Well Water Filter

[rScotty]

Some background info that I didn't know before installing our own house water supply from a shallow well.

1. The biggest concern is pathogens.... i.e. bad bugs. Municipal water sourced from places like shallow ground water wells, creeks, rivers, & some springs kill the bugs with either a drip chlorine system, a biologically active sand filter (where good bugs eat bad ones) or by using Ultra Violet light.
Deep wells don't always need to kill pathogens. Deep wells are considered to be naturally free from contamination with pathogens as long as sterilization procedures are followed when the well is drilled and the pump is hung.
In most areas you can get your water tested for pathogens for a nominal fee.

2. Second concern is dissolved chemicals. This is the largest concern with deep well water. Metals range from arsenic to lead to iron or uranium. Chemicals are things like fluorine & carbonates. There will always be some amount of everything, so the health services have limits to all of these. Since they are dissolved, filters will not remove them. If you care about this, you may want to do what we do, which is to send a water sample to local state university every few years and they send back an analysis which also notes if any of these dissolved chemicals are over or under the limits. Costs a hundred bucks or so...

3. The last concern is the only thing that filters will remove. i.e. particles that make muddy water. This is way down on the list of things to worry about. The number of particles is counted in a measurement called the "turbidity index" that measures how transparent or muddy the water is. Particles are not much of a danger themselves. They are only a concern because pathogens can hide behind these particles and avoid the chlorine or UV sterilization.

BTW, you can get transparent filter housings at Home Depot. All of mine came from there and have lasted 20 years now.
enjoy, rScotty

 

[Firemanbuck]

If you don't know what you have, you don't know how to treat it. You have to get the water tested, or bring in someone who knows wells and filtration systems to test and see what you have. Then, and only then, can you begin to make intelligent decisions on what needs to be done with your system. Is it particulate, chemical, or biological, or some combination? To keep randomly adding filters to the system only wastes your time and money. Please, for the love of all that is holy, bring in a specialist....

 

[poncho62]

This is what I have. My pressure tank just went for a crap, was replaced yesterday ($1000)....Pressure is still low and the plumber figures my 10 year old iron filter and water softener are on their last legs. That's gonna be 3 grand more, unless I decide to rent, which I am thinking about.
Apparently, these systems are only good for about 10 years, especially if you have high iron like I do. Still cheaper than city water I guess.

 

[lzicc]

My concern is more about consistent pressure. The well was tested when we purchased the house and was good to drink. I just use our water for washing and showering, etc. I have an RO system connected that we use for our drinking water. My main goal here is to get as much time out of my filters as I can. So far, the way I have it setup now with the new Rusco sediment filter, my pressure has been actually really good and consistent. The Rusco also flushes the filter unlike the Ispring spin down I had on it. The Ispring did not clean much off of the filter when I would spin it down.

After speaking with WaterBoss about moving my softener before the filters makes sense after thinking about it. With the filters before the softener, when the softener would backwash, it was back-washing using filtered water and using filter life. WaterBoss support said that it needs to be first in line so when it does backwash, it get's full water pressure. They said not to worry about sediment, the softener was built to handle that and if it would happen to catch any sediment, it would back wash out.

Also, a softener removes magnesium which looks like the black buildup I have on my filter. If I could eliminate the magnesium before it hits the filter, my filters would last longer.

In theory it sounds right.

After using the Rusco spin down, my filters are still white. They have only been in use since I start this thread, but without having the Rusco, they would have had quite a bit of black on them already.

 

[lzicc]

I don't know about that. With the amount of money I put into filters and salt, I think city water would be a wash for cost. I wish I had city water. I do have city sewage, so I am happy about that. I would rather have city sewage and well water, so I am lucky there.

This is what I have. My pressure tank just went for a crap, was replaced yesterday ($1000)....Pressure is still low and the plumber figures my 10 year old iron filter and water softener are on their last legs. That's gonna be 3 grand more, unless I decide to rent, which I am thinking about.
Apparently, these systems are only good for about 10 years, especially if you have high iron like I do. Still cheaper than city water I guess.

