Well water has super-fine sediment

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Our well has generally good water... if filtered. Once filtered, we don't get any sort of discoloration; the hardness is reasonable. Biggest problem? Super fine sediment.

Currently I've got a spin-down filter (with an automatic flusher) and a DGD-2501 filter (large housing, is basically a 25um prefilter and a 1um inner filter layer). With this setup, the water's great... but even with a 250 mesh in the spin-down filter (~60um), the other filter element gets clogged pretty rapidly - and the automatic flusher doesn't do a very good job of clearing off that 250 mesh, either; the stuff just sticks to the mesh. (nb - the auto flusher isn't a proper backflush, it just automatically opens the valve at the bottom of the spin-down filter for a while every once in a while).

Any suggestions?
I'm not looking for a UV treatment (there's no bio in the water) or something to deal with iron (minimal). I'm looking for super fine sediment filtration - unless this could be a problem with the well, which I'm open to exploring instead or in addition.

 

[oosik]

I would suggest that the first step is to determine what the super fine sediment is - - organic or inorganic. This would then dictate the steps necessary to remove the sediment. Simple filtration or flocculation then filtration.

 

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I would suggest that the first step is to determine what the super fine sediment is - - organic or inorganic. This would then dictate the steps necessary to remove the sediment. Simple filtration or flocculation then filtration.

I believe it's inorganic; silt or clay.

As I mentioned in the OP, I'm currently using filtration which works fine as long as the media's not clogged, but it clogs up too quickly, so I'm looking for somewhat more specific suggestions for alternatives.

 

[TheMan419]

I believe it's inorganic; silt or clay.

As I mentioned in the OP, I'm currently using filtration which works fine as long as the media's not clogged, but it clogs up too quickly, so I'm looking for somewhat more specific suggestions for alternatives.

How quickly is too quickly? We have a 5 micron filter we replace monthly on ours. If I forget the water gets smelly after about 40 days. We also have to soften our water.

Maybe a proper back flush of the initial prefiler would help.

 

[Valveman]

A larger filter or a couple of filters in parallel will give more time between cleaning. But you might try to develop or pump the well out. Sometimes it takes hours or days, but many times the well can be pumped clean or at least cleaner. Need a large valve or multiple valves open to get the pressure down and the volume up, which is the best way to pump the well out.

 

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How quickly is too quickly? We have a 5 micron filter we replace monthly on ours. If I forget the water gets smelly after about 40 days. We also have to soften our water.

Maybe a proper back flush of the initial prefiler would help.

The clogging time varies, from a few days to a few weeks. I doubt that the 2501 filter element (or any similar filter for those sorts of units) would handle backflushing, and the spin-down may handle a proper back flush but I haven't seen a system set up for that - the typica (and l how I have it) is a "water rushes by and flushes some stuff" because those are actually designed to filter heavier sediments that sink to the bottom of the housing during the spin, and my sediment is so light that it only sinks in still water.

I've seen some larger sediment filter systems which work by sending water though a tank full of stuff like sand (zeolite, actually). These are much more expensive, and I've never talked to anyone who's got one - and I don't trust the few reviews I see on most sites selling them.

 

[Zippo1]

I used one of these large, whole house sand containing filters for 10 years or so before we sold our last place. Our 130 foot deep well had high iron content. We installed a WellPro chlorine pellet dropper on the well to oxidize the iron and used the large filter to remove the remaining sediments and precipitates. The system worked extremely well and we were able to program in how often it would back flush and for how long, etc. The back flush was directed to the drainpipes that gather water from the gutter downspouts. I replaced the filter media (some kind of fine black sand) once during the time we owned it. We were very happy with the system. This is not the exact model that we used (and we don't live there now so I can't go out and look) but it is similar:

MicroTurb Premium Turbidity Reduction Filters with NextSand

 

