water filter help/selection

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eod4647

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Afternoon,

I'm trying to find a good filter system to use on my water supply. I'm on well water and would like to filter the water prior to the water softener. Current setup is two Omni Filters after the pressure tank and before the softener. It's not the exact setup as when I bough the house, but very similar in that the softener, filter, and water heater were changed a month or so after I moved in. The pressure tank a year or so after and the well pump last month. The previous filter had two cartridges (T01) in one unit, I now have two separate units, one with a T01 and one with an RS5 in series. The problem is the need to changethem every three weeks or so. I'd like something that would need changing only once or twice a year. We have one full bath, two half baths and two kitchen sinks, a dishwasher and washing machine. Our daughter is moving out so it's back to just the wife and myself (and the dogs).
I had the well tested this past July, the sample was pulled before the softener and filter. The results are as follows:
Ph 7.4, specific conductance 853 micromhos/cm, total dissolved solids 466 mg/l, total hardness 6 grains/gallon, iron 0.28 mg/l, sodium 150 mg/l and nitrate 0.6 mg/l. coliforms are less than 1/100ml and no fecal coliforms.
With the current filters they turn orange in color from whatever sediment it is. Every now and then the hot water does have an odor (I did change the anode in the water heater), changing the filter seems to help that.
The well is 90 feet deep, the pipe is PE into the house, PVC to the the softener and mostly CPVC throughout the house. There is some copper, but not a lot. There are outside hydrants (freeze proof) that branch off either at the top of the well or from the pipe from the well to the house. Pressure tank and switch in the basement.
Hopefully I've provided enough information. What I would like to find is a whole house filter that will replae the two Omni filters. If you can point me in to someplace I can get them online, that would be excellent. I can't seem to find anything local.
 

Gary Slusser

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I'm on well water and would like to filter the water prior to the water softener. Current setup is two Omni Filters after the pressure tank and before the softener.

I now have two separate units, one with a T01 and one with an RS5 in series. The problem is the need to change them every three weeks or so.

I'd like something that would need changing only once or twice a year. ... so it's back to just the wife and myself (and the dogs).

With the current filters they turn orange in color from whatever sediment it is. Every now and then the hot water does have an odor (I did change the anode in the water heater), changing the filter seems to help that.

What I would like to find is a whole house filter that will replae the two Omni filters. If you can point me in to someplace I can get them online, that would be excellent.
The orange in the cartridges is oxidized iron (rust), oxidized by the dissolved oxygen in the water. So unless your water is visibly dirty in a glass, there is no need to filter that so if there are no particles in the bottom of the cartridge housings, you don't need any prefilter.

Well unless you have a Kinetico or big box store brand softener; such as Kenmore, GE, Whirlpool, North Star, mortonsalt.com. They and Kinetico don't work well with any invisible dirt build up.

The vast majority of softeners do not need a prefilter. Their control valves don't gag on invisible dirt build up and, having a prefilter can cause improper backwashing because they reduce the flow and pressure to the softener, which ruins resins used to remove iron.

Does that make sense to you?
 

Bob999

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The filters you are using are for sediment (RS5) and for taste/odor (TO1).

From your description it sounds as if at least some of the iron is oxidized and being captured in your existing "mechanical" filters. It also sounds like you may have some hydrogen sulfide causing an odor that the tase/odor filter is removing.

A backwashing carbon filter with Centaur Carbon would take care of both problems. Here is one online source (there are many others):
http://www.ohiopurewaterco.com/shop/customer/home.php?cat=339
 

eod4647

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There is some sediment that collects in the bottom of the housing, doesn't appear to be allot. And it does build up on the cartridges themselves.

There is no visible dirt or sediment in the water that comes outof the faucet.

The softener is a kenmore, so... it was on sale at the time and I wanted to replcae the existing one. It was ancient and from the way the plumbing was done it was probably moved from the original farmstead house when the house was built in 78. And speaking of that, the owner had some sort of magnets clamped to the copper yubing, before and after the water filter. Not sure why.

Gary - your reply did make sense. I might try bypassing the filters and see what happens.

Andy - yes to both questions on the filters. In regards to the water heater, I haven't flushed it but I do drain it every now and then. Haven't done that in awhile.

I'm taking a look at the site Bob mentioned. How does one find out how much dissolved oxygen is in the water?

Thanks for all the replies. I now have some research to do. Thanks
 

Gary Slusser

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eod4647

The sediment cartridge you have now is more than you need.

I would remove the carbon cartridge from its housing unless there is an odor in the cold water.

You don't need to buy anything else, and especially an iron filter because you only have .28 ppm and the softener will remove that without trying.

A hot water only odor is cased by a harmless bacteria (SRB, sulfate reducing bacteria) that thrives in water heaters if the temp is below 140f. You can get rid of it (kill it) by increasing the temp on the heater to 140f for a few hours.

BTW, that web site is a competitor of mine. I took an hour and checked out their installation and programming instructions. I do that with all my competition every so often. I see errors in both the installation and programming parts. That's why some of their customers contact me for programming help. And they do not help with proper sizing before the sale.
 
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