I'm looking for some feedback on my planned well water filtration system. I tried to be as detailed as possible without writing a wall of text. Any feedback is highly appreciated!
House:
Problems:
Which of these is a better filter stack for this size sediment (keeping in mind, there's almost none - unless people overuse the water which can happen once every 1-2 months). Or would you suggest a better filter stack?
House:
- 4 bedroom / 2 bathroom / 1 2 person whirlpool/jacuzzi/jetted tub
- Used as a short term rental (AirBnB) so will occasionally have 10+ people for 2-5 days in a row.
- Well ran dry July of last year (2020), was fracked and has been performing well since.
- Culligan 10" x 2.5" filter housing
- Currently use Culligan standard duty 10 micron string wound sediment filters
Problems:
- Water has a some dissolved iron, it comes out clear but after sitting for a while it stains toilet bowl and tub. My home water test didn't detect any iron, where as Culligan came out to test my water and found it to be 0.2
- The string wound filter has no rubber seals on top or bottom so it lets through sediment from time to time. This may not be a problem after all, as after posting this on another forum, someone suggested that my filter housing appears to be installed backwards. They were right - I have since put it on correctly.
- The big one: during excessive water use (filling jacuzzi & multiple showers within a short period of time) the water level in the well drops - a lot of sediment and brown water comes up, the filter let's through a bunch of the sediment and no longer filters out the brown color. The water will eventually clear up, however, the damage is already done (clogged faucet aerators, shower heads, stained toilets, etc).
- I have tried installing a culligan 5 micron filter - however, there was a noticeable change in water pressure from 2 people using the water for 2-3 days. Pulling it out, it was completely clogged up with iron/rust/brown silt(?).
- I had culligan come out to test my water - they didnt find anything significant except that they claim the PH of the water is 6.1 - when I tested it with my home test I found it to be 6.5 - 7.5ish (not sure which one is more accurate... and I'm hesitant to trust the culligan guy 100% as he's trying to sell me a $2000 system). In addition, I haven't had any issues with pinholes, etc. - so not sure if this is a problem worth solving at this point. I'm mostly concerned with sediment and color.
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- I'm essentially looking to upgrade my filtration system to what this guy did on youtube:
- The plan is to have 2 spin down filters (I'm thinking first 200 microns to capture really big stuff, the second 50 micron - not sure) and then 2x 4.5" x 10" filters (thinking 25 micron & 5 micron or maybe 25 micron & gradient 25=>1 micron - I don't know, trying to figure this part out).
Which of these is a better filter stack for this size sediment (keeping in mind, there's almost none - unless people overuse the water which can happen once every 1-2 months). Or would you suggest a better filter stack?
- 200 micron spin down > 100 micron spin down > 50 micron polypropylene > 5 micron polypropylene
- 200 micron spin down > 100 micron spin down > 50 micron polypropylene > 25-1 micron gradient polypropylene
- 100 micron spin down > 50 micron spin down > 25 micron polypropylene > 5 micron gradient polypropylene
- 200 micron spin down > 50 micron spin down > 25 micron polypropylene > 5 micron polypropylene
- 200 micron spin down > 50 micron spin down > 25 micron polypropylene > 25=>1 micron polypropylene
- Does it make sense to install a shut off ball valve, spigot and pressure gauge between each filter?
- My water lines are 3/4" - does it make sense to use 1" pipe to plumb the filtration system so I'm not losing pressure due to inside diameter of pex?
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