Well water filter confusion

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Coltrane

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Hello,

Moved into a new house out in the country with well water. There's a pump in the basement along with a sediment filter housing.

Everything seemed normal until we actually looked at it closely and ran some tests. Turns out that only the hot water passes through the filter -- there's another pipe for cold which bypasses it. I'm totally baffled as to why. If you're going to filter anything, wouldn't you filter drinking water? What's the logic behind filtering hot?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. :)
 
Inline cartridge in my opinion are useless. They only filter particles, not chemicals, iron, hardness, manganese or sulphur. The things that naturally occur in well water. I would remove the cartridge and forget about it. Then if you find that there is something you don't like about the water, such as hardness, or iron staining, have the water tested to see how much of the nuisance there is and deal with it with a "REAL" filter. I would also have the PH tested.
 
Thanks, I'm leaning towards no filter. But the current setup has me curious. Have you ever heard of only filtering hot water?
 
Restaurants do it all the time for dish washing, but I can't imagine why someone would do that in a home.
 
Around here, a decent numbers of farms use them, I know 1 guy that had to clean out his softener every 3 months before we put inline filters on his system.


On the hot only may have been trying to protect something like maybe the dishwasher or hot water heater from surplus build up. Nothing worse then having extra sand particles on your dishes a fine way of wrecking them.
 
Yes, definitely use a sediment filter. I would suggest relocating it so that it covers the whole house though. Sand, sediment, whatever, you don't want it getting into your plumbing. It clogs your faucets, showerheads and whatever else it gets into.
In a previous house, I had a problem with Hydrogen Sulfide smell. I was able to add a second filter canister to hold an activated carbon filter. The carbon did dramatically reduce the smell but were only good for 2-3 weeks. Kind of a pain but I bought the carbon filters by the case so it didn't cost too much.
 
Contrary to popular belief; whole house filters are in tanks the size of softeners not 10" cartridges. If you have a simple water softener tank (9" X 48" or larger) filled 3/4 of the way to the top with carbon, you wouldn't be buying carbon cartridges by the case. You would be going years without messing with the filter at all. A simple in/out head is all that is needed and would pay for itself in a year or so in contrast to the 10" cartridges.

Most people don't know that these so called "whole house filters" were designed one faucet only.
 
Sizing filters should be on a case by case basis.
I have seen some water system that needed a huge filter to catch all the sand and other junk that came through. In other cases, a 10" sediment filter only needs to be changed once a year. My current house has a well the produces really clear water. I don't have a filter or softener.
In the case of the sulfide in the water I mentioned earlier, I am sure I would have moved to a larger filter system eventually but I moved before I got to that point.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to get good advice with residential water treatment. The salesman will push you to buy the thing that give the most profit, not what will fix your water quality issue.
 
I agree, filters should be sized from a water test and for the intended use of the water. I also agree that a lot of softener salesmen will do anything to get you to buy whatever they want you to have.

In a situation where your water is very clean, there would be no use for a cartridge filter in the first place. Wells should not pump sand either. But if they do, there are better ways of dealing with it.

The problem with cartridge filters is they won't remove anything that could harm you. They won't remove hardness or clear water iron. The carbon cartridges will only remove less than a half part of sulphur. They are used as taste and odor filters. But a much larger one would be the wise purchase.

Cartridge filters are a major pet peeve of mine and it just bothers me when I see one in a customers plumbing. It just makes me feel like they got ripped off.
 
Everything seemed normal until we actually looked at it closely and ran some tests. Turns out that only the hot water passes through the filter -- there's another pipe for cold which bypasses it.

Is it a cartridge type filter or a closed canister? It may be an attempt to try and remove calcium from the hot water supply (the calcium separates from suspension in the water heater) to keep from fouling appliances.


I agree, filters should be sized from a water test and for the intended use of the water.

A complete water analysis is always the first step. Then you would know exactly what has to be controlled. A sediment pre-filter should be on any system (IMO).

In a situation where your water is very clean, there would be no use for a cartridge filter in the first place.

Wells should not pump sand either. But if they do, there are better ways of dealing with it.

Please explain further.

Research an H2O2 system for sulfur odor.
 
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Please explain further.

Research an H2O2 system for sulfur odor.
Cartridge filters or the 10" inline so called "Whole House Filters" are in my opinion a joke. All they do is keep you busy buying cartridges because they get nasty looking and plug up rapidly while not doing a darned thing for your water. If you have a sandy well, a water softener sized tank half filled with silica sand will trap all the sand from the well and can be backwashed out at needed intervals. Normally not more often than once every six months. You can use an automatic backwashing head or you an make a backwash possible using several ball valves. No more cartridges to buy and mess with. When these cartridge filters came out many years ago, they were 3/4" and were used as one faucet filters. Now they are "Whole House"???

H2O2 works; although I have never tried it. It's probably much better than using chlorine, but you still have to inject it with a feed pump which is a hassle. For hydrogen sulfide, we use a filter which resembles a softener but instead of using brine or potassium permangenate, it uses air only. It also removes iron, so you kill two birds with one stone.
 
Cartridge filters or the 10" inline so called "Whole House Filters" are in my opinion a joke. All they do is keep you busy buying cartridges because they get nasty looking and plug up rapidly while not doing a darned thing for your water. If you have a sandy well, a water softener sized tank half filled with silica sand will trap all the sand from the well and can be backwashed out at needed intervals. Normally not more often than once every six months. You can use an automatic backwashing head or you an make a backwash possible using several ball valves. No more cartridges to buy and mess with. When these cartridge filters came out many years ago, they were 3/4" and were used as one faucet filters. Now they are "Whole House"???

H2O2 works; although I have never tried it. It's probably much better than using chlorine, but you still have to inject it with a feed pump which is a hassle. For hydrogen sulfide, we use a filter which resembles a softener but instead of using brine or potassium permangenate, it uses air only. It also removes iron, so you kill two birds with one stone.

Check your PM's.
 
If you have a sandy well, a water softener sized tank half filled with silica sand will trap all the sand from the well and can be backwashed out at needed intervals. Normally not more often than once every six months. You can use an automatic backwashing head or you an make a backwash possible using several ball valves.

I agree. Cartridge type filters are more for municipal water supply (removal of sediment, chlorine, etc.), where the water has been somewhat treated before house entry.

I personally do not have as much sediment as I do magnesium. I have a pre-filter but it requires changing at least once a month. I got tricked by a filter company as to the promises of a salt free water conditioner. While it may be useful in a low calcium application, it will not touch the Ca level I personally have, and I will have to go with a salt based system it seems.

So if a well has sediment/mineral problems, is considering the actual well advisable?

For hydrogen sulfide, we use a filter which resembles a softener but instead of using brine or potassium permangenate, it uses air only.

It also removes iron, so you kill two birds with one stone.

hmm....

THANX for that idea... ;)
 
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I agree. Water filtration should be to both lines. For some reason builders but a hot water line loop for water filtration systems - these guys don't really know anything because there is no need for a hot water line loop. It should have been installed after the main and pressure regulator. I'd move your existing filter to the main line if I were you. It's not going to kill ya but you might as well do it right.
 

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