thanks Duane,

I will research it some and plan on calling the State tomorrow.

I have been talking with the family about alternatives, such as cistern. I know of some streets in the area that have water pumped in as apparently they have the same problem. The local well driller had to do new well, near a quarry, and was not permitted to go lower than 100 ft.. They wouldn't tell him why but he relayed it to me. Some locals believe the quarry caused a problem, perhaps blasting underground. (1/2 mile away)
Fortunately we happen to have excellent water at our own home so we bring 5-7 gallons over for cooking and drinking and even the dishes. I help with some of the laundry too and showers are taken here on some days. that water is brutal on hair. This is my parents retirement home but for now my daughter, son in law, and grandchild live there. You would think these water people would care about an infant. The first one admitted he's at a loss....$3000 later! The next one was going to save us. We figured we were paying more than honestly. Just venting now but also warning others....get every detail in writing BEFORE they work.
I believe the State of Ct. may help because the levels are so high. I thought 2 filters would have worked best....but then what do I know?
thank you for responding. I will let you know how this turns out. I am determined.

After trying to deal with a very high manganese level mg/L 2.45 and iron levels at 19.5 we are at wits end. The property has been standing since 1729 and was purchased last Feb. as a fixer upper. We had no idea the water supply was so bad. The town has been little help and we were told to trust the local water company. We had already trusted one company and had $3000 green sand and chlorine treatment that just didn't do the trick. The local man, with a water treatment co., told me he had to put in a potassium permanganate tank to backwash the filters properly. After failing to work he was supposed to tweak the system but we learned he just put in a water softener with salt as it's treatment. We would have probably been able to hook that up by ourselves but used him because he assured us he had dealt with the high numbers before. My sister uses a softener and said never to mix bleach with a softener system. It seems we have been lied to and hopefully our first system hasn't been damaged. I have been learning as much as I can about the different treatment methods and am hoping someone here might be able to help more. Sadly, there are too many crooked people set up to sell water treatment. It's criminal and will be reported. He wants to come back and straighten out HIS mess but I do not trust him after being lied too. Would a bio sand tank make a difference with the levels this high? And can it be set up with a pump so we aren't pouring gallons of water in by hand. (been doing enough hauling drinking water to the house) Good drinking water is so important to all of us and this dilemma has me learning more than I ever cared to know about water. We are in a residential area where the iron/mag is known to be high....ours is just off the charts.
Thanks for any ideas.