Culligan Super S with yellow/brown water

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mightymoose

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I have a Culligan Super S whole house filter. Over the last few days I have noticed a yellow/brown discoloration of the water.

I engaged the bypass and ran the water through the house and it came out clear, so I am sure the problem is with the unit and not with the plumbing or the city water.

I backwashed the system but the discoloration remains. From what I have read, the problem may be with the compressor. Manuals indicate that the compressor should reach at least 65 psi. I tested and it at approximately 90 psi, but it is a bit noisy.

I have let the water run for awhile (both hot and cold) and the discoloration won't go away. This has all happened rather suddenly. The system seems to be working fine other than the discolored water.

If the compressor is working normally, what else in the system might be causing the sudden discoloration?
 
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Akpsdvan

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Put the system into the back wash and unplug the unit for an extra 15 minutes. Plug it back in and let it get to the rapid rinse and to the same thing again... unplug for an extra 15 minutes.
The media is over loaded and needs extra time in back wash and rapid rinse.
 

mightymoose

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I think you are on to something. I had run the backwash but it was just going down the drain and I wasn't monitoring the output. I have run it three times so far and it is not coming out clear yet.
Receipts I have from the previous owner of the house show that the media was changed in 2010... how often does it need to be replaced? Obviously iy depends on usage, but is there an average period of time?

What would cause the media to be overloaded? Is it just past due for replacement or should I be looking into adjusting the regeneration settings?
 

Akpsdvan

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How often is the system going through a cleaning cycle?
Has the out put of the well dropped from say 8gpm to 4gpm?

Not cleaning often enough can do this along with lower well out put in that the media is not getting the lift that it needs to clean correctly.
 

mightymoose

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I am on the city water supply so the flow is fine. My filter is due to a strong sulfur smell the local water is famous for. The Super S system does a great job eliminating that.

The system is set to regenerate on Thursdays and Sundays at 2am and requires bleach when it runs the cycle. The fast rinse is set at 5 minutes and the back wash is 10. The air compressor also runs for one minute every hour.

I back washed the system again as you suggested and I eventually got clear water, though it took quite a bit more than 15 minutes. The fast rinse was still giving me some grayish water, but the back wash was coming out clear. It appears to be normal now.

I still am wondering how often the media should be changed as part of routine maintenance. I can't find any documentation with a clear answer on that.

I know the previous owner had renters in the house, so I am thinking they probably did not keep up with the bleach supply for the regular cleaning cycles. I suppose lack of bleach likely caused the buildup. When I came along I started adding bleach but I suppose it was too late to make a difference. The discoloration was likely gradual but I just suddenly noticed it when it got dark enough.

Do you think I may need to adjust the regeneration settings or was my problem more likely related to a lack of bleach? Or both? I suppose it would be helpful to actually test the water. I will have to get a test kit.
 

Akpsdvan

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I would say that both could be the reason for the season.
Lack of cleaning and the lack of bleach ran the system to ground.
The city could have more in the water for the system to take out is another idea.
Cleaning 3 days out of 7 might be better.
You are on the right track now of running backwash till clean and then rapid rinse till clear....
The extra cleanings and bleach might bring the media back and is cheap and easy.... yes there will be a day the media needs to be replaced but we might be able to push that day down the road for now.
 

mightymoose

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I appreciate the help.
The original owner left me with some documentation that will help me get the settings where they need to be. I will have to get a test kit to use the charts correctly.

I hadn't even considered adding another cleaning day. I was only thinking about increasing the backwash time. The system uses a lot of bleach though. One gallon with every regeneration. A gallon of bleach is a couple dollars at least, and three times per week means $24-36 literally down the drain every month. Perhaps I will add a third cycle but only bleach a 2-3 times per month depending on what the test kit tells me about the iron and sulfur.

I appreciate your input. At least I have clear water in the house again. It was getting pretty scary looking.

I ran the rapid rinse for a LONG time and never got clear water. I was monitoring it by filling a 5 gallon bucket. When the bucket was half full the water was cloudy enough that I could no longer see the bottom of the bucket. The water appeared a dark greyish color. It was very black at first, so at least it was better. Should I expect clear water from the rapid rinse? The back wash was putting out clear water by the time I was done.

My lawn got some good nutrients out of all of this. I siphoned all of the drain water from my bucket into the grass. At least it wasn't all a complete waste :)
 

Akpsdvan

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When the system is back on step the rapid rinse should be clear at the end of its run.
If it is not clear at the end then that same discolored water that you see in the rapid rinse is what you will see in side the house.

There is another way of getting the H2S out of the water... KDF 85 .
Drop a pm if you would like.
 

ditttohead

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KDF85 has been very effective for H2S removal, it is difficult to set up properly, but if it done correctly, it works great, and lasts for years. I have a 35 pound KDF85 unit in my own house, and I have been running it for over 14 years, with only 1 media changeout almost 2 years ago.

