Whole House Water Filter

[Matt Peiris]

1. Not a problem. Replace the cartridge with a 5 micron polypropylene sediment filter. Cartridge size would be 2-1/2" x 10".
2. If sand in water is the issue, all you need is a sediment filter. However, this filter system is too small for effective filtering. I would suggest at least a 4.5" x 20" big blue sediment filter system. A CCMG backwashing system is even better.
3. Manufacturers speak of the superiority of one over the other, but they seem about the same.

 

[BobMaine]

We had the same filter in our house. The filter went from new to "brown" in about three weeks. An unscientific test of the filter would be the get three clear water glasses. In one glass pour bottled water from the grocery store. Next put water down-stream from the filter in glass #2. And in the 3rd put water up-stream from the filter. Hold them up to the light and see if there is any difference in clarity.

But, yes, definitely get the water tested to see what's in it.

If you are on a well and live in radon country this filter MAY remove some of the PARTICULATE radon daughters that are found in some well waters. We had a high reading up-stream of the filter and almost zero downstream from it. Since then we have ramped up our whole house filtering including an RO system.

I used the string type filter element.

 

[Richard Gavle]

Hello all, I installed my own whole house water filter and have no regrets.
I live in Montgomery County and despite paying huge taxes our aging water supply still seems to suck mud after every serious rainstorm. My filter has a pre-filter and every time the neighbors tell me there last load of whites came out stained, I replace the 5 dollar pre-filter while they replace shirts and such.
A also have not had to replace a fill valve or faucet cartridge in since installing it.
My water tastes great IMO compared to tap or bottled, as far as the amount of impurities removed other than the previously mentioned sediments I will leave that up to others to debate.

 

[Matt Peiris]

Hello all, I installed my own whole house water filter and have no regrets.
I live in Montgomery County and despite paying huge taxes our aging water supply still seems to suck mud after every serious rainstorm. My filter has a pre-filter and every time the neighbors tell me there last load of whites came out stained, I replace the 5 dollar pre-filter while they replace shirts and such.
A also have not had to replace a fill valve or faucet cartridge in since installing it.
My water tastes great IMO compared to tap or bottled, as far as the amount of impurities removed other than the previously mentioned sediments I will leave that up to others to debate.

A pre-filter won't remove any dissolved iron. Your white clothes get red/brown because of iron oxide. Best way to treat is to install a water softener similar to UXC-0948 or a dedicated backwashing katalox light iron filter like KL-0948. It's better to get a water analysis and check the levels of hardness, iron, pH, bacteria....etc before you go invest in a lot of money on these systems.

 

[Richard Gavle]

A pre-filter won't remove any dissolved iron. Your white clothes get red/brown because of iron oxide. Best way to treat is to install a water softener similar to UXC-0948 or a dedicated backwashing katalox light iron filter like KL-0948. It's better to get a water analysis and check the levels of hardness, iron, pH, bacteria....etc before you go invest in a lot of money on these systems.

Matt, I appreciate your reply but I don't think you are understanding the problem, this only happens maybe once or twice a year after heavy rains.....the water in the lines is so full of clay based soil after a heavy rain it flows so brown its visible to the naked eye, so the neighbors who have the misfortune of doing laundry during this period if they do not notice the discoloration when moving their laundry in the dryer it bakes the clay into the garments and is a ***** to get out. WSSC after receiving numerous complaints has "generously" lol offered free treatment packets to remove the baked in clay.....however my next door neighbor told me they were only partially effective at removing the stains. As said this (flowing soil and sediment) caused lots of issues with leaking cartridges and toilet fill valves.

Also the sediment filter is just the pre-filter, which as said catches all kinds of crap. The next two stages (copper/zinc/mineral stone and activated charcoal) are designed to reduce the other non nuisance stuff and as said I am happy with the taste and smell of my water and the reduction in chlorine....I will leave it to others to discuss whether these filters are effective in reducing any health risks....PS I am not skairt to have a glass of water out of the tap when at a restaurant

Also I got my filter for free from a friend who bought it and was unable to resolve the leaks on installation. Its an Aquasana which IMHO is an absolute POS....every joint other than one leaked due to improper depth causing inadequate compression of the seals. But I have access to a friends Bridgeport mill so all it cost me was a couple of hours to machine the defective parts.

