sediment problem - too deep for me

[noahlamy]

i'm new here. greetings to all. if i mess up on protocols or good manners let me know. now, my problem, i'm working in a brownstone in brooklyn, ny that has a severe sediment problem in the water service. the owner has a whole house filter on the service. it shows color after only 30 minutes and clogs up totally in less than a week. this has been going on since january. now here's the weird part, neighboring buildings do not report any similar problems and there is no heavy construction in the immediate area. con ed did some street work in front of the building but that was 3 months ago. any ideas?

also i would like recommendations for brands of backflush self cleaning sediment filtration systems.

thanks.

 

[Peterjame]

What is the source of water supply ? City, well, pond ?

 

[speedbump]

Get rid of the so called whole house filter and let the cold water run full blast at as many faucets as you can stand. It will more than likely clear up.

 

[noahlamy]

this is in brooklyn, ny, in the park slope area. it's city water.

 

[noahlamy]

this problem has been going on since january. we have replaced the filter many times and run on bypass for long periods as well. what's confusing is you would expect a local pocket of sediment to be clear by now but it isn't, and a larger source of sediment should affect other buildings but it hasn't.

 

[speedbump]

It basically has to be coming off your plumbing. I have told customers all my life to run as much cold water as possible to clear up the water after we worked on the well or pump. In your case, the plumbing shouldn't be that bad. But when I say run as much as you can, that's what has to be done. Turn on all your cold faucets full blast and let them run for as long as it takes. Usually no longer than an hour or two.

 

[noahlamy]

okay speedbump. i'll ask the owner to run her tubs full out on cold water all day. that's gonna jack up the water bill but if it works there will be no complaints.

 

[Chris]

Could there be a minor break in the main to their building? It wouldn't run the meter up if it were before it and it would likely let in sediment? Just a thought.

 

[speedbump]

If there were a break in the main, the water pressure would be pushing out which would prevent sediment from getting into the main.

 

[Chris]

good point but I have seen pipe joints on PVC (Bell Spigot) that have weeped and also let in dirt. Very rare but I have seen it on 6", 8" and 10" main lines.

 

[noahlamy]

hi chris, the service pipe to this building is a heavy gauge 1" copper tube. i would tend to agree with speedbump - city water pressure on that block is around 45-55 psi, i doubt anything would seep into the pipe against that pressure.