Putting whole house 3 stage filter before Softener bad for flowrate?

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Asker123

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Hello,
I need to install my following 2.5 cubic feet Softener.

A friend of mine and an another plumber suggested to put a filter before softener. Although the plumber advised to just put a single sediment filter , my friend is advising to put the Three stage whole house filter system as mentioned in below two links

Housing - https://www.aquatell.ca/products/three-stage-20-big-blue-filter-housing

Filters that will go in these housings are - 1) A washable 10 micron pleated filter 2) A cartridge 5 micron sediment filter 3) A Carbon block filter


My goal is to catch sediments in order to extend life of my softener resin bed.
My worry is 3 filter system will reduce flow rate for back-washing of my 2,5 cubic feet softener. From internet I did some rough calculation that I need 10 GPM flow rate for good back-washing.

I am on Well water . My connection from Pressure tank into 3 stage filters and then into softener will all be 1 inch.

What do you suggest ? Do I need these three filters ? My Well water has no chlorine but it has smell of sulphur. After the output of filter system , I will be doing a T and give one line to my kitchen cold water . The other line will go to the softener. That way kitchen sink will get not softened water.
What will my softener gain by getting a Carbon block filtered water ?
The filter website do not describe any flow rate related information. I do not want to take this big project before knowing if this could harm the water flow for my big softener's back-washing or to my house bathrooms etc ?
Can you please help with your knowledge.

Thanks
 

Asker123

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Hello, Can anyone please any views?
I got help from this community before so I appreciate a lot.

While I am yet to make a final decision, I am tending towards a non Pentek 3 stage filter.
I get that pentek housings are original but this another one is offering built it hole in the top of the housing for pressure gauges.

One question, It comes with the housing head with Brass port v/s the PVC port. Is anyone has nay experience with such port.
here is a link

Seems like they added a brass ring in the port. Will it add strength? my fitting will be Male Brass fitting. Can this cause andditonal cause of water leakage because the PVC port will be one piece v/s seems like they added a brass ring and the space between the brass ring and housing head hole can leak overtime. Should I avoid this brass port?

Thanks in advance
 

Reach4

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Carbon block filter that pass the water long-ways are higher pressure loss filters. I would not put that in front of the softener, but I am thinking that could be good for at least some of the water after the softener. I am thinking kitchen drinking water. Not sure about the water heater. I would think not.

I ordered 3 Pentair Big Blue 20x4.5 housings in front of my softener. I then decided to put a backwashing iron+H2S filter in front of that. I had already bought the bracket and filters, and went ahead and had those hooked up too. I am keeping the first housing empty.
 

Asker123

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Carbon block filter that pass the water long-ways are higher pressure loss filters. I would not put that in front of the softener, but I am thinking that could be good for at least some of the water after the softener. I am thinking kitchen drinking water. Not sure about the water heater. I would think not.

I ordered 3 Pentair Big Blue 20x4.5 housings in front of my softener. I then decided to put a backwashing iron+H2S filter in front of that. I had already bought the bracket and filters, and went ahead and had those hooked up too. I am keeping the first housing empty.
That is our target state plan as well. We have mild H2S also but it only comes when the water is first started in taps showers etc then let it run for some time it goes away. What kinds Media it uses in your iron+H2S filter to backwash . We dont have much iron but H2S is something we need to look in the future.

By the way , the same company that offers the housing and filter also sells following cartridge for iron magnesium and H2S. It goes into the middle houseing of the 3 stages. Do you think its worthwhile to try or just a marketing gimmick not expected to be working.

 

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Note that if the H2S shows mainly when you start using water, a lot of the H2S may being generated in the water heater. If that is the case, there are actions that can be taken to make that not happen. Short version:
1. Remove anode and replace with brass plug. Removes protection. Cheap. Not uncommon.
2. Use a powered anode. I do that. The model I bought is no longer available, but the stubby ones are cheaper, and are going to be a lot more protective than #1.
3. Turn the WH up to 140F and above to make it hard on the SRB (sulfate reducing bacteria) for most of the tank. When doing that, you should have a mixer that prevents the water delivered to tubs, showers, sinks from going over 120F.
4. Well and plumbing sanitizing. Very effective, and cheap if DIY. But how long does the effect last? I don't know. https://terrylove.com/forums/index....izing-extra-attention-to-4-inch-casing.65845/ is my sanitizing writeup. Certainly it is a good idea, even if combined with another method. Better to do in warm weather, so hurry up, or wait until late spring.

Regarding that 20x4.5 filter cartridge, generally those are going to have limited life. So maybe good for a camping trailer over a weekend. But for a house, you usually would want a backwashing filter.
 

Asker123

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what does your Iron +H2S filter uses as Backwashing agent? Is it some sort of that purple colour Potasium permagnate?
I heard there are some filters in market that uses air bubbles to take H2S out. Is yours that kind?
 

Reach4

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Mine uses chlorine bleach from a "brine draw" cycle from a 15 gallon solution tank. Regen every 3 days. It relies on the fast rinse cycle to rinse out the bleach. So not what you would prefer if designing from the ground up, but it does well and uses a regular timed softener valve. Every 33 days I pour in a gallon of bleach, and top up with softened water. That doesn't mean my system would work with your water. My media is Centaur Carbon.
 
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