 

[Matt Peiris]

Matt, I appreciate your reply but I don't think you are understanding the problem, this only happens maybe once or twice a year after heavy rains.....the water in the lines is so full of clay based soil after a heavy rain it flows so brown its visible to the naked eye, so the neighbors who have the misfortune of doing laundry during this period if they do not notice the discoloration when moving their laundry in the dryer it bakes the clay into the garments and is a ***** to get out. WSSC after receiving numerous complaints has "generously" lol offered free treatment packets to remove the baked in clay.....however my next door neighbor told me they were only partially effective at removing the stains. As said this (flowing soil and sediment) caused lots of issues with leaking cartridges and toilet fill valves.

Also the sediment filter is just the pre-filter, which as said catches all kinds of crap. The next two stages (copper/zinc/mineral stone and activated charcoal) are designed to reduce the other non nuisance stuff and as said I am happy with the taste and smell of my water and the reduction in chlorine....I will leave it to others to discuss whether these filters are effective in reducing any health risks....PS I am not skairt to have a glass of water out of the tap when at a restaurant

Also I got my filter for free from a friend who bought it and was unable to resolve the leaks on installation. Its an Aquasana which IMHO is an absolute POS....every joint other than one leaked due to improper depth causing inadequate compression of the seals. But I have access to a friends Bridgeport mill so all it cost me was a couple of hours to machine the defective parts.

What's the micron rating of the sediment filter? Try using a filter with smaller holes. I have a 5 micron big blue sediment and it works good with almost no noticeable pressure drop. If these stains are due to mud or any other particulate matter, a sediment filter should definitely catch it.

 

[Richard Gavle]

Hello all, I installed my own whole house water filter and have no regrets.
I live in Montgomery County and despite paying huge taxes our aging water supply still seems to suck mud after every serious rainstorm. My filter has a pre-filter and every time the neighbors tell me there last load of whites came out stained, I replace the 5 dollar pre-filter while they replace shirts and such.
A also have not had to replace a fill valve or faucet cartridge in since installing it.
My water tastes great IMO compared to tap or bottled, as far as the amount of impurities removed other than the previously mentioned sediments I will leave that up to others to debate.

Wow, I just finally understand what happened. If you look above at my previous post above, you will see where I said "the neighbors tell me". What I was trying to say is that, I do not any longer have an issue with dirty laundry or any other water problems due to the filter effectively removing all the sediment. The only way I even know there has been another sediment issue is from talking with my neighbors, at this point I usually replace the sediment filter not due to a flow issue but simply because they are so cheap I see no reason not to.

All this time I thought you were a "filter hater" saying that my filter could not resolve the issue, but now I see you instead you were just someone trying to help.... Thanks so much for you continued efforts to address the problem you thought I was having

PS My filter is also rated at 5 micron.

 

[chrispratt]

Do you change your filter?
I recommend you to change your filter system and use charcoal filters includes reverse osmosis membrane to maintain pH balance so that water doesn’t become too acidic. This water filter system will provide your family with high quality drinking water for many years to come. For this I am using KayPlumbing Reverse Osmosis Water Filter Services. They are, especially for residential plumbing services.They install a water filter system after check the water condition, also provide at very low prices. If You want then you can also visit their work at https://kayplumbing.com/reverse-osmosis-water/

 

[Mat Ross]

I would strongly suggest the Berkey water filter systems for whole house filter. It is proven and tested and you may check it here.

 

[Matt Peiris]

I would strongly suggest the Berkey water filter systems for whole house filter. It is proven and tested and you may check it here.

This thread is about whole house filters. Not countertop drinking water filters. Something like this.

 

[Gary Fritz]

~25 yrs ago my ex got talked into buying a whole-house filter from Equinox, a pyramid-sales company. It looks just like a Rhino / Aquasana EQ-300 filter: https://www.aquasana.com/replacement-whole-house-filters/300k-gallon-tank

It seems to work well. It's supposed to have several classes of filtration in it, activated charcoal being just one. I don't remember the others but they were supposed to remove "other stuff" -- minerals or whatever. It also has a cotton-spool prefilter.

It's rated for "3 to 5 years, 300,000 gallons." Well it's been in there a bit more than 3-5 years. But other than lawn irrigation (which doesn't go through the filter), I run through about 40,000 gallons a year. So I'm still well beyond the rated lifespan.