 

[jorswift]

We first had some issues with our well when we first moved to the home. Sulfer smells, horribly hard water, deposits and bugs in the well and just found out we had high levels of arsenic in the water. MY solution was to have a couple of different independent water conditioner contractors come out and give me their pitch and advise. I first shocked the well and plumbing. Then went with a rented softener that is awesome! Which connects to a whirlpool central home filtration system, and installed an APEC under cabinet Reverse Osmosis system for our drinking water. Water has been great since. Just need to replace the RO filters every 6-12 months.

 

[PILOON]

Good grief. Our water bill with usage is 1/5 or less that much. The crooked water department that痴 more rural would still be 1/3 that.

Just wait.
What with electric cars and bikes there will be no user taxing and they need more and more $$'s to satisfy their union demands.
Shucks be lucky you are not commercial and they install a water meter (on your dime).

Soon the cost of having a well will look like a real bargain.

 

[mike48130]

My concern is more about consistent pressure. The well was tested when we purchased the house and was good to drink. I just use our water for washing and showering, etc. I have an RO system connected that we use for our drinking water. My main goal here is to get as much time out of my filters as I can. So far, the way I have it setup now with the new Rusco sediment filter, my pressure has been actually really good and consistent. The Rusco also flushes the filter unlike the Ispring spin down I had on it. The Ispring did not clean much off of the filter when I would spin it down.

After speaking with WaterBoss about moving my softener before the filters makes sense after thinking about it. With the filters before the softener, when the softener would backwash, it was back-washing using filtered water and using filter life. WaterBoss support said that it needs to be first in line so when it does backwash, it get's full water pressure. They said not to worry about sediment, the softener was built to handle that and if it would happen to catch any sediment, it would back wash out.

Also, a softener removes magnesium which looks like the black buildup I have on my filter. If I could eliminate the magnesium before it hits the filter, my filters would last longer.

In theory it sounds right.

After using the Rusco spin down, my filters are still white. They have only been in use since I start this thread, but without having the Rusco, they would have had quite a bit of black on them already.

I was always told the filter goes before. If you have a lot of sediment and other crap and your filter is clogging, then it is working. I was told you don't want all that going into your softener, a lot more expensive to deal with. At my last house I had the spin down type like you, then a cartridge, then the softener. I had a lot of crap that looked like rust but I think it was bacteria. There is some bacteria that is red and rusty looking, but not harmful. I wanted to add the automatic valve on the spin down would have been nice. I took out the filter once a year and scrubbed it, it get build up in the mesh.

Do you chlorinate your well often? I did it twice a year, and it pulled out all sorts of crap after, then clears up and better. I have seen people have the wells flushed too if you have a lot of issues. I was looking into a sand or regenerating filter, but then moved so didn't care anymore. My new house has very clean water so not so many issues.

 

[rScotty]

My concern is more about consistent pressure.


The well was tested when we purchased the house and was good to drink. I just use our water for washing and showering, etc. I have an RO system connected that we use for our drinking water. My main goal here is to get as much time out of my filters as I can. So far, the way I have it setup now with the new Rusco sediment filter, my pressure has been actually really good and consistent. The Rusco also flushes the filter unlike the Ispring spin down I had on it. The Ispring did not clean much off of the filter when I would spin it down.

If your concern is about consistent pressure, then filters are not the first place to look to change that. It's true that a clogged filter will reduce the pressure to the faucet, but that only happens if the pressure holding tank is so small that it exhausts quickly which means that the house water is being drawn directly through the filters without the opportunity to be stored under pressure.

Dirty filters or too small of a pressure tank can both cause the same lack of pressure. i.e. not enough to take a long hot shower at high pressure...

You can get a larger pressure tank - they are inexpensive. If space or price is prohibitive, you can always run several smaller ones hooked together in parallel to equal a larger tank.
I've even seen systems with pressure tanks before and again after the filter/softener stage.
rScotty

 

[andrewjp]

I recommend Culligan WH-S200-C sediment water filter. To me this filter is absolutely amazing. As far as filtering goes, it works great. The water quality is so much better and there are no leaks.