Whole house water filter - flow rate

I am looking to install a whole house water filters (simple inexpensive cartridge type, not a big complex system), and they all advertise a flow rate, usually 5 gpm, some higher. What does this refer to? The maximum flow possible through the filter? Or just the maximum flow recommended for the most filtering, but flow can be higher? I know sometimes I will exceed 5 gpm.

Thanks!

Try This-

http://www.advanced-water-systems.com/technical/computing_flow_rates.html

maximum thru filter.

this measurement is when the filter is new, be advised, dirty filter will lesson gpm into your home


install a bypass

garrett1812 said:

I am looking to install a whole house water filters (simple inexpensive cartridge type, not a big complex system), and they all advertise a flow rate, usually 5 gpm, some higher.

What does this refer to?

The maximum flow possible through the filter? Or just the maximum flow recommended for the most filtering, but flow can be higher? I know sometimes I will exceed 5 gpm.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Let me try to explain further as I was a$$-u-meing the OP understood fully the tem gpm and I gave reference only as how to determining gpm flow.

You need to know the system(s) (home in this instance) flow rate, i.e. the amount of water that passes in a given time as filters are sized according to flow rate (as well as other factors).

If the flow rate is too low for the filter rating, it will not filter properly and possibly cause lower flow. If too high above rating, it may allow passage of contaminants you are trying to trap and/or put excessive pressure (resistance) on say the well pump. And as the filter accumulates more trash, it offers more resistance to flow as mentioned earlier so a preventative maintenance schedule has to be determined.

Using cartridge filters may be less productive as backwash filters due to capacity and lack of changing. Have you determined (by water analysis) what contaminants you are trying to remove? Municipal or well?

Hope that made sense...

Thanks for the additional information.

I understand gpm.

Between the two posts there are two different ideas as to the meaning, either its the maximum possible or maximum for specified cleaning. This is the same two possible meanings I found when attempting to interrupt phrasing used by different filter manufacturers.

Kultulz, interesting about your comment on low flow rates. If the only water being used in the house is the refrigerator filling the ice maker, for example, the flow rate may only be 1/4 gpm (just a guess, but its low). It may not filter the water properly in this case, or reduce the flow even further?

Sorry about the confusion... I am good at it... I think that is how I got married...

Match the filter flow capacity to the measured house flow, i.e., if the house produces 10gpm, you want a filter(s) rated @ 10 (to twelve).

Thanks, its kind of what I figured. I was hoping the filter would output faster but just filter less. I know 90% of the time I will be under 5gpm, so I was hoping to just filter less when exceeding, which would be okay. Now I starting to see some 10gpm and 20gpm that I can convince myself to spend a little extra for.

In my humble opinion, don't waste your money on a so called whole house filter. If you have ever seen a standard water softener. That is a whole house filter. Those ten inch filters are a joke.