Generic iron removal filter or bespoke, patented, fully integrated aerating iron removal filter?
The most common way to start the iron removal process is to add air and therefore oxygen to the raw water. The iron will start to precipitate and come out of it’s dissolved state and this is where things start to get messy!
The crucial difference between Shakesby filters and other generic iron removal filters is in how the precipitated iron is managed. Iron will try, usually successfully, to deposit on whatever components it comes into contact with; pipework, pressure vessels, vents, pressure switches, pumps, tanks etc. are all susceptible.
During the very early development of our filters key ‘failure mechanisms’ (the term given to the catastrophic failure of essential components within and associated with the filter) were identified. Most could be attributed to the precipitated iron causing fouling and blockages.
As development of our filters continued each failure mechanism was identified and then ‘designed out’. Not all second attempts were successful so, these would be re-designed, re-made and re-tested until reliability and performance were proven.
The driving force behind our filters development was a personal one. Tim Shakesby’s (the founder of the company) parents moved from Suffolk to North Norfolk in 1974 and were keen to experience their own private water supply, a supposed benefit of their move! Unfortunately, the deep bore hole water supply was high in iron (8.5 mg/l as Fe) and soon all white clothing and sanitary ware was stained orange.
This problem interested Tim especially when it became apparent that none of the then water treatment companies would touch the issue. The only offer of a solution was a large settlement tank which was the size of a car parking space and no guarantee of success. Thinking that there must be a more elegant solution Tim embarked on a path of research, design and manufacture to find that solution.
Early attempts failed quickly but gradually the continued development increased the ‘service intervals’ to many months but this was still not good enough. Tim did not want to be servicing the filter every time he and his young family visited his parents. Key problem areas were:
How to efficiently introduce air into the water
How to vent off excess air from the filter
How to stop ‘mud balling’ (a term given to filter media which has clumped together)
which resulted in a complete change of career and the founding of Shakesby & Sons Ltd. in 1977.