New Whole House Carbon Filter Install

[Bryce_V]

Hello! I'm working on renovating a weekend home, and we would like to install a whole house water filter primarily to clean up or improve the water taste for drinking, ice and showering. Water flow is very important to us, and we would like to have a great functioning system with limited maintenance.

The house is about 3,000 square feet and has three and half baths. All three baths are showers only and two of them have 2 shower heads in each (1 standard and 1 rain).

I've attached a copy of our local water quality report. The water source is Lake Michigan. We know the water is on the harder side, but we are not inclined to install a softener out of personal preference.

I have tried to do as much research as possible, but it's been a difficult task. From what I have learned, I think we need a carbon based filter with 15-20 GPM flow. It also sounds like it should have a Fleck or a Clack valve backwash, but I'm not 100% certain of this fact. We plan on having the filter installed by our plumber.

I need some advice on finalizing my decision. Would you please offer your opinion? If you need more information, please ask! THANKS

• Are we best served with GAC or do we need a different media?
• is 15 GPM enough or do we need more?
• is the backwash valve the way to go?
• should we add a UV filter?

I have looked at the following options but I'm not opposed to others:

• Pelican PC 1000
• Aquasan EQ-1000
• https://www.flecksystems.com/fleck-...washing-granular-activated-carbon-filter.html
  
• https://www.cleanwaterstore.com/carbon-backwash-filter-city.html#item=CF003190&tab=tab1
• (no backwash) https://www.cleanwaterstore.com/carbon-upflow.html#item=CF003140&tab=tab1
• Kinetico Dechlorinator (no backwash): https://www.kinetico.com/specialty-solutions/dechlorinator/

 

[ditttohead]

I would avoid the online companies and definitely stay away from non backwashing units. They work but... not enough time to do a classroom session on this topic.

Your actual water flow will likely never exceed 5-8 gpm and the numbers you see on many systems are peak flows, not actual performance flows. A carbon system should be regulated to 3 gpm per ft3 for proper performance. This would mean you would need a system the size of a small car to perform at 20 GPM. Fortunately carbon works fine for chlorine reduction at higher flow rates.

In general, if you want excellent performance a 2.5 ft3 system for your application may be slightly overkill but very effective and reasonable.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Bryce_V]

I would avoid the online companies and definitely stay away from non backwashing units. They work but... not enough time to do a classroom session on this topic.

Your actual water flow will likely never exceed 5-8 gpm and the numbers you see on many systems are peak flows, not actual performance flows. A carbon system should be regulated to 3 gpm per ft3 for proper performance. This would mean you would need a system the size of a small car to perform at 20 GPM. Fortunately carbon works fine for chlorine reduction at higher flow rates.

In general, if you want excellent performance a 2.5 ft3 system for your application may be slightly overkill but very effective and reasonable.

Thanks Dittohead. Your advice is much appreciated.