Creating Water Filter Manifold + Other Questions - City Water

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WebDawg

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My city water is pretty clean. I live in a town that is named after water. Pretty cool.

I want to install a Filter Manifold past a certain leg. I have a 5/8 meter, with low average of about 86-87 psi, and 90-94 normal average, and 104 max right when they kick some pumps in.

I had some harmless sediment come through after a repair/flush, and it reminded me that I wanted to setup something to clean my drinking water further. I have a number of questions, that I need answered by someone who understands pressure. I know that I need at least some advice since when I was talking to someone when I was thinking about extending some gas lines. I know little about pressure, volume, etc off the top of my head.

Here are some links, that I have found in my research:

Pure Water Gazette » Multi-Filter Installations Provide Better Flow, Better Water
Big Blue Whole House Water Filter, SMART Series (6-8 GPM | 2-3 people)
US Water Big Blue Commercial Filter Housing 4.5 x 20 | uswatersystems.com
US Water Chloramine Carbon Block Filter | USWCB-4520-CL
Amazon.com: Hydronix HF45-20BLBK15 4.5" x 20" Water Filter Housing, Whole House Commercial or Industrial - 1.5" Port : Tools & Home Improvement
Amazon.com: Pentek 150233, Big Blue, 1" In/Out, #20 Blue/Black, HFPP, w/ PR : Tools & Home Improvement

I was going to build this system a few filters at a time. I did not have a bunch of money to drop on this all at once, so I was thinking about just putting a mutifilter manifold along a wall, and adding to it over time. It also helps that I do not know how I want to filter/levels of filters.


The US Water Systems site was cool, because it allowed me to see all the different kinds of filters. It looks like some of the filter housings are twice what a Hydronix branded one is.

So US Water Big Blue Commercial Filter Housing 4.5 x 20 | uswatersystems.com vs Amazon.com: Hydronix HF45-20BLBK15 4.5" x 20" Water Filter Housing, Whole House Commercial or Industrial - 1.5" Port : Tools & Home Improvement

The US water is 1 inch inlet, and Hydronix is 1.5...but for this comparison this is a moot point. The US water is twice the price. So here come my questions:

Is the Hydronix brand a good one?

Should I purchase the largest pipe threads? 1.5.

When I design the manifold, shouldn't all the distances to the filters, and from the filters be the same?

If I chose Hydronix do I get the ones with the pressure relief? Would the PR valve just make it leak more?

Since I am building a manifold, I can put in my own, real PR valve if I want.

They have spun thread filters vs paper/etc filters. What is better?

Before you answer, here is the rest of the material:



Some of the manifolds in the purewatergazette links are clearly not designed with that in mind. I wanted a clear housing, but they are more, and seem hard to find ATM.

You can see with this questions, I know nothing about pressure/volume etc.

I still have to figure out pressure drop for filters/etc.

I plan to install a multi layer (if needed) multi filter system with ever decreasing filter capability. I do not want a drop in pressure, or volume Eventually I may put a RO system in for certain parts of the house, but this is where I want to start.

I still need to do some type of calculations, and create a list of filters/etc, but I would start with 1-3 of the 4.5*20 filters that filter out large particles, and continue to decrease util I got where I want. I would also think that I want to work in some carbon at some point. I can't spend all the money at once.

I may build the first layer of manifold, and run it filter-less, until I get $ for the filters/finish my filter research. So design for the final solution, and then just keep adding on.

I want to filter my water to the max I guess without a pressure drop, and I am hoping that since I have city water already, that I will not be replacing filters all the time. I have looked into some of our EPA reports/etc, and it is some pretty great water. I just want to add that extra layer of protection for my family.

So here is what I have come up with so far. Depending on the level of filtering I need, and pressure drops I was going to do the filtering in stages

1-3 large particle filters

1-3 medium particle filters

1-3 small particle filters

1-3 carbon taste?

