Change Fe Filter to Katalox?

[Skyjumper]

I heard back from the softener company. they think they put catalytic carbon media in it. not pyrolox. now they use a 3-1 mix of Birm to Filter AG. I still don't understand the difference between these media, but I gather the solid manganese media last longer but are heavier and harder to backwash than the coated media. I suppose anything would be better than the catalytic carbon thats in there.

The H2O2 injection looks interesting but i'd prefer to avoid the extra expense, complexity and babysitting that comes with it. if changing out the media doesn't work long term I may have no choice.

 

[Reach4]

I heard back from the softener company. they think they put catalytic carbon media in it. not pyrolox.

You might want to check the DLFC button to see what number that is. That would serve as a clue as to the media. Note there is a front and a back, so be careful to not turn it around by mistake.

They would not intend to backwash catalytic carbon in a 10 inch tank with 10 gpm. More like 5.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[ditttohead]

Mixing filter ag and birm is done to save costs.

KL is expensive compared to birm or filter ag. These medias are also a lot lighter so it saves on shipping costs. Birm is a decent media but compared to KL it is a bit of a lightweight. Do not use with oxidant injection, air only. No hydrogen sulfide should be introduced into birm.

 

[Skyjumper]

I'm finally getting ready to rebed the Fe filter and wanted to double check my plan with you guys.
1) The tank is 10x54. It is a Fleck 5000 valve.
2) Get 1.0cuft katalox from Amazon.
3) Use 15-20lbs aqarium gravel https://www.walmart.com/ip/Aqua-Culture-Aquarium-Gravel-Mix-Mountain-Jewels-25-lb/10449968.
4) Use 3/4" sch 40 PVC to build a new distributor. Buy the distributor basket from eBay. Cement the pipe to the distributor.
5) remove valve, suck out water, dump tank into 55gal trash bin. take tank outside and thoroughly rinse.
6) install distributor and cover top.
7) thoroughly rinse gravel. Install enough gravel to cover distributor.
8) install Katalox light
9) reinstall valve and backwash a couple times.

question - how high should I go with the katalox? just dump it all in or does it need to stop at a certain height to allow for the air?

 

[ditttohead]

Unless you are a fish, aquarium gravel should not be used. A NSF listed gravel would make a lot more sense. Preferably #6 or 1/8"-1/4". Watch buying the screen from ebay, most are 20 cent junk, or Fleck counterfeits. You should get 1.5 ft3 of KL,

 

[Reach4]

You should get 1.5 ft3 of KL,

I think he may still plan to have some other media in there too -- Filox or some such.

 

[ditttohead]

Filox and KL do not play well together. We do some custom units and we mix GAC with KL, (not recommended) and we mix Clinoptilolite with KL in order to cut costs.

 

[Skyjumper]

wouldn't the gravel take up about 0.5cuft , so only 1.0ft of KL?

 

[Bannerman]

You will need~15 lbs gravel. The gravel will fill the bottom dome to only cover the bottom screen. The upper and lower domes are not counted when determining the quantity of media installed. For your 10 X 54 tank, 1.5 ft3 of media is correct.

 

[Skyjumper]

where can I get a genuine distributor basket? the only ones I can find come with the tube and cost $30 probably for shipping. I'd rather just get the basket.

 

[ditttohead]

you are paying extra for the shipping and probably a junk lower screen. PM sent

 

[Skyjumper]

so I finished the rebed with KL yesterday. many thanks to all, but a special shout out to dittohead and impactwater who provided significant critical offline assistance.

so far the KL seems to be working great. no measureable iron coming out the Fe filter.

attached are some iron photos from the rebuild. I was shocked at how clogged up the filter was.

a few observations
1) holy backwash pressure, batman! the filter backwashes like a fire hydrant now. I hope that's a good thing? it took about 10 minutes of backwashing for the drain water to run clear. I did a total of 50 mins BW initially.
2) I also did a 10min fast rinse after the BW. I didn't see that in any directions except on the KL bag it said to fast rinse it. This required me to mess with the Fleck 5000 settings as a fast rinse is not part of the standard cycle.
3) the tank was very difficult to clean. next time I do this I'll probably just buy a new tank locally and build it ahead of time, and then just swap it out.
4) having a flexible 7ft long 3/4" pipe to hook up to a shop vac, so you can direct it down into the tank, around the deflector, and suck the water and media out is a big help.
5) the original filter was only 1/2 full of media, and used what appeared to be the same aquarium gravel that I was considering. i'm glad I got the real filter gravel and did it right.

Question: how often should I backwash this thing now with the KL in it? we have about 3ppm iron, and use about 120gal/day. it is a 1.5ft3 filter, and I used the whole 1.5ft of KL in the rebed.

 

[Reach4]

so far the KL seems to be working great. no measureable iron coming out the Fe filter.

Nice. Do you have a sensitivity number for that iron test? I know the max is 4 ppm, but I wonder how low the sensitivity goes.

3) the tank was very difficult to clean. next time I do this I'll probably just buy a new tank locally and build it ahead of time, and then just swap it out.

Maybe a bunch of Iron Out would clean it. Maybe the KL will remove enough iron and backwash crud periodically.

1) holy backwash pressure, batman! the filter backwashes like a fire hydrant now. I hope that's a good thing? it took about 10 minutes of backwashing for the drain water to run clear. I did a total of 50 mins BW initially.

What backwash gpm?


Any injection of anything in service or during backwash?

 

[Reach4]

delete dup

 

[ditttohead]

Remove the top screen, that is not used in that system design, manufacturer should not have installed, common mistake. Backwash daily or every other day.

 

[Skyjumper]

Nice. Do you have a sensitivity number for that iron test? I know the max is 4 ppm, but I wonder how low the sensitivity goes.

Maybe a bunch of Iron Out would clean it. Maybe the KL will remove enough iron and backwash crud periodically.


What backwash gpm?


Any injection of anything in service or during backwash?

the Hach iron test is somewhat subjective. you mix the powder with the water and match the color with the color disc to measure ppm. the color disc is 0.2ppm gradation, but there is human judgement involved in matching the color... I don't even bother with the color disc anymore. I just look for clear (no iron), or slight tint (a little iron), or darker orange (lots of iron).

not sure what the gpm is now.. at least 10 I think. No injection other than air that is sucked in during brine draw.

the original filter was designed for 1o minutes backwash and 50 mins air draw every 3 days. I think i'm going to backwash every night for 5 mins, and 3o mins air draw.
[edited to correct the color disc gradation to 0.2ppm]

 

[Reach4]

not sure what the gpm is now.. at least 10 I think.

10 gpm backwash seems a bit high. https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?attachments/img_kl10-png.45237/
That top basket may come into play.

If you wanted to measure the backwash rate, you could direct the drain line into a 5 gallon bucket during backwash, and see how many seconds it takes to fill the bucket. 10 gpm is a pretty big stream of water -- 5 gallons in 30 seconds.

If you measure less than 7 gpm with ~55F well water, you may want to consider steps to increase the backwash.