Plumbing for whole house sediment filters

[Jim Becker]

I do heed those who recommend unions. Are there PEX compatible unions, or must there be a transition to copper to use a union?

You can easily use traditional unions with PEX systems where necessary. It does require a brief transition between the PEX and the brass/copper or PVC/ABS, but there are components to do that.

[Scott T Smith]

At the beginning of this month I rebuilt the entire well system that supplies my house. New 1hp submersible pump (old pump was at 200' of a 340' well, replacement is at 300'), new 220 gallon pressure tank, new well feed pipe, and I installed a whole house filtration system in my basement. I can't complain about the previous pump - it lasted for 24 years which isn't bad at all.

The house was built in 1990 with pvc pipe from the well to the basement, and copper inside. I added the filter where the PVC transitioned to the copper.

About 12 years ago I transitioned from copper, pvc and black poly pipe to pex with copper crimp style fittings. I've been very pleased thus far. No leaks and extremely easy to fix. I don't have any problems with sweating copper, but pex is easier, faster, less fire hazard and less chance of leaks IMO. Here on the farm we have quite a few buildings with water, so the fast, easy and dependable aspects of crimped pex is very beneficial.

Below is a photo of the filtration setup that I added in the basement. Three ball valves allow me to still have water in the event that I need to bypass the filter. This filter mounts with a bracket behind it (if you look closely you can admire the 8/4 QSWO standoff behind it! LOL). I opted for the oversize A.O. Smith filtration setup, but use the more common size on the kiln misting system and the shop well.

So far so good.

Filter installation.jpg

[Stephen Tashiro]

Below is a photo of the filtration setup that I added in the basement. Three ball valves allow me to still have water in the event that I need to bypass the filter.

Filter installation.jpg

One thing I wonder about is whether to support the valves in PEX lines with brackets. I suppose the valves for a sediment filter wouldn't be used that often. But are there specially designed brackets for PEX compatible valves?

[Scott T Smith]

One thing I wonder about is whether to support the valves in PEX lines with brackets. I suppose the valves for a sediment filter wouldn't be used that often. But are there specially designed brackets for PEX compatible valves?

I'm not aware of any brackets but have seen manifolds with pex valves in them. In my instance, the PEX runs are so short that a bracket is not really needed.