Sediment filter questions

[cnrhome]

Hello all,

I'm (finally) going to be replacing my whole water system due to a number of problems ( piping hanging in mid air, poor pressure on 2nd floor, tank bladder has a small leak, tank and piping directly in front of elect panel, 40 yr old softener ) and I'm starting on the sediment filters and figured I'd ask for some comments/advice. I currently have a 20" x 3" filter that takes 2 coupled together 'regular' filters. They gets filled pretty fast and really cut my water pressure, so I want to :

- Use 1 1/4" PVC ASAP water comes through the check-valve from the well.
- Add a Cycle Stop Valve (right after the check valve, before pressure tank) for constant pressure
- Use 2 filters (after pressure tank, before softener) w/1" connections in parallel, so that while changing one, the house can run off the other.
- For the filters I'm thinking either (2) 20" x 3", or (2) 10" x 5" Big Blue. Is either better than the other?
- I thought I'd like at least 1 clear filter housing, just to see how it looks before changing them, but they are way more expensive. Is a clear one worth getting?
- I like the idea of the pleated 'washable' filters to cut costs ( clean them every few months and replace every (1,2,3?) yrs. )
- Given my slightly acidic, high iron and sediment water, I want to use PVC as much as possible (the water ate thru the previous galvanized pipe). The ball valves/unions are much cheaper too, but can they be trusted to last as long or longer than brass?

So, does this sound like a good plan?

Thanks for your input

CJ

[Gary Slusser]

If you get rid of all the galvanized you probably will not have a need for any type/size disposable cartridge filters. And your new softener will last longer.

PVC can't corrode like brass does. And I used to buy and use PVC valves by the case and never had any problems with them. CPVC valves were a different story.

[Tom Sawyer]

You can't use PVC for water piping within a residence