Whole house water filtration system with water softener

[GIOSD]

Good morning,

I have been trying to read as much as I can over the last 3 weeks and am still extremely confused because there are so many options and I still have no clue what I should be looking for. I am hoping someone here can give me some recommendations to narrow my research. We recently drilled a well approximately 500 ft which is producing 9 gpm to a 5,000 gallon storage tank and a 33 gpm booster pump to the house. I was told the we have hard water and more importantly high nitrates, which is a major issue since we have 2 children under 3 years old. I am attaching my water test report and any recommendations would be extremely appreciated, thank you in advance!!

 

[Reach4]

1. I would use a quality under-sink RO (reverse osmosis) system for drinking. That gets fed with soft water.
2. I presume the 5000 gallon tank is required for fire protection. You might consider having the well supply the house water directly, and have the booster pump and tank supply the water to the sprinkler system. This gets you water for the house that is not sitting there growing stuff. You can then treat the tank with bleach without worrying or testing that you used too much bleach for the shower.

I am not a pro. There may be a good way to treat the nitrates without resorting to RO.

 

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[GIOSD]

Thank you for the quick response. I was going to go the undersink route but the problem is we would have to feed an RO system to the sink and the fridge water supply and we also have a pool house that a family member lives and would need it for there as well. The well guy said the cost wouldn't make sense to do separate systems and because of the high nitrates we would be constantly cleaning out the filters, and that's why he recommended the whole house system.

The reason for the storage tank is the house requires more than 9 gpm so to be safe we got the storage tank and was able to do a 33gpm booster pump so we never have to worry about not supplying enough water

 

[ditttohead]

Nitrates are removed through either RO or with a nitrate selective anion resin. Treating for the nitrates can be worse than the cure. Dealkalizing issues, taste etc can all become a concern and need to be carefully considered. I would recommend using small RO's for drinking water, then a softener for the house. Nitrate reduction is nearly identical to a softener, it looks the same and uses salt to regen, but it is with an anion based resin.

 

[Reach4]

The reason for the storage tank is the house requires more than 9 gpm so to be safe we got the storage tank

When you get your softener, it may have a diagnostic that tells you the peak gpm since the last regen. That number may be substantial less than you expect.

In the well, you have a static water level. You have a pump set some distance below that. The well holds some water in that space, so that can serve as storage in many cases. There is about 1 gallon per foot for a 5 inch well, and 1.5 for a 6.

If the static water level drops, then that would reduce your storage.

The fire fighting water aspect is important. The fire department can pump that water with their trucks.

 

[GIOSD]

Thank you. If I go the RO route would I need 3 separate units (pool house, main sink, and house refrigerator)? And if so because of the high nitrates of my water would they need to be changed constantly or is there a more maintenance free option? And lastly what brand/ system would you recommend based off my needs? Thank you again

 

[GIOSD]

I believe the static water level is at 50 ft but I obviously have a concern on the gpm dropping since I had everything built with a high gpm in mind.

 

[Reach4]

Thank you. If I go the RO route would I need 3 separate units (pool house, main sink, and house refrigerator)? And if so because of the high nitrates of my water would they need to be changed constantly or is there a more maintenance free option?

I would think that your high TDS would be the ruling factor, rather than the nitrates.

I believe the static water level is at 50 ft but I obviously have a concern on the gpm dropping since I had everything built with a high gpm in mind.

You could possibly change things later if the storage tank water to the house is a little funky, and you find your peak water bursts are not as much as you suspect.

 

[Bannerman]

With 705 ppm Total Hardness, that equates to 41.25 grains per gallon + an additional 30% for High Hardness compensation which makes your compensated hardness 53.6 gpg.

Because a water softener will exchange hardness minerals for sodium, you would likely want an RO system to reduce the sodium in your drinking and cooking water, even if Nitrates are not a concern.

The hardness amount is significant enough that consideration should be given to a twin tank softener. For 4 people, the softening load is likely to be 12,960 grains per day based on an anticipated water usage of 60 gallons/day/person.

A single tank softener will require a reserve allowance of 1-day capacity which will not always be 100% utilized before regeneration. Any unused reserve is essentially wasted during regeneration. A reserve allowance will not be needed for a twin tank softener so all of the programmed capacity may be consistently utilized with no capacity or salt waste.

 

[GIOSD]

So basically an RO system will be killing two birds with one stone? It would control the hard water as well as remove the nitrates and is the under sink RO system the best option. I am still trying to understand the main difference between an RO system under sink vs a whole house filtration system

 

[Reach4]

So basically an RO system will be killing two birds with one stone? It would control the hard water as well as remove the nitrates and is the under sink RO system the best option. I am still trying to understand the main difference between an RO system under sink vs a whole house filtration system

No. You want to feed soft water to the RO.

You want to take showers with soft water. You want your dishwasher and washing machine to use soft water.

You would be better off feeding soft water to your toilets to avoid deposits.

 

[GIOSD]

Got it thank you very much

 

[Bannerman]

My earlier comment regarding an RO to reduce sodium was mainly for a small under-sink RO unit after a softener, to purify water for drinking & cooking.

A whole house RO system could be utilized for hardness reduction instead of a softener, but those systems tend to be costly. I anticipate Ditttohead will comment further on that option.

Whole house filter systems usually utilize speciality media for specific problems such as iron removal or acid neutralization. Many people when they refer to a filter, often are thinking of carbon media. Carbon has an ability to remove many contaminants and chemicals such as chlorine and pesticides and is also effective for removing odours and improving taste and colour. For a whole-house application, a large unit resembling a water softener would be needed.

An under-sink RO unit will typically utilize carbon media cartridges before the RO membrane, and often after the membrane to 'polish' the water as it flows to the RO faucet. Cartridges generally contain a small amount of carbon, but that quantity is sufficient for the low feed flow rate needed by an under-sink unit

 

[GIOSD]

Thank you everyone for spending the time to help me out with this system, I learned more in a few days from you guys then I had over last few weeks on my own. I have spoken to Ditttohead over the last couple days, which was also a very easy and informative experience, and have gotten everything ordered and looking forward to finally using our new well. Thank you all again!