Packing new media in my whole house filter & softener, what order should I place it?

[GuruKid]

Hey guys,

Thanks in advance for the help!

We purchased a home 2 years ago in Sarasota, FL. Unfortunately (and fortunately as I use water for a ton of things) the home came with well water only - a blessing and a curse. Being from Tennessee, this didn't really seem like a problem to me, but the well was drilled in the 50's, it's shallow, and the water is heavy in metal - Iron mainly.

That being said, we purchased a whole house filtration system with auto-backwash (set daily), and a water softener. These are branded as "iron guard" and some for the softener, I can't remember the name, but it's catchy LOL.

These are comparable to Fleck heads, and the whole house filter system is the one with the air pocket at the top. I'm still not sure if it's called air injection or aeration, but again, it's the one with the pocket at the top.

Unfortunately for me, and my neighbors, we've been forced to learn more and more about our water as all the local companies refuse to either replace the media, shock the well, install a chlorinator, or come up with any solution that doesn't require buying a complete system from them. There are people buying whole new systems every 2-5 years out here because they don't know they can repack their backwashing systems.....

Sorry to bore you with the long post, but I need some help.

I recently purchased the following

1) 15 pound of filter gravel for for the base of the softener and the filter system
2) Birm filter media
3) Filox media
4) KDF 55 Filtration media
5) Granular Activated Carbon w/ coconut
6) KDF 85 Filtration media
7) I need resin for the softener, if you have any suggestions I really appreciate it

I realize that I may have purchased too much, or there may be some redundancies in my purchases, however, it's been months where the water has started to smell bad, and now our current media (2 years old), is dead - the water is stinky like sulfur/eggs and metallic tasting as well. It also smells like metal.

Could you please advise as to whether or not I purchased the correct items, if I'm missing anything, and what order your recommend I pack the filter and softener?

I'm thinking from bottom to top: gravel -> kdf -> birm -> filox (for the filter) & gravel -> resin (softener)

any suggestions would be great, thanks!

 

[Reach4]

Oh, man. I am not an expert, but I know you are not doing it right.

So as I understand it, you have two media tanks with controllers. What are the sizes? 10 inch diameter by 54 tall is a popular size. And for the filter, what is the backwash rate? You will either look inside the controller, or you will run that through a backwash cycle and measure the water flow during backwash.

The softener part is easiest. Resin goes in with gravel on the bottom. If the gravel does not start on the bottom, that is where it will be after the first backwash. Some people don't use gravel in the softener, but it is best to have the gravel.

The filter... the BIRM and Filox have very different backwash needs. I don't know what you put under Filox... Filox might be as dense as gravel. I don't think BIRM is recommended to treat H2S (the smell). Not all pumps have enough capacity to backwash Filox. So besides the tank size, you need the pump ability do decide if you can use the Filox. Katalox Light is the newer media that has backwash needs closer to BIRM, but does handle H2S. http://www.purewaterproducts.com/articles/filter-media is a media comparison table that can be useful, although the backwash for Katalox Light should be more like 13 gallons/square ft. So at least get your tank data. KDF media is very dense and needs much higher backwash rates. That is often loaded into a tank within a tank called a MediaGuard. http://www.pure-earth.com/mediaguard.html

The sanitizing is easier, and is particularly appropriate for DYI. https://terrylove.com/forums/index....izing-extra-attention-to-4-inch-casing.65845/ is my writeup on sanitizing with a deep well.

 

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[Bannerman]

Suggest posting your water's lab test results. Without knowing your specific water conditions, no one can know which treatment methods will be appropriate.

Mixing KDF media with any other media should not be done. KDF is extremely heavy and will require a very high backwash rate. As such, it will typically settle to the bottom of the tank and without adequate backwash, it will become as effective as a lump of concrete.

As mentioned, depending on water conditions, KDF can be effective within a media guard which is a small diameter holder inserted and held in-place within the tank opening, directly below the control valve. The smaller quantity contained within the media guard, should not require an extreme backwash rate but often will require a higher backwash rate than the other media directly within the tank.

Edit to add: http://www.purewaterproducts.com/articles/backwash-chart
Good description and comparison, although the backwash rates indicated are averages, not optimal.

 

[ditttohead]

Here is another chart of backwash rates. https://view.publitas.com/impact-water-products/2018-catalog-final/page/154-155

Mixing those medias will result in very poor design and potential problems. As stated above, each media has very specific operating criteria. We blend many medias together but we also have an intimate knowledge of how each media will react when blended and what will and will not occur.

KDF85 is basically ground up copper/zinc and thus needs a massive backwash rate to be effective. Filox is a naturally mined ore that is extremely heavy, GAC is very light and easy to backwash...

I am guessing you read online that each media does something specific... so you thought you could throw them all in a tank and it would work. It will work about as well as putting a lawn mower motor into a formula one car with 35" mudders on it in the hopes of getting a race car that can go off roading and get great gas mileage.