Suggest whole house filter for sediment

Hi ya--

Would appreciate suggestions for all around reliable, reasonably good flow whole house water filter for well water sediment.

Also, hardness just a touch on the high side, 152mg/L. Would like to bring that down a bit but obviously not that big a concern. At least not enough to drop big bucks on a softener. Otherwise all levels on the full analysis very good. Thanks, all!

According to the experts here, the typical 10" cartridge-type filter is/was actually only designed/intended for point-of-use at a given fixture or whatever rather than as a "whole house" filter. But with a well that sounds similar to yours, I use them in that way anyway.

Flow is initially relative to the surface area of the cartridge. So, the larger the diameter and/or the longer the length, the better the flow. I use a large diameter x 10" cartridge as my first filter (5 microns) to catch the big chunks, then I have a regular diameter x 20" housing with .5 micron cartridges stacked inside. However, the micron rating of a cartridge can also affect flow, and especially as the cartridge begins to load up. So, something like a 20 micron followed by a 5 micron would pass water more freely and for a longer time.

In my system, I have pressure guages before and after each filter so I can check for pressure drop (a loaded cartridge) while a spigot of faucet is open somewhere. Overall, simpler is better and I have always found better prices at my favorite auction site than anywhere else.

leejosepho said:

According to the experts here, the typical 10" cartridge-type filter is/was actually only designed/intended for point-of-use at a given fixture or whatever rather than as a "whole house" filter. But with a well that sounds similar to yours, I use them in that way anyway.

Flow is initially relative to the surface area of the cartridge. So, the larger the diameter and/or the longer the length, the better the flow. I use a large diameter x 10" cartridge as my first filter (5 microns) to catch the big chunks, then I have a regular diameter x 20" housing with .5 micron cartridges stacked inside. However, the micron rating of a cartridge can also affect flow, and especially as the cartridge begins to load up. So, something like a 20 micron followed by a 5 micron would pass water more freely and for a longer time.

In my system, I have pressure guages before and after each filter so I can check for pressure drop (a loaded cartridge) while a spigot of faucet is open somewhere. Overall, simpler is better and I have always found better prices at my favorite auction site than anywhere else.

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Whats the chances of you posting a photo? Sounds like a neat setup.

The final pressure guage is out of sight because I goofed when I made some alterations while moving the water softener a few months ago, but here is what I have. No design awards are due, yet my wife and I do end up with decent water (and no more heavy stains in the toilet!) from an otherwise toublesome well.

So how often do you have to change the cartridges?

Information on a reusable whole house water filter:

My parents are on a well that produces a lot of sand and silt. They had installed a typical whole house water filter, but because of the amount of sand and silt in the water, they had to change the filter about every five days.
I found this washable and reusable bag type filter on the internet. The manufacture states that you can wash it in the washing machine over 100 times. You can order different filtration size filters; my parents ordered a 25 micron, and a 10 micron, and are using the 10 micron now. The filter has been installed for about a month now and so far, so good. I did install two pressure gages, one on the inlet side, and one on the out let side. This is so a reading difference between the two can be done, and therefore they can tell when the filter is getting full.

Hope this info is helpful,

Mike

Here is the web site:
http://www.purewaterexpress.com/wholehouse.htm

Gary Slusser said:

So how often do you have to change the cartridges?

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About every three months or so, and that is usually because of sulfur odor rather than actual cartridge loading. I find visible chunks of what appears to be rust laying in the bottom of the first housing, and that cartridge sometimes comes out black. The second cartridges, however, always come out looking rusty.

Mikebarone said:

I found this washable and reusable bag type filter on the internet ...

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That filter is similar to some commercial units, and I can imagine it being great in systems where there is much to be removed. At a place where I used to work, that same design is used to reclaim silver while making mirror.

leejosepho said:

That filter is similar to some commercial units, and I can imagine it being great in systems where there is much to be removed. At a place where I used to work, that same design is used to reclaim silver while making mirror.

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Interesting....I read on the web site that it can also filter out paint pumped threw it.

leejosepho said:

About every three months or so, and that is usually because of sulfur odor rather than actual cartridge loading. I find visible chunks of what appears to be rust laying in the bottom of the first housing, and that cartridge sometimes comes out black. The second cartridges, however, always come out looking rusty.

