Anyone who has lived with an air-charged iron filter knows the sound. Somewhere around two in the morning the unit goes into backwash, the pressurized air in the tank lets go all at once, and the drain line bangs against the wall of the utility room like someone kicked it. Inch Worm™ is WaterCare's patented answer to that moment. It is not a separate product; it is a feature built into every Ion Pro® air-charged filter, and it changes the way the valve handles the first cycle of a regeneration so the air leaves gently, inch by inch, instead of in a rush.
What an air-charged filter does
An Ion Pro filter treats iron, sulfur and manganese with a column of air held at the top of its tank. As well water passes through that air pocket, the dissolved metals and hydrogen sulfide gas are oxidized into solid precipitates, and the filter media below catches the solids. There is no chlorine feed, no chemical pump and no salt in the process, which is why this style of filter is the workhorse for staining and odor problems on private wells. The oxidized solids collect on the media until the unit backwashes them to the drain and draws in a fresh charge of air.
The problem Inch Worm solves
That air pocket is the catch. A conventional air-charged unit releases it abruptly when the valve advances into backwash. Picture letting go of an inflated balloon: a large rush of air and water exits uncontrollably, and if the drain line is not very firmly secured, it can send the line flying. Even when nothing comes loose, the transition is noisy and rough on fittings. Air-charged filtration is an effective chemical-free approach to iron and sulfur, and this high-pressure release has long been its one troublesome habit.
How it works: the Backwash Air Position
The first cycle an air-charged filter enters during regeneration is the Backwash Air Position. With Inch Worm, the Ion Pro's electronics take control of the valve in that position and move it through a series of very small movements, inching along rather than swinging open. As the water level creeps toward the top of the tank, the trapped air is released slowly and, more importantly, harmlessly down the drain. Once the excess air is out, the filter proceeds through its normal backwash. The unit still expels every bit of pressurized air it needs to; the violence is simply gone from the process.
Where it fits on Hill Country wells
The wells west and south of Austin give an air-charged filter plenty to do. A USGS survey of Blanco County found iron above 0.3 mg/L in 45 percent of well samples, the Hickory sandstone under Horseshoe Bay and Marble Falls is known for iron, and hydrogen sulfide odor is a familiar complaint in the Trinity wells around Dripping Springs, Round Mountain and Johnson City. Orange rings in the toilet, yellowed laundry and a rotten-egg smell that is worst at the hot tap are the symptoms our iron and sulfur removal page walks through, and an Ion Pro with Inch Worm is a common piece of the answer. It is usually one stage of a larger well water treatment plan rather than the whole thing.
Ahead of the softener, not instead of it
An iron filter and a water softener are different tools. The Ion Pro takes out iron, sulfur and manganese; a softener takes out calcium and magnesium hardness. On most Hill Country wells the water needs both, and the order matters: the air-charged filter goes first so that iron never reaches the softener resin, where it would foul the beads and shorten the life of the whole system. Our CareSoft water softeners page covers the softener side; the Ion Pro line itself is described with the rest of our whole-house filters.
The test decides
We do not size an iron filter by the color of the stains. Before recommending an Ion Pro we test the well for iron, manganese, hardness, pH and sulfur, and we ask about the pressure tank, the well depth and how the water behaves after the house has been empty for a weekend. Those numbers tell us whether air-charged filtration will handle the load on its own or whether the well needs a chlorine or ozone stage in front of it. Then we write up a specific recommendation and schedule the install during business hours, Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm.
If your filter announces every backwash, or your well has stains and odor and no filter at all, call (512) 587-8188 or request a free estimate. We will test first and tell you honestly what the water needs.