Is Iron in Well Water Dangerous? Health Risks Explained

People ask me whether the iron in their well water is dangerous to drink. In most cases, no. So why does the EPA have a limit on it? Because at 0.3 parts per million and above, iron starts to stain, and at really high levels it clogs appliances like your dishwasher and washing machine and builds up inside your hot water heater. The EPA's limit is about your house, not your health.

A caller in Virginia told me in September that the health department had passed the water at the house he was buying, yet every toilet tank was orange. I told him, "That means you have iron in the water. It stains everything orange." A pass and orange tanks can both be true. How much the iron matters for you comes down to your number.

Can iron in well water make you sick?

At levels typically found in well water (0.3 to 5 ppm), iron is unlikely to make a healthy person sick. Of my customers' well tests that came back above 0.3, about 5 in 6 were at 5 ppm or less.

The World Health Organization sets no health-based limit for iron. It works out that about 2 ppm in drinking water "does not present a hazard to health." The Minnesota Department of Health says iron in water "does not usually present a health risk."

Above 2 ppm, one state health department is more cautious. Michigan's says drinking water with more than 2 mg/L of iron "could increase your risk for" stomach problems and nausea. About 1 in 13 of my customers' well tests come back above 2 ppm (25 of 336).

What you notice at each iron level

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Is iron in drinking water good for you?

Your body needs iron, but it gets it from food, not from your well. The Minnesota Department of Health puts it this way: "Most iron comes from food, since the body cannot easily absorb iron from water."

The National Institutes of Health sets the daily amount at 8 mg for men and for women over 50, 18 mg for women 19 to 50, and 27 mg during pregnancy. If you drink 2 liters a day of water with 1 ppm of iron, that is 2 mg. The NIH upper limit for adults is 45 mg a day, and it counts every source: food, drinks and supplements. The NIH also says adults with normal intestinal function have very little risk of iron overload from their diet.

If your body stores too much iron

Hemochromatosis is an inherited condition that makes the body store too much iron. It is the condition the NIH names when it talks about people at risk of too much iron. About 1 in 225 people of Northern European ancestry have the two gene copies that put them at risk, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Without treatment, the NIH says, it can lead to liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and heart disease.

NIDDK says doctors may tell people with hemochromatosis to avoid supplements that contain iron or vitamin C. Neither NIDDK's diet advice nor the NIH iron fact sheet mentions drinking water, so there is no official number for a well. If you have hemochromatosis, take your lab report to your doctor. The iron number is on it.

Is iron a heavy metal?

The EPA does not regulate iron for health. The EPA's health rules for public water cover antimony, arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, selenium and thallium. So iron is not treated as a toxic heavy metal. It is on the EPA's secondary list, with a 0.3 ppm guideline for rusty color, sediment, metallic taste and orange staining.

Unlike lead or arsenic, iron is a nutrient, and the NIH sets a daily amount your body needs.

What iron does to your house

Iron does most of its damage to your house. It shows up in the toilets, the laundry, the appliances and the water heater. Even at low levels like 0.3, it'll stain the toilets a solid reddish orange color, and it's hard to clean off. At 1 part per million, it stains the laundry and the showers too. Getting it off each surface, and why bleach makes it worse, is in iron stains from well water.

At 1 part per million and above, you'll get that metallic smell, and the water tastes like a nosebleed. One buyer wrote that his "Irony Well water was staining everything and had a bitter metallic taste, dogs would not drink it" and he had to buy bottled water. Verified buyer

Iron builds up inside things, too. The Minnesota Department of Health says it "can clog wells, pumps, sprinklers, dishwashers, and other devices over time." Another buyer wrote, "Our hot water was extremely rust colored," and that after the iron filter went in, "within 2 days the hot water was clear." Verified buyer Both are verified purchases.

Is it safe to shower in iron water?

None of the health agencies above lists a skin or hair effect from iron; they describe stains, taste and clogging. What iron does in the shower is color. The way I put it: "It's not really that it's bad for your skin, but if you're a blonde and you take a shower in iron water, you're going to become a redhead."

A caller on the coast of Maine said his wife's hair was turning orange and asked whether an iron filter would stop it. I told him I know exactly what she's talking about, and yes: "It'll take the iron right out of the water."

Orange slime in the toilet tank

Orange or brown slime in the toilet tank is usually plain iron, not iron bacteria. Iron bacteria usually leaves clumps floating in the tank, and it smells really bad.

When people ask me whether that slimy, floaty stuff is dangerous, I tell them it's typically not something you want to ingest. The Minnesota Department of Health says iron bacteria "are not known to cause disease," but "can create conditions where other disease-causing organisms may grow," and it recommends testing for coliform bacteria. Our lab test checks total coliform and E. coli. It does not test for iron bacteria. The iron bacteria guide answers is iron bacteria dangerous to your health.

How to find your iron level

Stains tell you iron is there, and only a lab test tells you how much. On a private well, that test is up to you. Michigan's health department puts it plainly: "water testing is your responsibility."

Our certified well water test is $199. One sample goes to an independent, ISO/IEC 17025-accredited lab in SimpleLab's network, and the report gives your iron with 52 other results, including manganese, total coliform and E. coli. Results usually come 2 to 4 weeks from the day you order.

If your report shows iron as "<2," the lab's reporting limit was 2 ppm. That means under 2, not zero, and it can still be above the 0.3 that stains. The test results guide explains what your iron number means.

Look at manganese on the same report, since it can show up with iron. The EPA has a lifetime health advisory for manganese at 0.3 mg/L, and the guide to manganese levels in well water covers what that means for drinking it. The ways to test for iron itself are in how to test for iron in well water.

What to do about iron

An iron filter takes iron out for the whole house. It is worth it when your iron is over 0.3 and the stains, taste or buildup bother you. The five ways to remove it, what each costs over 10 years, and which one fits your test are in how to remove iron from well water. If your pH is low, an acid neutralizer goes in too, and I set its place from your test.

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