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Then you would be better off removing the cartridges and just trapping the particles you see.

The above proves you don't need 5 and .5 micron filters when we can't see particles less than 45 microns and you are providing a great place for bacteria growth to cause the odor problem. You can prove that if the cold unfiltered water does not have the odor in it.

Gary Slusser said:

Then you would be better off removing the cartridges and just trapping the particles you see.

The above proves you don't need 5 and .5 micron filters when we can't see particles less than 45 microns and you are providing a great place for bacteria growth to cause the odor problem. You can prove that if the cold unfiltered water does not have the odor in it.

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Yes, I understand about the bacteria, but my water does come out of the well with the odor and the toilet stained more easily or heavily when I was using 20 micron cartridges. My "system" is far from ideal, and I know you can provide something much better if I could afford to do things differently here.

You probably can't see a penny on the ground from the fourth floor window (randomly created example).

Put a few hundred thousand or a million in a pile and they can easily be seen.

Just like little (e.g., less than 45 micron) particles at a closer view; like holding up a glass of water and looking at it. The effects of light reflection and absorption is cumulative when looking through or at the glass of water.

These particles may also represent a noticeable amount of unwanted compounds found in the water. Either as the base material of the particle or attached to the surface of the particle.

And if you can't/don't see anything in a glass of your water, you don't need to install a filter.

A filter to look at is made by Zenon. GE bought the company and the filter is now known as http://www.homespring.com/. It is an ultra filter. It is designed to be a whole house filter. It filters to 0.02 microns, washes itself each night, and will remove all bacteria and most viruses. If you are having iron bacteria problems inside the house this will help block new infestations. If you sterilize everything after the filter it will keep new bacterial from entering via the well water. Airborne contamination could still occur in toilet bowls/tanks, but nothing in the airless environment of the water system.

I have been using one of these for several years to remove a very reflective clay that makes water look sort of like you put some milk into it. Particle size determined by laboratory tests to be less than 0.5 microns. It is also the source of a good part of the iron and manganese in the raw water.

These things are expensive (thousands) but maintenance is a once a year membrane inspection (pressure test actually). Expected lifetime of the membrane is around 10 years.

Check with a dealer about iron bacteria on the well side and if this will impact the filter. You could also chlorinate the water from the well. This filter, as far as I know, is not harmed by chlorine like RO membranes. Verify that if you use chlorine. There is a carbon filter available for internal placement in the Zenon unit or you could use an external carbon filter if you need to get rid of the taste.

If you are getting chunks in that first filter you should still take those out. Perhaps by settling as suggested elsewhere in this thread. You won't want to get that stuff wedged in the membrane threads (they are little hollow tubes).

alternety said:

A filter to look at is made by Zenon ...

I have been using one of these for several years to remove a very reflective clay that makes water look sort of like you put some milk into it.

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Thank you for that bit of info! You just solved the riddle that had kept me baffled for quite a while. Before I began using the .5 cartridges, my water looked "milky" even though I was using 5-micron cartridges at the time ... and we just happen to have a lot of clay here in this part of the county.

My well's iron-related bacteria problem actually comes and goes a bit, and I have yet to notice any seasonal or weather-related pattern. But, it is minimal most of the time as long as I do not go more than three months before replacing cartridges. And, I no longer have it in the hot water at all after raising the water temperature above 140*.

There is some interesting technology out there for a number of problems, but not generally referenced by the long time practitioners in cleaning water.

Unfortunate.

Andy CWS said:

Now, there's a great philosophy! I guess the blind would be very lucky. "If you can't see it...." confused

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Andy, yes you are confused, taken in context that means a "whole house" disposable cartridge sediment filter.

Andy CWS said:

We are going to see ultrafiltration (UF) come into more use in the coming years. The tubular membrane is very effective and is used on may large scale water treatment facilities.

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UF for residential and small commercial systems has been around for years. I don't see many dealers offering it over that time so until the distribution of the equipment is opened to more dealers, I'm not sure it will become much more popular than it is now.