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I used one of these large, whole house sand containing filters for 10 years or so before we sold our last place. Our 130 foot deep well had high iron content. We installed a WellPro chlorine pellet dropper on the well to oxidize the iron and used the large filter to remove the remaining sediments and precipitates. The system worked extremely well and we were able to program in how often it would back flush and for how long, etc. The back flush was directed to the drainpipes that gather water from the gutter downspouts. I replaced the filter media (some kind of fine black sand) once during the time we owned it. We were very happy with the system. This is not the exact model that we used (and we don't live there now so I can't go out and look) but it is similar:

MicroTurb Premium Turbidity Reduction Filters with NextSand

Precisely the sort of reply I was hoping for
Do you recall how much sediment you had in general? Was your water cloudy at all, or was the sediment heavier?
If I fill a bucket from the spigot next to the well (unfiltered), I get cloudy water which if let sit will settle out, about half the time. There's bursts of clear and bursts of cloudy, which makes me wonder about the sides of the well.

 

[jrsavoie]

Precisely the sort of reply I was hoping for
Do you recall how much sediment you had in general? Was your water cloudy at all, or was the sediment heavier?
If I fill a bucket from the spigot next to the well (unfiltered), I get cloudy water which if let sit will settle out, about half the time. There's bursts of clear and bursts of cloudy, which makes me wonder about the sides of the well.

We also have a fine sediment issue. Fine clay sediment. it will go through a 2 micron filter.

You only see it after it sits and settles out.

 

[TheMan419]

At our old house we had a ton of iron. We used a system similar to the above. It had two tanks though. I cannot find a link quickly for it. It back washed periodically like a water softener.

Only issue was it really killed the water pressure.

 

[Zippo1]

Precisely the sort of reply I was hoping for
Do you recall how much sediment you had in general? Was your water cloudy at all, or was the sediment heavier?
If I fill a bucket from the spigot next to the well (unfiltered), I get cloudy water which if let sit will settle out, about half the time. There's bursts of clear and bursts of cloudy, which makes me wonder about the sides of the well.

It's been very long since we ran well water at that house without the filter but, as I recall, we would get particulates that settled out and were visible in the bottom of the water glass but the water itself was only mildly cloudy. The taste was fine but rings built up fairly quickly at the toilet water level and in the bottom of the bathroom sinks. We had the house custom built and lived there for more than 20 years before selling. We had to have the well pump replaced once during that period and, while they had the pump out, they removed about 4 feet, or so, of scale, fine gravel and particles from the bottom of the well. As the water tested pretty hard we also added a large water softener which also automatically charged and backwashed on a schedule. Other than adding softener crystals periodically, replacing the empty chlorine pellet container with a new one every couple of months, and changing the filter sand once as I said above the system was very much a set and forget kind of thing. Unlike a previous poster, we experienced no loss of water pressure during system operation and the filter backwashed itself weekly.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Make sure your well pump wasn't set too close to the bottom of your well.

I'd sure get a well inspection and a water analysis done to find out what this stuff is.

 

[stuckmotor]

Precisely the sort of reply I was hoping for
Do you recall how much sediment you had in general? Was your water cloudy at all, or was the sediment heavier?
If I fill a bucket from the spigot next to the well (unfiltered), I get cloudy water which if let sit will settle out, about half the time. There's bursts of clear and bursts of cloudy, which makes me wonder about the sides of the well.

It usually takes me around six replies before I get one I like. You got lucky on number seven. That's close enough.

 

[Valveman]

At our old house we had a ton of iron. We used a system similar to the above. It had two tanks though. I cannot find a link quickly for it. It back washed periodically like a water softener.

Only issue was it really killed the water pressure.

No water system, no matter if pumping straight from the well, through an aerator tank, or even with filters should ever lack for pressure in the house. You just need to turn up the pressure to make up for the pressure loss through the filters and stuff. It is your water system. There is no need to put up with low pressure. You just have to make it happen since it is YOUR water system.

 

[TheMan419]

No water system, no matter if pumping straight from the well, through an aerator tank, or even with filters should ever lack for pressure in the house. You just need to turn up the pressure to make up for the pressure loss through the filters and stuff. It is your water system. There is no need to put up with low pressure. You just have to make it happen since it is YOUR water system.

