Is manganese in your water bad for you?

Author: Maynard Vandervort  |  Last update: Thursday, July 10, 2025

Drinking water with a level of manganese above the MDH guidance level can be harmful for your health, but taking a bath or a shower in it is not. Manganese in your water can stain your laundry, cause scaling on your plumbing, and make your water look, smell, or taste bad.

What are the side effects of manganese in drinking water?

The EPA has established that exposure to manganese in drinking water at concentrations of 1 mg/L for 1 or 10 days is not expected to cause any adverse effects in a child. The EPA has established that lifetime exposure to 0.3 mg/L manganese is not expected to cause any adverse effects.

How to remove manganese from drinking water?

Use of distilled water or a distillation system. A water filtration system rated to remove manganese at 150 ug/L to levels below 100 ug/L. A reverse osmosis water system or under the sink reserve osmosis system. Use of a water softener that is connected to your drinking water faucet.

Is it safe to bathe in water with manganese?

There are no known health concerns from hand washing, showering or bathing in water with high levels of manganese. If your drinking water exceeds the MAC for manganese, use another source of water. Examples include bottled water for preparing baby formula for infants and young children.

What are the symptoms of too much manganese?

Manganese toxicity can result in a permanent neurological disorder known as manganism with symptoms that include tremors, difficulty walking, and facial muscle spasms. These symptoms are often preceded by other lesser symptoms, including irritability, aggressiveness, and hallucinations.

Manganese In Your Drinking Water?

Do water filters remove manganese?

Precipitated manganese is easily removed by a filter, but it is not removed well by a water softener. It is important to understand that a water softener is an ion exchanger. It deals with un-precipitated ions. Filters can't remove manganese or iron in their un-precipitated state.

What causes high levels of manganese in water?

Manganese can enter your private well water from erosion of rocks underground and leaching from soil into groundwater. Manganese can also enter groundwater from steel and aluminum manufacturing.

Does boiling water get rid of manganese?

Boiling water will not remove manganese but will instead concentrate it. It's important to verify that the filter, purifier or treatment system is certified to the applicable standard for the reduction of the contaminants of most concern.

How do you detox your body from manganese?

If you suspect that you have been exposed to toxic levels of manganese, seek medical attention as soon as possible and follow your doctor's instructions. Substances that help with manganese toxicity include antioxidants, plant extracts, chelating agents, precursors of glutathione (GSH), and synthetic compounds [21].

Does a zero water filter remove manganese?

YES! When tested with 75 litres of filtration, ZeroWater removes 99.0% of Manganese from your tap water.

Will a Brita filter remove manganese?

The Brita PRO® Whole-House Iron Filter System:

Removes unwanted iron and manganese through aeration delivering a chemical-free, environmentally friendly solution. Available in a variety of models to fit your family's needs.

How much is too much manganese in drinking water?

It is recommended to not drink water that has manganese above the 0.3 mg/L. Can I drink this water? Elevated levels of manganese in the water can cause discoloration. If the water contains elevated levels of manganese or is discolored, it is recommended that you use an alternate water source for drinking.

What does manganese do for the body?

Manganese helps the body form connective tissue, bones, blood clotting factors, and sex hormones. It also plays a role in fat and carbohydrate metabolism, calcium absorption, and blood sugar regulation. Manganese is also necessary for normal brain and nerve function.

What is the health advisory for manganese in drinking water?

For drinking water concentrations of manganese above 0.3 mg/L, infants, the elderly, and those with liver disease should avoid consuming the water.

Do you pee out excess manganese?

The body maintains stable tissue manganese concentrations through regulatory control of manganese absorption and excretion [5]. More than 90% of absorbed manganese is excreted via bile into the feces, and a small amount is reabsorbed [1,2,4,5]. Very little is excreted in urine.

Does bottled water have manganese?

However, the FDA says manganese concentrations in bottled drinking water should not exceed 0.05 milligrams per liter.

What are the symptoms of too much manganese in your body?

The symptoms of manganese toxicity include tremors, muscle spasms, hearing problems, mania, insomnia, depression, loss of appetite, headaches, irritability, weakness, and mood changes.

Is manganese in water safe to drink?

Drinking water with a level of manganese above the MDH guidance level can be harmful for your health, but taking a bath or a shower in it is not. Manganese in your water can stain your laundry, cause scaling on your plumbing, and make your water look, smell, or taste bad.

How do you remove manganese from water naturally?

The best way to remove manganese from well water is with air injection oxidation. Distillation and reverse osmosis are two of the best ways to remove manganese from city water supplies.

What is the cheapest way to remove manganese from well water?

If you find out that you have excessive levels of manganese in your water supply don't worry a simple inexpensive Rusco filter put in-line of your main water supply will help eliminate excessive levels of manganese as well as other harmful contaminants from your drinking water.

Do all water softeners remove manganese?

Conventional water softeners are sometimes effective for removing iron and small amounts of manganese. Water softeners are typically used to remove calcium and magnesium hardness in water by an exchange process.

How long does manganese stay in the body?

Mn passes from the blood to the tissues quickly. The half-life of Mn in the body is about 40 days, with elimination primarily through the faeces. Only small amounts are excreted in the urine.

What are the signs of manganese in water?

If the manganese level is between 0.050 mg/L and 0.300 mg/L, there may be:
  • A metallic taste.
  • A bad smell.
  • Rusty-colored water.
  • Mineral deposits on toilets, sinks and bathtubs.
  • Sedimentation (for example, small particles of iron settling at the bottom of a water glass)

Do fridge filters remove manganese?

Some refrigerators with water/ice dispensers also have a treatment system installed. Most carbon filters only reduce manganese that is oxidized. Organic contaminants adsorb on the surface of the activated carbon filter. The contaminants are discarded when the filter is removed and replaced with a new filter.

How to detox manganese from the body?

The most common way is through chelation. Chelation therapy is a medical procedure (although it can also be performed at home) that involves the administration of chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body by binding to molecules and allowing them to be dissolved and excreted in the urine.

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