I would adjust during the design/with your feedback how many, /etc. I know they have disposable special filters for certain chemicals, but I do not see myself needing that at this point. Who knows. I started to think about, and diagram the manifold, and I can do it, but I guess I need to know if working with water is like working building a battery bank. When you charge batteries/build a bank, the wires all should be the same length or you would be building an imbalanced bank.

I have 3/4 copper feeding everything, coming out of my 5/8 meter. I was going to cut the line where it is convenient, and feed it into 3/4, 1 inch, or 1.5 inch depending on your recommendation. I want to use PVC because it is easy to work with, and I have built manifolds with it before. I then was going to turn, and feed it all back where it came from. The first step to my process would be mounting uni-strut, putting two copper ball valves in, and running it in bypass until I build the first filtration layer of my manifold. As I built the manifold I would put valves in/etc to make it so I can turn the layers of it on/off/bypass for maintenance/expansion.

What do you all think?

Thanks ahead of time!
 
Can someone at least chime in if I need to use symmetrical patterns when building my manifold?
 
I am building a multi stage filtering manifold so 2-3 SETS of filters, and I want to know how to build each stage, if the different lengths of pipe are going to create different pressure at each filter:

WEIRD PIPES

1635531837209.png
EASY PIPES
1635531894056.png
ALL THE SAME LENGTH

1635531993249.png


I don't want one filter to be used more then the other (i get that this is not rocket science here, as far as water goes). And I am going to connect multiple stages together. Filter big to small.


Then I want to know if I should be using over size pipe for the filters. They come in 3/4 or 1 or 1.5.

I don't know pipe pressure loss, I don't know fluids. If I just oversize all my pipes in the filter set, do I have to worry about uneven pressure at all?


This is the type of stuff I am getting at:

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Last edited:
Are you planning 3 sets of 3 filters with each set the same filter type? Or a bank of three filters of different types? Normally a filtration system is piped in series so one filter being used more than another is not a worry, that’s how it functions.
 
Quick question, why so many filters?

I have well water with high iron and clay sediment. I run it through (currently) 1 5 micron 4x9 filter > pH neutralizer > softener and the water is very clear and, well, tastes like nothing. I change the filter once a month. This is on a duplex. I use 1" PEX from the well and all the way
through the filtration.

I am upgrading the filter to two 20" - 1 20 micron and followed by 1 5 micron in series.

Have you had your water tested?
 
No matter what there will be a decrease going through filters.
 
I do not want to have any water volume decrease.

I have a well pump that is supposed to output 25gpm. At a filtered full flow 3/4 tap I consistently get about 22-23gpm. All the filters I use (including 5 micro) are rated at 25gpm, plus I am going through a pH neutralizer and softener as well. My house is four bedrooms, 2 full and 2 half baths, two separate kitchens with sinks, two separate laundry, and I only have a pressure/flow drop if I let the filters go too long. With the typical pressure on a city feed, I really don't think you need all this. Nevertheless, always do what leaves you feeling confident and happy at the end of the day - with great tasting water!
 
Can you post the models of your filters?
The 9" I use are rated at 25gpm flow and the 20" are rated at 45gpm flow. The system is:

25gpm well pump set at 40/60psi
3/4" CPVC from well pump to foundation wall
1" PEX from foundation wall to pressure tank 32gal
1" PEX to filters
1" PEX to pH neutralizer (2.5 cu)
1" PEX to softener (32000 grain)
1" PEX to 1" copper manifold

First filter in series:
https://www.freshwatersystems.com/p...lter-20-x-4-1-2-model-mbgc-45200-25-25-micron
Second filter in series.
https://www.freshwatersystems.com/p...ilter-4-1-2-x-20-model-mbgc-45200-05-5-micron
 
Thanks for the input guys. I guess my next step is do to GPM measurements, and see what kind of filters I need. If I only need two side by side then doing a symmetrical filter manifold is easy. If I want to put in 3 side by side, then I have some thought to perform.
 

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