Question - Considering a 5810 and Pentair Pentek ChlorPlus.

[Sdsvtdriver]

I'm considering having a Fleck 5810 installed and am debating on adding the Pentair Pentek ChlorPlus. From what I read, the ChlorPlus breaks the chloramine bond and filters the chlorine out, but the ammonia stays in the water and flows through the tap. Is this accurate? If I filter out the chloramine, will I end up with bacteria growth in the plumbing in areas that are not frequently used?

I currently have bottled water delivered and plan to continue. I mainly want the water softener to extend the life of appliances, WH, and fixtures.

thanks!

 

[Mikey]

My experience suggests yes. I chlorinate the well water to around a 3ppm residual, then filter through GAC. With no chlorine in the house water, little-used fixtures develop either bad taste or signs of mold growth. House plumbing is CPVC. I was considering re-chlorinating to just under 1ppm in the house, which according to http://www.waterandhealth.org/drinking-water-chlorine-odor/, should be undetectable. I could, I suppose, periodically bypass the carbon filter (and softener) and run the chlorinated water through the house, but the problem hasn't been that bad.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[ditttohead]

Using BB sized carbon filters tends to produce poor results and high maintenance. Adding a properly sized carbon system utilizing either a high grade coconut shell carbon or a catalytic carbon (also coconut shell based) would be much better than a BB filter.

 

[Sdsvtdriver]

I left out that I have PEX in the house - about 10 years old if that matters. The company states their water softener uses 10% cross linked resin and all softeners include gravel underbed and coconut granular carbon. We have very hard water here in SoCal.

The chloramine filter is an add on option with Centaur Catalytic Carbon for chloramine removal. I suspect it just breaks the bond and leaves ammonia. Not sure of the value of "kind of" filtering chloramine then having bacteria grow in my PEX. I thought of asking for a bypass valve so I can bypass the chloramine filter and run chlorinated water to flush out the bacteria, but may be crossing into "being stupid" territory.

 

[Bannerman]

The filters mentioned in your initial post are cartridge type. Although often named "Whole Home", cartridges generally do not contain enough carbon media to be truly effective for a whole home application but maybe better suited for a point-of-use (single faucet or appliance) application.

Chemical reduction/removal requires adequate contact time with the media for the process to occur. Chlorine alone can be quickly removed by regular carbon through adsorbtion. With chloramine, reduction requires catalytic action to convert the compounds into harmless chloride. As chloramine is tougher to remove, the catalytic process requires the water to have extended contact time with the media.

The catalytic filter recommended by Dittohead for your point-of-entry application, contains a larger amount of media, similar to the size of a water softener. This much larger filter will provide longer contact time needed to remove ammonia, chlorine and other contaminants which maybe present.

 

[Sdsvtdriver]

Thanks for the reply. Will the better filter also remove ammonia? Will I end up with a bacteria / algae issue by removing chloramine?

I've read it is advised to test the water prior to installing even a softener. What tests do I need? This is city provided water, no well. The whole gamut is $500 which seems excessive so I'm assuming there's quite a few in the list below applicable for well vs. city water.

http://imgur.com/a/J8NzJ

Thanks!

 

[Reach4]

I've read it is advised to test the water prior to installing even a softener. What tests do I need? This is city provided water, no well.

I like Kit 9o from http://www.karlabs.com/watertestkit/ for most wells. I know you have city water, but it seems to me that the same tests might be useful anyway. It does not test for chlorine or chloramine. Expect results by email in about 2 weeks after ordering the kit. You have to receive the sampling kit, and you have to mail the samples back. EDIT: On second thought, Trihalomethanes/Disinfectant Byproducts looks interesting. Maybe you should read up on that. Kit 180 tests for that and some other things.

For chloramine, I would look for a high sensitivity free chlorine test paper such as http://www.lamotte.com/en/drinking-water/test-strips/2964-g.html

I have never used that test paper.

 

[Bannerman]

Here's a reply copied from another thread:

Since your water is from a municipal source (town, city. water company), they will have performed comprehensive testing and will have the results available, often online. Contact the water department if you can't locate the water quality report on your city's website.

Best to test the hardness and chlorine/chloramine level at your specific location as those levels will vary throughout the distribution system.

 

[Sdsvtdriver]

Right - I want to test at my house since water can pick up various things in route but some of these tests are for untreated well water. Any ideas which tests are worth paying for on municipal water?

I did buy this to test hardness just for 'fun'. Hach 145300 Total Hardness Test Kit, Model 5-B

 

[ditttohead]

http://www.sensafe.com/meters-page/chlorine-exact-ez/