Whole House Water Filter - Who's got one?

[HawkinsHollow]

Renovating the house and thinking about doing a whole house water filter. Does anyone have one you would recommend?
Any other pertinent info about them would be greatly appreciated as well.

 

[ponytug]

I guess my first question is why?

We have rather hard water with traces of clay. So, we run a whole well filter (Hellenbrand sediment filter with Tubidex media) that removes any clay and particles to about 3 microns or so. The water gets pumped into tanks for air exposure to oxidize any dissolved iron and precipitate it. Then the water goes to the house, where it is softened, removing even more sediment and the calcium and magnesium.

The nice thing about the Hellenbrand sediment filters is that they periodically self regenerate, so one isn't trying to remember to change filters, and there isn't anything growing on a clogging filter.

I can't say enough good things about the Hellenbrand filters and softeners. In my experience, they are much better designed and manufactured than their competitors.

All the best,

Peter

 

[RjCorazza]

I run a stainless steel element 50u pre filter that can be back flushed, followed by a large 10u pleated disposable filter. The secondary filter gets replaced twice per year.
When the shower slows down, or the dog water bowl won't fill in 6 seconds I know it's time to back flush the pre filter.

 

[jyoutz]

I had a NuvoH2O dual filter system installed 2 months ago. 1st filter is sediment and the second is a carbon filter. The water quality is great. It remains to be seen how long the filters will last.

 

[hube2]

Like someone else asked, why do you want to add a whole house filter? Hard water? Sediment? Something else in your water? You really need have your water tested to see what's in it and if it is something that should be removed.

After 27 years I have recently replace my water softener and at the same time I had the guy install a water filter that regenerates for sediment to replace the. I have very hard water and a lot of sediment. The guy used what he called Filter-Ag. I don't have anything in my water but hardness and mud and this combo takes care of it.

The jury is still out on my new filter, it was installed almost exactly a week ago. It's removing the sediment from my water very well. Hoever, right now my water is a little cloudy for a few hours after the filter regenerates. This is the first time my installer has used this filter media and both of us think that the milky cloudiness is due to fines rinsing off of the media. Since the filter is set to regenerate every 7 days I figure it's going to be a few weeks before I know for sure.

What the guy told me was that the housings and heads for softeners and filters is all standard stuff, mostly manufactured by a single company and then branded by whoever is doing the selling. What matters is what is used for filter media in the filter.

This link is not because of specific brand, it is just info on the filter media Filter-Ag Filters for More Efficient Sediment Removal | Applied Membranes Inc.

Before this I was changing filters constantly and I've been doing that for 27 years. To be honest, even dealing with cloudy water for a few hours a week I will be happy with it. I have more water pressure than I had with the standard filters and I don'tneed to buy and change 12 to 20 filters a year at $20 a pop.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Why did I read that as Waffle House water filter?... I have nothing to add except I was very confused for a bit and was trying to remember what Waffle House water tasted like....

 

[Racer4]

When we had our new well drilled, 280’. I put in a large cartridge filter. Kind of like the regular size filters that you see at the hardware stores, just 2X the size. I’ve changed it once in the last 8 years. The first time we just had sediment from the drilling process.

Our original well was 35’ deep, hand dug and rock lined. It was less than 30’ from the septic. It would dry up in summer and the water was very acidic and loaded with iron. Someone decided (before we bought the house) to punch a 140’ casing down through the hand dug well, which must have been artesian at some point. Never dropped a pump down into the casing. Don’t know why. When the new well was put in, we plugged and filled the old well, and the casing was rusted off at the bottom of the hand dug well. I had 2 filters on that and had to change them monthly.

The new well is over 100’ to the septic.

 

[DarkBlack]

I have a small-ish “big blue “ style canister on my 1” main feeding the whole house. I stock up on 1-5 micron depth filters for it when I find them cheap. Usually pay about $10 a filter. My water is pretty clean, so I only change out about once every two years when I notice pressure dropping. For $5 a year, it’s $5 well spent keeping the sediment out of my hot water heater, dishwasher, and everything else

 

[QRTRHRS]

I had installed one in a previous home that had sediment issues. It's been a while so I cannot recall the brand.

However, even with the o-ring lubricated, the bulky cannister would be a bit snug to remove and even with a bucket under it, I would spill water. I would install the filter in an area that won't get damaged by errant splashes.

 

[ning]

I guess my first question is why?

We have rather hard water with traces of clay. So, we run a whole well filter (Hellenbrand sediment filter with Tubidex media) that removes any clay and particles to about 3 microns or so. The water gets pumped into tanks for air exposure to oxidize any dissolved iron and precipitate it. Then the water goes to the house, where it is softened, removing even more sediment and the calcium and magnesium.

The nice thing about the Hellenbrand sediment filters is that they periodically self regenerate, so one isn't trying to remember to change filters, and there isn't anything growing on a clogging filter.

I can't say enough good things about the Hellenbrand filters and softeners. In my experience, they are much better designed and manufactured than their competitors.

All the best,

Peter

I'm interested in your Hellenbrand setup. Did someone test your water and spec the system out, or did you test it and research, etc?

I've got "pretty decent" well water. Nothing biologic in it, but we have a decent amount of hardness but not enough to precipitate everywhere, and some iron - not enough to stain but without filtering you can taste a bit (at least, when it was tested ages ago).

I use a 2501 sediment filter in a "big blue" cartridge which needs replacement every 1-3 months (~$15 per filter). When I replace it, it's caked with super fine red silt, which is the "iron" (texture is a lot like pottery slip and it's basically the same stuff).

Currently my filters and pressure are in a really inconvenient spot under the house with about 55" headroom; I'm planning to relocate them to an enlarged "pump house" where the well is (20' altitude change will necessitate a pressure adjustment) so that it's easier to do stuff... and possibly change my whole filtering setup. Wouldn't mind a self-regenerating/backflushing deal to avoid or at least reduce the replacement of filters.