DblDogDare
New Member
AlI,
I need some advice on some plumbing issues I am having. Any/all advice is greatly appreciated.
Wy wife and I moved into our forever home about 2 months ago. The house was built in 2007. It uses a well (depth 150 feet, 12 gpm). Unfortunately, we recently had some water issues where for several days all of the faucets sounded like they were spitting and sputtering air. We had a plumber out who pulled and replaced the Goulds Bruiser well pump. I will assume this was the original well pump. The plumber said the old pump had plastic parts and that the new ones are all stainless steel and should last a lot longer. He replaced it with another Bruiser stainless pump.
Issue #1; The plumber did not shock the well. He indicated that shocking the well would be hard on the pump and that it would be fine in a couple of days. I didn’t quite understand this, but thought OK, I am not a plumber but would investigate. Everything I read on-line indicates it should have been shocked, especially if the drop pipe was left on the ground, which it was for about 45 minutes while the plumber went to the supply house to get the new pump.
The morning after the well pump was replaced, the water pressure was very low at the faucets while normal at the pressure tank gauge. I replaced the 5 micron filter where it was clogged with sediment. This solved the pressure issue. I am assuming that since the well was stirred up replacing the pump, this was likely normal.
Days prior to the pump issues, the Sterilight S12Q-PA UV light ballast started beeping. I unplugged the ballast until I could research this issue. I called the plumber about the spitting and sputtering faucets. I told him about the ballast beeping. He checked it out and determined that the ballast was bad and needed replacing. He did not however do anything more with the UV light. I researched and found that if after resetting the ballast, and still continuous beep, likely a bad ballast. I disassembled the UV light. I took the bulb, ballast and quartz sleeve to a plumbing supply house. After testing, we determined that my bulb was bad, and likely burnt out the ballast. I bought a new ballast, bulb and sleeve (old one was very dirty with rust). I reassembled and the UV light works now.
Question #1; Will the UV light now operating properly be sufficient to not have to shock the well? Is having a UV light enough to not require shocking a well?
Continuing saga… While at the pluming supply house (also a plumber) for the UV light issues, the plumber assisting me asked about my system. Fortunately, I had taken pictures.. However, he indicated that some things were not plumbed properly. I am not sure what was installed when the house was built, and added afterwards. This is the order of what is currently installed;
1. Water comes into the house and goes to a Baron BN 4202 (20 gal) pressure tank. (Plumber replacing the pump indicated that it should be upgraded to a larger tank when it needs replacing)
2. Water leaves the pressure tank and goes to a WHKF-DWH (2x10) 5 micron filter
3. Water leaves the 5 micron filter and goes to the Sterilight S12Q-PA UV light
4. Water leaves the UV light and goes to the Turbosoft IF1.5 Neutralizer (empty of calcite by flashlight test)
5. Water leaves the Neutralizer and goes to a Water Tender WTF480 Water Softener
6. Water leaves the Softener and goes to a unknown make and model (4x10) 25 micron filter
7. Water goes to the rest of the house
Issue #2; UV plumbing supply house plumber indicated that it should go to the 25 micron filter first, which makes sense to me as why would I filter smaller particles prior to filtering larger… He also stated the 5 micron should be prior to the UV light and that the light should be the last thing in line…
Question #2; If I need to have these filters re-plumbed, should I think about upgrading the pressure tank at the same time? Should I upgrade the neutralizer and softener at the same time, considering these are original when the house was built in 2007. Has water treatment technology advanced since 2007 that I should consider alternatives? If so, what do y’all recommend?
Sorry for the long post, and thank you for your thoughts
I need some advice on some plumbing issues I am having. Any/all advice is greatly appreciated.
Wy wife and I moved into our forever home about 2 months ago. The house was built in 2007. It uses a well (depth 150 feet, 12 gpm). Unfortunately, we recently had some water issues where for several days all of the faucets sounded like they were spitting and sputtering air. We had a plumber out who pulled and replaced the Goulds Bruiser well pump. I will assume this was the original well pump. The plumber said the old pump had plastic parts and that the new ones are all stainless steel and should last a lot longer. He replaced it with another Bruiser stainless pump.
Issue #1; The plumber did not shock the well. He indicated that shocking the well would be hard on the pump and that it would be fine in a couple of days. I didn’t quite understand this, but thought OK, I am not a plumber but would investigate. Everything I read on-line indicates it should have been shocked, especially if the drop pipe was left on the ground, which it was for about 45 minutes while the plumber went to the supply house to get the new pump.
The morning after the well pump was replaced, the water pressure was very low at the faucets while normal at the pressure tank gauge. I replaced the 5 micron filter where it was clogged with sediment. This solved the pressure issue. I am assuming that since the well was stirred up replacing the pump, this was likely normal.
Days prior to the pump issues, the Sterilight S12Q-PA UV light ballast started beeping. I unplugged the ballast until I could research this issue. I called the plumber about the spitting and sputtering faucets. I told him about the ballast beeping. He checked it out and determined that the ballast was bad and needed replacing. He did not however do anything more with the UV light. I researched and found that if after resetting the ballast, and still continuous beep, likely a bad ballast. I disassembled the UV light. I took the bulb, ballast and quartz sleeve to a plumbing supply house. After testing, we determined that my bulb was bad, and likely burnt out the ballast. I bought a new ballast, bulb and sleeve (old one was very dirty with rust). I reassembled and the UV light works now.
Question #1; Will the UV light now operating properly be sufficient to not have to shock the well? Is having a UV light enough to not require shocking a well?
Continuing saga… While at the pluming supply house (also a plumber) for the UV light issues, the plumber assisting me asked about my system. Fortunately, I had taken pictures.. However, he indicated that some things were not plumbed properly. I am not sure what was installed when the house was built, and added afterwards. This is the order of what is currently installed;
1. Water comes into the house and goes to a Baron BN 4202 (20 gal) pressure tank. (Plumber replacing the pump indicated that it should be upgraded to a larger tank when it needs replacing)
2. Water leaves the pressure tank and goes to a WHKF-DWH (2x10) 5 micron filter
3. Water leaves the 5 micron filter and goes to the Sterilight S12Q-PA UV light
4. Water leaves the UV light and goes to the Turbosoft IF1.5 Neutralizer (empty of calcite by flashlight test)
5. Water leaves the Neutralizer and goes to a Water Tender WTF480 Water Softener
6. Water leaves the Softener and goes to a unknown make and model (4x10) 25 micron filter
7. Water goes to the rest of the house
Issue #2; UV plumbing supply house plumber indicated that it should go to the 25 micron filter first, which makes sense to me as why would I filter smaller particles prior to filtering larger… He also stated the 5 micron should be prior to the UV light and that the light should be the last thing in line…
Question #2; If I need to have these filters re-plumbed, should I think about upgrading the pressure tank at the same time? Should I upgrade the neutralizer and softener at the same time, considering these are original when the house was built in 2007. Has water treatment technology advanced since 2007 that I should consider alternatives? If so, what do y’all recommend?
Sorry for the long post, and thank you for your thoughts