Have you had a real test done on your water in the past couple of years? Many newer technologies work better, cost less to operate, and have lower manitenance.
 

mightymoose

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I just bought the house several months back and it had the Super S already installed. I believe it was installed around 2004.
I'm sure there are other options out there and newer technology since 2004, but for now I'd rather replace the bleach regularly than go all out for a new system.
I ordered a test kit for the water. The ones at the local hardware store were pretty lame and didn't strike me as being very reliable.
If I end up needing to change the media I will look in to the KDF. Thanks.
 

mightymoose

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Well the test kit I ordered was pretty much junk.I'm going to have to shop around locally and find something better than these silly test strips that don't match the color charts. My water reeks of sulfur and it didn't even register on that test. Pretty lame.

In the mean time, I have continued to try to flush the system and bring it back to life. The water I've gotten as a result is clearer than what I started with but still somewhat yellow. I've grown tired of flushing it and just decided it is likely time to rebed the system. I also noticed in the receipts that I have from the previous owner that the filter change was actually on the RO unit in the house (which still produces clear water). No telling when the outside unit was last changed, if ever. I stripped the unit down and cleaned it out. The center tube was lined with algae and there were algae deposits down in the sand bed. I'm sure that is pretty normal, but its presence made me think the unit likely did go some time without proper regenerations and the carbon was just spent.

So, since I am a cheapskate and don't like to pay people to do things I can do myself, I said no thank you to Culligan's $500 price tag to replace a little carbon and sand. The Culligan manual shows 1.5 cu ft of carbon and 30 pounds of sand are in the system.

I went ahead and bought 1.5 cu ft of Centaur carbon, 0.5 cu ft of Filter-Ag instead of sand, and some gravel that was not originally in there. This is all to go into a 10" x 45" tank (not counting the dome space). The Filter-Ag is lighter than sand, but I think the volume should be about right. The added gravel in the bottom will give plenty of weight to the tank. This should leave me with about the same amount of free space at the top, give or take. I was able to get these items for about $150 less than what Culligan would charge, and they are probably better quality too. The best part was the free shipping on this heavy stuff!

My main issues are the hydrogen sulfide and iron content in the water supply. Does this seem like a reasonable filter bed to put into this Super S tank with regular air injections, 2-3 regenerations per week, and a weekly bleach? Am I missing anything? From what I can tell the Filter-Ag is a reasonable substitute for sand helps with the iron reduction as where the sand was just a particle filter. It will likely be a week before I get the materials... I can't think of anything else to put in there, unless I am wrong about the .5 cu ft of the Filter-Ag.
 
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Mikey

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I went ahead and bought 1.5 cu ft of Centaur carbon, 0.5 cu ft of Filter-Ag instead of sand, and some gravel that was not originally in there. This is all to go into a 10" x 45" tank (not counting the dome space).

I think you've got enough stuff for 2 tanks; I'd say just over 1 cu. ft. max for that size tank, but the pro's know for sure.
 

mightymoose

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Ya I don't expect to get it all in there. I can't really visualize the amounts of these, but some simple math indicates that my 2 cubic feet of material should completely fill the tank, I know I don't want that. I figured I should get too much than too little. I wondered if my gravel and Filter-Ag combo was a reasonable substitute for the sand. From what I can tell it should actually be better and last longer.

The Culligan manual indicated 1.5 cubic feet of of carbon and 30 pounds of sand, so what I ordered seems in line with that... unless 30 pounds of sand is way less than 0.5 cubic feet. I'll get the stuff soon enough and work it out.
 

Mikey

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Dry sand weighs about 97 pounds per cubic foot, so your 30 pounds is about 0.31 cubic feet. I have a 10x54 tank, allegedly a 1.5 cu ft system, but it's really about a 1.3 cu ft system taking headroom into account. If yours is really 10x45, you'll have enough material for 2 fills, although saving the gravel is a lot harder than it looks.
 

mightymoose

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Thanks.
I replaced the sand with Filter-Ag which is supposed to be lighter, but I'm not clear how much lighter and how that will effect volume, if at all.

My intent is to use about half of the 0.5 cu ft Filter-Ag and top it off with the carbon to the appropriate level. The granules of the Filter-Ag are a bit smaller than the Culligan specs on sand, but I don't think it will be an issue.
 

ditttohead

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I do not usually recommend mixing Filter-Ag with Carbon. They tend to mix and not seperate. Filter-AG+ tends to seperate and drop below the GAC just fine. Filter-AG+ usually has a higher capacity than sand alone, but it also pulls out much smaller micron sediment. As low as 3 microns can be achieved under ideal conditions.

Watch yor backwash flow rate. Sand requires a backwash rate of 11 GPM for a 10" tank. Filter-Ag and carbon require approximately 5 GPM, Filter-Ag+. All of these medias should have a standard 1/4" gravel underbeeding to protect the bottom screen.

The tank should be filled with approximately a total of 1.5 Cu. Ft. of media, not including the lower dome which should be filled with gravel.
 

mightymoose

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Just for the sake of follow-up, I've replaced the filter media and have nice clean water again.
Apparently the existing media was just too far gone that the repeated rinse/backwash cycles weren't going to do it.
 
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