Whole House Water Filter - Who's got one?

[CalG]

I only needed to catch sediment when the well was "low" during late summer. The water here is very good! But the sparkles would show up in the toilet tanks.
I installed a pair of the cartridge filter canisters that are readily available. At first (30 years ago) I ran a wound yarn element and a charcoal element.
Now, the first canister is empty and catches the big stuff. The second canister holds a pleated paper filter. Those come in various grades (micron). I can tell when it is time to replace the filter element, as the water gets a bit of a twang to it. My wife never even notices, but I do. That's like once a year at most. It works out,

And the toilet tanks stay debris free! ;-)

 

[5030]

Chlorine bleach is a well know carcinogen. I'd NEVER use it in any potable water supply, ever. I use H2O2 injected into the raw water from the well and then run it through an industrial Cumo filter with 5 micron elements that I buy in case quantity and they het changed monthly. No softener either. Softeners exchange calcium ions for sodium ions, not gonna happen here, ever. Been running H2O2 injection for years and everytime we have the water tested (county does it for free here), it comes back perfect. Considering what a new deep well submersible pump cost today, the less it runs, the less it costs to replace.

 

[ning]

When I drilled the 580' well for the new house 40 years ago, the well driller said the water was good. It looked clear and tasted fine, so I didn't install a treatment system or whole house filter. When I had the submersible pump replaced 10 years ago, it was coated with a black slime. The well guys said it was just harmless black sediment. At that point, we had been drinking the water for 30 years with no health problems, so I guess they were right.

As a precaution, I installed an A.O. Smith whole house filter:

View attachment 877767

Amazon.com

It uses a variety of filter cartridges for different contaminates but I used one for simple sediment:

Amazon.com

Out of the box, a new filter looks like this:

View attachment 877766

After a week, it looks like this:

View attachment 877768

The water looked and tasted the same before and after installing the filter but what it catches is amazing!

Black slime is usually (harmless) iron oxide bacteria

We get a little bit in the toilet tank but I've never seen it in my filters. I'd be really surprised if it's in your well; IMO send a water sample (taken before the filter) to a lab and get it checked out ASAP.

 

[DarkBlack]

Black slime is usually (harmless) iron oxide bacteria

..or manganese

 

[bdhsfz6]

..or manganese

If it were toxic levels of manganese, I think I'd have some health effects after drinking the water for 30 years.

There are no telltale stains in clothing or plumbing fixtures to indicate that sort of contamination.

In any case, I will get the water tested.

 

[ponytug]

.

If it were toxic levels of manganese, I think I'd have some health effects after drinking the water for 30 years.

There are no telltale stains in clothing or plumbing fixtures to indicate that sort of contamination.

In any case, I will get the water tested.

Great idea to get the water tested. Hopefully it is just iron.

When hunting for a house, we looked at a property with a sad story. We were told that the father had a heart attack and died, son died a heart attack and died month later, so they were selling the place. While looking around, I noticed that there was a purplish stain on one of the sinks with a leaky faucet. Sure enough, when I got home and checked the water report, the water tested at a high manganese level (something like eight times the EPA recommended limit for manganese, IIRC).

Drinking Water Regulations and Contaminants | US EPA

This page contains regulations which are legally enforceable standards that apply to public water systems.

www.epa.gov

No, we did not buy that ranch...

All the best,

Peter