Water Staining and Spotting

• Chlorine Tastes & Odors

• Hard Water

• Staining & Spotting

• Cloudy Water

• Colored Water

• Odors

• Sediment

• "Chemicals"

• Salinity/TDS

• Corrosion

• Effervescence, Bubbles

• Arsenic

• Fluoride

• Lead

• Nitrate

Staining and Spotting There are many factors that may cause water to leave a stain or spots on fixtures or appliances. Often the best first step in determining what is causing the stain is to get an accurate water analysis. You can also fill out an online technical request form and one of our water technicians will assist you in trying to identify the cause of the problem.

Color of Stain	Possible Cause	Possible Solutions
White or gray	Calcium or hard water	Water softening
	High alkallinity	Deionization
	High salinity or total dissolved solids	Reverse Osmosis
Rust or orange	High iron in raw water	Iron Filtration Systems
	Corroding iron pipes	Corrosion control with phosphate and/or replace corroding pipes.
Black or brown	High manganese raw water	Greensand Filter; in some cases pretreatment with Chlorination or Ozonation is required.
	Iron Bacteria, sulfur bacteria	Chlorination or Ozonation followed by Greensand Filter or Greensand Blend Filter.
	Sulfides from hydrogen sulfide	Chlorination or Ozonation followed by Greensand Filter or Greensand Blend Filter.
	Tannins, humic acids	Tannin Filtration or Chlorination followed by Activated Carbon Filtration.
Blue or blue-green	Corrosion of copper piping from acid water	Acid Neutralizer
	Corrosion of copper piping from high salinity water	Corrosion control by phosphate, or desalinate water by reverse osmosis.
	Corrosion of copper piping from "electrolysis", dissimilar metals, or "stray currents".	Install dielectric unions between dissimilar metals, inspect electrical grounds. The cause for this type of corrosion is often difficult to identify. Get a complete water analysis and/or contact our technical staff for more information.