Whole House water filtration

[Dave Clermont]

The time has come that I need to purchase a whole house water filtration system.

My plumbers came out this morning as I was having issues with my hot water baseboard heat. The inflow valve was clogged and wouldn't close. Problem seems to be from "gunk" (technical term :D ) clogging it up and not allowing it to close. He suggested that I get a whole house water filtration system or I could do some serious damage to my boiler and appliances. After seeing what was in there I can why.

So I was wondering if anyone has any experience with any and would recommend a brand or system. My plumber didn't really offer much except that if I got one from the BORG he would come and install it....

Thanks,
Dave

[Lee Schierer]

I think that first I would get a second opinion or maybe a different plumber, I'm not impressed by one that recommends you buy something at the BORG and he will install it.:eek:....

Filtration is only going to remove particles or odors from the water. Water treatment systems are going to change the condition of the water which might help some of the water using items in your house..

[Chris Padilla]

You may wish to contact the supplier of your water...unless that is Mother Earth and you're on a well. :) Otherwise, I think so analysis of your water first would be prudent before deciding what needs removed from it....

[Paul Ryan]

Dave,

I agree with Chris is you live in town there are other issues. The city you live in should supply you with better water than that. If you live in the country like I do you have a couple of options. I used to have a just a simple sediment filter in my water line coming into the house, after the pressure tank. It is a real cheap fliter that you can buy from the borg. It wont take out any bad stuff out of the water such as "bugs" but will clean all of the sediment out. Normal house hold water needs that filter changed about every 3 month and it is real easy to do. Replacement filters usually run around $5-10 depending on how mine you want the filter.

I got rid of my sediment filter because the amount manganese. The mineral is harmless to your health but it would plug up my filter in about 1-2 weeks and then our cloths started turning grey after washing. It also makes the water stink. For the past 7 years I have been using an iron filter. They are usually used for homes that have high iron content but they also work very well for removing other minerals. So my water goes through the iron filter through a small water softener and is ready to go. We got rid of the large water softener when going with iron filter because it wasn't needed anymore. Now we only use about 8 bags of salt per year in the softener. The iron filter looks alot like a water softener and they cost a lot more money. I rent my softener and iron filter for about $60 a month. I don't think it is smart to buy equipment when you live in the country, it doesn't last nearly as long as it would in town.

[Dave Johnson29]

The time has come that I need to purchase a whole house water filtration system.


Dave,

Are you on a well? If not then the first stop would be the water supplier to find out why they are delivering dirty water. It is their problem not yours. If they say it is clean then maybe you have iron pipes somewhere in the system. They need replacing with copper.

If you are on a well, the gunk may well be Iron bacteria in the well and it needs to be shocked with bleach.The whole water system will then need to be flushed with 10% bleach until it is clear. The Iron bacteria will pass through a 1-micron filter so shocking with bleach is the only way to clean it all out.

The red gunk will clog things like the water softener control circuit. It will also be leaving faint red/brown stains on white clothes and in the dishwasher, toilets and washing machine. The hot water heater will also need to be included in the flushing.

Just been down that road. Had to unhook the house from the septic tank as the bleach level would have killed that dead.

{edit}
You can get some stuff called Iron Out for local cleaning. You can use it in the washing machine to remove the stains from the whites.

[Bob Vavricka]

I have bought two water softener systems and whole house filters from this location: http://www.caitechnologies.com/ (for different houses).
They will analyze your water if you send a sample to their lab and their website has a lot of good information. (Click on the online store link and you will find a Free Water Analysis link under the Services link at the top.

[Dave Clermont]

Thanks for all the info guys - a little extra info I'm on a well and all copper pipes in the house except for the poly from the well to the house. Well is 335ft deep.... I have had the water tested recently because of another issue and had to have it bleached and the retested after the bleaching and was showing clean excpet the water was hard - calcium. The new issue is with sediment you can see it in the bottom of the toilet tanks. It looks like a combination of a sediment filter and a water softner system - I'm thinking the sediment filter is first on the adgenda - IF i was to go to a borg the Whirlpool or GR sediment filters are around 60.00 plus a 5 micron carbon filter, I was then going to have the water tested once the sediment filter was installed - my biggest reason was I was thinking of going this way was to stop the bleeding for short money and then once it's been tested go from there and get the complete system and then I was thinking about having the Well looked at to see why so much sediment was coming in.

Has anyone ever used any of the sediment filters?

Thanks for the link Bob I will put them on the list.

-Dave

[Karl Card]

I myself prefer a water softener. It is different and some people do not like the feel of soft water. I do because I feel cleaner out of the shower, my cars dont have hardwater spots and coffee taste better and when I ran a 135 salt water aquarium it was just 100 percent cleanest tank, no bad algae growth etc.
Most places I have lived had water bad enough that a softener, filter or soemthing needed to be used and youd think that if you pay for water it should be good water but it apparently doesnt work that way.

Here in evansville my hot water tank has about 6 inches of sediment in it from the water. the tank has been in use for about 8 to 10 months. My kitchen faucet has those ceramic disc in it so when you turn the water off it is "off" not like the rubber disc in older faucets and I have to take it apart and clean it about once a month. Needless to say I am getting ready for a water softener here..

[Greg Cuetara]

Dave,

I had a well installed in my house about 6 years ago. Went down about 250 feet and had a major problem with sediment right from the get-go. Had the well people come back and raise the pump up hoping that the sediment would settle to the bottom and the pump wouldn't get as much. That didn't help too much. I installed a whole house filter and that has done a pretty good job. I was getting sediment in the bottom of the toilet bowl and the bottom of every sink. After I installed the filter havn't seen too much. I do have a fairly bad sediment issue so I have to change the filter every 4-5 weeks. They are supposed to last 6 months. I installed the small filter which is maybe 3" in diameter. If I were to do it again I would install one larger filter (approx. 6") coming off the pressure tank and then have a second smaller filter after it with a finer filter. I think right now I have a 20 micron filter and it would be nice to get down to 5 microns.

BTW. If you do buy any of them they are really easy to install. All you really need is a pipe cutter to cut out a section of pipe and then the filters have compression fittings on each side. Also, you will have to find a source of filter that work for you. I tried about about a half dozen different filter sizes before I found one that worked for our household. I know the filter needs to be changed when the pressure in the whole house drops so that the shower almost doesn't turn on.

Good Luck,
Greg

[Mike Cutler]

Dave

First thing I would do is completely flush your expansion tank, Well Xtrol tank. Sediment can collect in the tank and just keep perpetuating the problem.

Install a sediment filter that is easily accesible. The GE is a good one because replacement filters are easily obtained. Don't use the carbon filter, it will clog up very quikly. The filter that you want from GE is either a spun fiber filter, or a solid looking sediment filter. If you are having odor problems, ie sulfur, install the carbon as a point source filter.

[Dave Clermont]

Thanks for all the help everyone - Looks like it will be between the GE and Whirlpool filters both have large capacity and seem to be comparable. That should help initially until I can get a full filtration system.

Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions.