Whole house Carbon Filter

[Freddie]

I'm thinking of adding a carbon filter to remove chlorine at the inlet of my house. Is there any concern over not having any chlorine in the house water system with the potential for bacterial growth? Say in toilet tanks and faucets, showerheads, etc. where air comes in contact with the non-chlorinated water.

Not sure if this is a real problem or if there are easy ways around this?

Freddie

 

[ditttohead]

Consider that most well systems are not chlorinated. I would recommend sanitizing the house lines annually.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Freddie]

Consider that most well systems are not chlorinated. I would recommend sanitizing the house lines annually.

Thx Dittohead,

So here's my total plan....

Bring in hard, highly chlorinated City water and feed my outside hoses with it for lawn and garden.
After the hose junction feed the rest into a carbon filter.
On the outlet of the carbon filter run a line to the Kitchen sink drinking water line and fridge as non-chlorinated hard water. Use this for drinking and cooking only.
The remainder of the water from the carbon filter to go to the softener and to all other lines in the house including kitchen sink but not the drinking line.

What thou think?

 

[Reach4]

You want to find whether your city uses chlorine or chloromine. That could affect the choice of carbon media or carbon tank size.

 

[Freddie]

You want to find whether your city uses chlorine or chloromine. That could affect the choice of carbon media or carbon tank size.

It's Chlorine. Otherwise the rest of the setup looks good?

 

[Reach4]

It's Chlorine. Otherwise the rest of the setup looks good?

If carbon filter means big backwashing tank with GAC or catalytic carbon, yes , in my non-professional opinion.

If carbon filter means cartridge filter, I think no.

 

[Freddie]

Yup I was thinking a tank version but was going to look into the cost differences over say 10 years. Not getting all that younger and trying to empty the carbon tank is much much harder than flipping the cartridges.

 

[ditttohead]

Changing the carbon is very simple with an extraction tool. I am trying to put together a nice video of our tool and will hopefully have it online in two weeks. Carbon block filters are simply to small unless you plan on puttingseveral of them in. The cost is enormous compared to a GAC backwashing tank. We sell a lot of whole house carbon filters to our customers, but these guys really rely on regular filter change-outs for revenue. A properly sized carbon tank will have capacity for 5-10 years without maintenance. GAC is also fairly inexpensive. Avoid the no name stuff... there are some shady companies importing carbon...

 

[Freddie]

It's Chlorine. Otherwise the rest of the setup looks good?

Ok I seem to have run into a snag. If I bleed drinking water off after the carbon and before the softener I end up with 23 gpg drinking water which is equivalent to about 390 ppm of Ca. They say anything over 100 ppm makes the water taste "funny"...more chalky. I'm almost 4 times that level.

If instead I take the drinking water from after the softener, I end up with about 224 ppm Na (40 ppm raw water + 8 x 23 gpg). Health Canada says "the taste is offensive at a concentration of >200 mg/L sodium" . So that probably won't work either.

Is this leading to RO treated softened water for drinking and cooking?

One thought was to start with drinking water taken after the carbon filter. If we don't like the taste we move the line to after the softener and then if we still don't like that taste we get an RO system.

Any other suggestions or experiences you could share?

 

[Reach4]

Ok I seem to have run into a snag. If I bleed drinking water off after the carbon and before the softener I end up with 23 gpg drinking water which is equivalent to about 390 ppm of Ca. They say anything over 100 ppm makes the water taste "funny"...more chalky. I'm almost 4 times that level.

1 ppm is 1 mg/l. Whatcha got there is mineral water. Evion has 357 mg/l. Perrier is 475.

People add minerals back to RO water to make drinking water.

http://www.finewaters.com/water-and-food-matching/flavor-taste-of-water/29-minerality says

A water’s TDS is normally made up mainly of carbonates, bicarbonates, chlorides, sulfates, phosphates, nitrates, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron, manganese, and a few other minerals. Gases, colloids, or sediment is not included in the TDS measurement.After mouthfeel, TDS is the second most important factor in matching water with food. The higher the mineral content, the more distinct a water’s taste can be. Think of low TDS waters as comparable to white wines, with a clean, neutral taste and less weight; high TDS waters are more like red wines, with a heavier, more substantial feel. Very high TDS waters feel distinctly heavy and may have an aftertaste, much like a big, bold red wine. Most mineral water you drink, though, probably has a medium TDS measurement and is more like a heavy white or a light red wine.

Super Low 0 - 50mg/l
Low 50- 250 mg/l
Medium 250- 800mg/l
High 800 - 1.500mg/l
Very High 1.500mg/l & over
​

Drink up.

 

[Scottp999]

Our public water comes in the house as high as 430ppm TDS, at 23 GPG hardness. There is some good nitrates in there too. I try to remove chlorine before the softener to help the resin life. We also treat for sediment, nitrates, barium, radium 226/228, more active carbon post softener, and whole house UV (12GPM unit). Additionally, we RO + add back calcium, magnesium, potasium, and UV (1GPM unit) the drinking and cooking water. Our aquifer is very sensitive to runoff and the sinkholes that help with recharge. Unfortunately, that spells problems for nitrates, pesticides, VOCs + anything else an industrial company might be doing. I'm not just trying to remove what I know is there, but what might enter, and we are not told about by authorities until after we have been drinking it for far too long.

 

[Bannerman]

I end up with about 224 ppm Na (40 ppm raw water + 8 x 23 gpg). Health Canada says "the taste is offensive at a concentration of >200 mg/L sodium"

Here is a writeup you may be interested in reading.

https://view.publitas.com/impact-water-products/2018-catalog-final/page/154