Home Filtration, Order of equipment

[Casualobserver]

Looking for a 2nd opinion since it seems backwards even according to the product manual. I had a home water test they said chlorine levels were high at 3 ppm and we have high calcium. the installer recommended and set us up softener, carbon filter, then sediment filter. Does this sound right? From what I read online and in the manual this is backwards. Thanks

 

[Jeff Handy]

Is this already installed?

I always go big sediment filter, softener, then carbon filter to polish the final output.

 

[FishScreener]

The EPA standard for maximum free chlorine is 4-ppm. And unless you have a lot of total chlorine it should be undetectable with out test gear at 3-ppm free chlorine.

Chlorine itself is tasteless and odorless. The “Chlorine” smell is actually the daughter compounds after it gets reacted with things.

I agree with Jeff on the order of the equipment.

 

[Casualobserver]

They installed it yesterday and drilled it into my concrete wall. The technician with years experience said he prefers this order especially for customers on wells which I am not but says it's the safer bet to catch extra contamination or debris possibly collected inside the equipment. It's better to protect the home and inhabitants over the tanks. I even saw a youtube video where a guy put a post filter after the softener and carbon filter because he got tired of cleaning out resin from his pipes and toilets but our sediment is definitely the last component of the 3. When I annually flush my water heater I see about a tablespoon of white sediment that looks kind of like a mix of white grit/sand and broken sea shells, and occasionally a little bit of green/blue that reminds me of aquarium substrate. Not much volume though.

I guess my concern is if this is the best setup for us. Obviously, I'd like to protect us first but also don't want to be trashing the equipment if not needed. He said both tanks drain so maybe it doesn't matter that much just want to stir up some conversation and opinions since it appears to be backwards from the get-go.

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

Sometimes it may depend on the water softener. At the car wash I owned I had a dual unit massive capacity Kinetico, which is powered by water itself. Well, once when it stopped working and I called in the repair crew they found grit in the gears that run the thing. Had there been a sediment filter this would not have happened.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Carbon filter is very tight, and should be placed after the sediment filter.
The softener also somewhat acts as a gravity filter, and will discharge lots of junk during regeneration that would otherwise end up gradually clogging up your carbon filter.

If someone has extremely dirty well water (which you don’t) I sometimes put the sediment filter after the softener, and let the softener backflush the junk during regeneration.
Otherwise the sediment filter can plug up in a week or two.

In this setup, the softener mesh screen and orifices might need frequent removal to rinse them out.

 

[Casualobserver]

Thank you for the input.

 

[Scotroll]

The process itself is relatively simple (when you know how). I will go with Handy's approach: big sediment filter, softener, then carbon filter to polish the final output. To get on to what bought me here, i bought a water softener bypass tap from one of these online shops.