Stains & iron
Orange Stains From Well Water: Causes & How to Stop Them
Learn why clear water can turn orange and which test results change the treatment choice.
Read the guide →Private-well troubleshooting
Clear answers for confusing well-water problems.
Understand the symptom, confirm it with the right test, and compare treatment options without starting with a sales pitch.
Start with what you notice
What’s wrong with your well water?
Choose the closest symptom. A smell or stain is a clue—not a complete diagnosis.
Orange stains
Sort out dissolved iron, oxidized iron, iron bacteria, and plumbing corrosion.
Rotten-egg smell
Pinpoint whether the odor starts in the well, plumbing, or water heater.
Black stains
Investigate manganese, sediment, or deteriorating plumbing materials.
Hard-water scale
Recognize hardness symptoms and understand what a softener actually removes.
Cloudy water
Separate harmless trapped air from sediment and other causes that need testing.
I have water-test results
Use your numbers to narrow the treatment category and questions to ask vendors.
A better buying sequence
Diagnose before you size or select equipment.
Identify the pattern
Where, when, and how the problem appears can distinguish well-side issues from a single fixture or water heater.
Test the untreated water
Use a certified laboratory and collect the sample before treatment equipment whenever possible.
Match the treatment
Compare technologies against the measured contaminant, flow rate, pH, and maintenance burden.
Start here
Practical guides for common decisions
Odor diagnosis
Well Water Smells Like Rotten Eggs: How to Diagnose the Cause
A location-by-location check that starts at the faucet and ends with a useful lab plan.
Read the guide →Treatment comparison
Iron Filter vs Water Softener: Which Does Your Well Actually Need?
See where these systems overlap, where they do not, and when both may be justified.
Compare systems →Trust the process
Useful first. Commercial second.
Well Water Compass is designed to help homeowners reach a defensible diagnosis—not steer every symptom to the same product.
Treatment comparisons
Compare by problem solved—not by marketing claim.
See side-by-side explanations of media, capacity, maintenance, and test-result fit.