Bacteria/smells and low chlorine

[Ben22]

Our issues started in November, 2020 after installing a whole house filtration system. The system had GAC and KDF 55. We also have a water softener and under sink RO. We are on city water.

Toilets started to smell and we had our water tested which showed 18,000 bacteria.

We removed the whole house filtration system. We retested the water which now showed counts lower, but we still had bacteria in our water. We had iron stains in our toilets too.

We then replaced our softener thinking it may have been contaminated or was consuming the chlorine and replaced it with a Pentair 64k softener that we were told does not have carbon and does not consume chlorine. We also installed a big blue sediment filter due to getting a ton of sediment in our water (the filter clogs after 3-4 months). The counts decreased but bacteria were still there and the toilets still smell despite cleaning with everything imaginable including the tanks and we still have the iron stains.

We tested the chlorine levels and they are 0.8 at the entry to the home and <0.1 inside. If we bypass the water softener and the softener loop, they come back up to 0.3-0.5.

We also now disinfected our system and installed a UV light, but bacteria are still present. They are identified as acidovorax temperans, Acinetobacter haemolyticus, cupriavidus mettalidurans, novosphingobium species, sphingomonas species, and bacillus species. We had it on both the hot and cold sides and in many different water sources. The highest was 2500 CFU/ml. We tested the water coming into the home from the city and it does not have bacteria in it.

The water was negative for e. coli and coliform bacteria and legionella.

We are not sure where to go from here or even who to call for help. Can anyone help point us in the right direction?

Thanks, Ben

 

[Twowaxhack]

Bleach the entire system. Wait 2 weeks and then do it again.

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

Out of curiosity how old is the home, and the plumbing in the home?

 

[RickFlorida]

Wow that is so scary and so weird. I never would have thought being on city water you could have a serious bacteria count coming out of your faucets. My guess is that you didn't wait long enough to re-test when you bypassed the water softener/filtration system. It's got to be an issue on your end like the softner or filtration system allowing water to stand or get contaminated I would think. I'm not a professional by the way but I have an old house and do all of my own plumbing and just go with my instincts on what I would do. I was going to say you might want to check if you have a lateral line leak or other kind of water leak but when you said it tests negative for E-coli, then it's not a lateral line leaking. My other idea is that perhaps you have a supply line leak under the slab and then contaminated water is getting into your water before it exits faucets or enters your filtration system? Have you checked if you have a water leak? (Turn off all the water and see if your water meter still moves). Other than that, just get rid of your whole softner system. If you really want good water, just put a reverse osmosis system under your sink or something.

 

[Ben22]

Out of curiosity how old is the home, and the plumbing in the home?

It is 3 yrs old

 

[Ben22]

Wow that is so scary and so weird. I never would have thought being on city water you could have a serious bacteria count coming out of your faucets. My guess is that you didn't wait long enough to re-test when you bypassed the water softener/filtration system. It's got to be an issue on your end like the softner or filtration system allowing water to stand or get contaminated I would think. I'm not a professional by the way but I have an old house and do all of my own plumbing and just go with my instincts on what I would do. I was going to say you might want to check if you have a lateral line leak or other kind of water leak but when you said it tests negative for E-coli, then it's not a lateral line leaking. My other idea is that perhaps you have a supply line leak under the slab and then contaminated water is getting into your water before it exits faucets or enters your filtration system? Have you checked if you have a water leak? (Turn off all the water and see if your water meter still moves). Other than that, just get rid of your whole softner system. If you really want good water, just put a reverse osmosis system under your sink or something.

We have an RO system but it gets bacteria in it too. We haven't checked for leaks yet but will. We have already gotten rid of the whole house filter but still have the softener, 2 water heaters, a uv and a sediment filter.

 

[Ben22]

We have really hard water here so not sure what to do about that if we take out softener

 

[Twowaxhack]

Remove all that extra equipment and sanitize it.

Sanitize the entire system from the water meter forward.

Draw water directly from the meter and have it tested completely.

Use bleach. Low concentration for long periods works better than high concentration for shorter periods.

Turn hot water heater up to very hot setting (all the way ). Run hot water at every fixture. After sanitizing turn the heater back to about 130.

The problem with all that extra equipment is it can get contaminated and it’s very difficult to sanitize.

Consider a chlorine injector.

 

[sawsaw]

If you deem it necessary to eliminate your softener, there is an alternative softener sold by Pentair. Here's a link to what I installed in my home. I have no problem and no regrets. No salt, no brine tank, no noise. It will clean your pipes and equipment of scale, as well.
https://www.pentair.com/en-us/water....NS3-PUV-7-P.html&indexName=prod_pentair_skus[/URL]