AlaskaJohn
New Member
hello all,
i have been dealing with this water problem for 16 years.
i have 2 cisterns in a small creek as a water supply. the first acts as a kind of settling tank to feed the second tank. both are concrete about 4 feet deep and 4 feet across. water is drawn from the second tank. the water quality can go from clear in the winter to a lot of particulate matter most of the time to muddy-ish in a storm.
cisterns-->1" line to house-->140 mesh rusco spindown-->jet pump-->50 micron house filter-->pressure tank-->5 micron filter-->UV-->house water
other than wintertime, the water has a lot "stuff" in it. the rusco does catch a lot but gets clogged easily as the silt tends to stick to the filter screen. flushing the rusco does remove some of the matter. but, i have to manually clean the rusco screen almost every day in the crawlspace during the summer. i also have to change the 50 micron filter very often. the 5 micron, not so much.
i've spent a lot of time searching for pre-filters like the rusco that would flush all the debris easily to no avail. i see that there are spindown filters with a kind of scraper in them to allow better flushing without removing the filter screen. obviously, i can get a 100 or 60 mesh screen for the rusco but that would mean that the 50 micron would get dirty even faster.
with the quality of my water supply, i'm sure that my water system will always be a bit "hands on". but, i need a better solution. putting a pump in the cistern is not an option. i would completely redesign my water system if i had a real solution. i've been researching a ton for a long time. that's why i'm here.
suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks so much.
john
i have been dealing with this water problem for 16 years.
i have 2 cisterns in a small creek as a water supply. the first acts as a kind of settling tank to feed the second tank. both are concrete about 4 feet deep and 4 feet across. water is drawn from the second tank. the water quality can go from clear in the winter to a lot of particulate matter most of the time to muddy-ish in a storm.
cisterns-->1" line to house-->140 mesh rusco spindown-->jet pump-->50 micron house filter-->pressure tank-->5 micron filter-->UV-->house water
other than wintertime, the water has a lot "stuff" in it. the rusco does catch a lot but gets clogged easily as the silt tends to stick to the filter screen. flushing the rusco does remove some of the matter. but, i have to manually clean the rusco screen almost every day in the crawlspace during the summer. i also have to change the 50 micron filter very often. the 5 micron, not so much.
i've spent a lot of time searching for pre-filters like the rusco that would flush all the debris easily to no avail. i see that there are spindown filters with a kind of scraper in them to allow better flushing without removing the filter screen. obviously, i can get a 100 or 60 mesh screen for the rusco but that would mean that the 50 micron would get dirty even faster.
with the quality of my water supply, i'm sure that my water system will always be a bit "hands on". but, i need a better solution. putting a pump in the cistern is not an option. i would completely redesign my water system if i had a real solution. i've been researching a ton for a long time. that's why i'm here.
suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks so much.
john