I have a float switch in my Jojo tank. So when the level drops then the borehole pump goes on and runs through the filter into the tank. No problem with this. Except that I notice that the first bit of water coming out the borehole always seems very dirty. So I want to set it to backwash and rinse before any water gets pumped into the tank.

However the "automatic" backwash valve on the filter does not seem to work like this. You can set it to run at a specific time. There is no guarantee that when the borehole pump is running the filter will backwash /rinse. So I need to backwash manually despite it being an automatic backwash valve.

Am I missing something? Any way around this?
 
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