Yeah I don稚 live in that house any more. House we are in now has multiple filters and water softener and has plenty of pressure.

 

[jrsavoie]

At our old house we had a ton of iron. We used a system similar to the above. It had two tanks though. I cannot find a link quickly for it. It back washed periodically like a water softener.

Only issue was it really killed the water pressure.

I installed a similar system on both my daughter's and our house. 1" in and out.

No restriction when it was new, but the flow slowed down after 6 or 8 years. My daughter's plugged completely.

I've been hoping to find somebody to reload the media. I haven't found much online about what media to use or how to reload it.

 

[DieselBound]

As mentioned, raising the pump up might resolve. Too many folks set pumps too far down. If in a casing then the bottom of the pump needs to be above the screened area (a good foot or so).

Might be that the surrounding area around the bottom of the well/screen is just too packed up. I blew out a lot of crap out of my well (only 38' deep) when I rehabbed it: I'm hoping that it's not something I need to do again- after 5 1/2 years I'm not seeing any signs that I have a sediment/silt issue (my pump might be set high enough to escape any such problem, I don't know for sure).

Might be worth it to get a well person out and have them run a camera to find out.

jrsavoie, for all you know someone could have put in the wrong media to start with. No way to know for sure what media to use w/o having water testing done. I'd think that a backwash filter ought not plug, that plugging would be because there's not enough water flow for proper backwashing (and rinsing): different media require different flows- heavier media requires larger flows.

 

[Egon]

It would sound like clay particles which can remain in suspension for a long period.

Decreasing the well flow rate, if possible, may help. Floculation, as already mentioned, may be one of the better methods of removal but the treatment system may be difficult for a household to maintain.

[video]https://www.google.ca/search?q=clay+particles+in+suspension+test&client=safari&hl=en-ca&prmd=ivsn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjPzM2mrcLeAhWoY98KHTeRA4UQ_AUIEigB&biw=1024&bih=671&dpr=2#imgrc=s0LBEYEkp1NVJM[/video]

 

[jrsavoie]

As mentioned, raising the pump up might resolve. Too many folks set pumps too far down. If in a casing then the bottom of the pump needs to be above the screened area (a good foot or so).

Might be that the surrounding area around the bottom of the well/screen is just too packed up. I blew out a lot of crap out of my well (only 38' deep) when I rehabbed it: I'm hoping that it's not something I need to do again- after 5 1/2 years I'm not seeing any signs that I have a sediment/silt issue (my pump might be set high enough to escape any such problem, I don't know for sure).

Might be worth it to get a well person out and have them run a camera to find out.

jrsavoie, for all you know someone could have put in the wrong media to start with. No way to know for sure what media to use w/o having water testing done. I'd think that a backwash filter ought not plug, that plugging would be because there's not enough water flow for proper backwashing (and rinsing): different media require different flows- heavier media requires larger flows.

My daughter has town water. She is at the end of a dead headed line. Her water is the worst I've ever seen.

It'd be nice to find somebody to reload the media. Haven't found anybody that doesn't want to sell a whole system yet. Or to find instructions on how to do it myself. I can't believe it's rocket science

 

[PILOON]

We had a very fine particles in our water. Most filters would be clogged within a few days.
Under advice I installed a swimming pool filter (had to make adapters to match 3/4" plumbing) and that solved our problem.
The pool filter uses a fine mesh set into a plastic tube.
Generally I can go 3-4 months B4 needing to clean out the particles. Low pressure generally is my indicator.
I contemplated creating a 'back flush' setup but since it is only a 3-4 month event I opted not to.
I do keep a plastic bristle 'bottle brush' nearby to clean out the filter.
Naturally I installed shut off valves B4 and after the filter for easy access. Also a bleed off valve on the bottom of the filter housing.
Works great going on 20 years now.
Also have some 1/2 dz client/neighbors set up the same way.