If it seems to be delivering clean water (good taste / good smell), is there any reason to replace it? Is it possible for it to get "full" of nasties and then start leaching them into the outgoing water? I'm on semi-municipal water -- not city water exactly, but a local county water system that sources from shared city-processing facilities. So my incoming water is treated. https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/242076_c5226dde40134f44a2ee005d61c9c091.pdf

Where have you ever seen municipal water that wasn't hard? It has to come either from an above ground water source or a well.

Here in Colorado, unless you have your own well, our water (municipal & otherwise) comes from snowmelt. The water I drink today was mountain snowdrifts a few weeks-to-months ago. It picks up very little mineral content as it runs down mountain streams, or when it sits in reservoirs for a few months before treatment. It's measured at 2 grains per gallon -- soft water.

 

[rickwhoo]

I'm putting one of these in for my well system. Just need to figure where the best spot to put it. I want it after the pressure pump but someone said to put it before it... Not sure still... I just want to keep the sediment out of my appliances and aerators.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/ISPRING...20-GPM-1-in-MNPT-3-4-in-FNPT-WSP-50/303568130

 

[CarlosBarra]

I think that there would be no problem with you cleaning your filter, I do think that filters are meant to be cleaned anyways, just make sure that if you have a salt system don't add too much salt because it can actually make the water be too alkaline and then you will not want to drink it anymore.

As far as water filter recommendations I would suggest an ispring WGB1B, I think it would be of use to you because it comes with a two step filtration which removes sediments which is you number one problem I think. Although I would recommend that one you must look up online filter reviews if you want to get more detailed information, because I know what would work for me but I do not know what might work for you, specially because there are many different water types.

I hope my post was of help, best of luck mate.

 

[SandburRanch]

I fully agree with Matt. They are pretty much useless. A real whole house filter would be much bigger and designed for a certain purpose. Such as softening or iron removal. If you feel you must have one, the carbon filter is the only one I would recommend for removing a little bit of chlorine. Be advised that bacteria can multiply in a carbon filter, so don't leave it in too long.

If you don't want to deal with it, just remove the cartridge and leave it out.

 

[SandburRanch]

You'll not find that filter useless when a small grain of sand locks the washing machine fill valve open and the potential is there to flood your basement.

 

[rickwhoo]

You'll not find that filter useless when a small grain of sand locks the washing machine fill valve open and the potential is there to flood your basement.

That happened with my dishwasher once but it was my kitchen that got flooded.

 

[SandburRanch]

That one laundry machine experience initiated the un-written rule in this house I've mentioned to my wife and kids. Kids have grown an been long gone and I don't recall if that lesson soaked in.

We were home and caught it just in time to stop water flow about 3 ft. from the top step of the basement. Utility room in close proximity to the basement so there was only a couple of gallons of water to mop. Just because the appliance says - automatic - you still don't leave the house with some of those so called automatic appliances running that has a water connection.

Example: If leaving for only an hour, as an example, to the best of my knowledge those appliances have a stop and resume feature.

 

[Alderon Frederic]

These are the installation steps you should follow if you wish to install a whole home filter system as a do-it-yourself.*

Choose an easily accessible location, but near the main shutoff valve. Be sure you have space under the filter system to change the filter when necessary.
Cut the pipe and install a new shutoff valve. Be aware you made need an adapter on each side of the filter to attach your pipe size and your new filter.
Assemble the filtering system to be sure you can access and replace the filter easily. Once you are satisfied with the ease of a filter change, you can mark it for cutting.
Mark the pipe to make an accurate, useful cut.
Time to install the new filtering system. Remember to slide on the compression rings and put the nuts you need to make a snug, leak-free connection. Tighten the nuts to make a secure connection. You can now turn the water back on at the main valve. Be sure there are no leaks, or tighten your connections.
If you do have a ground wire already installed to your water supply pipe, you will need to add a jumper cable to restore this feature.

 

[SandburRanch]

QUOTE: Tighten the nuts to make a secure connection.
*******************************************************
How much do you tighten the compression nut.

 

[simpsomatt]

Compression fittings or Sharkbite? Assuming I don't want to solder, which type of fitting should I use to install a water filter?