Another well filtration thread, would need to be outdoor

[Bad Habit]

Been a minute since I've been on here, but this is always the best source of info and advice (on almost anything it seems).

Looking into a whole house filtration system for our well. While the water isn't horrible, it can be enough that you don't want to drink it straight though. Typical sulfur smell, light taste, some very light rust staining. It varies, some days it's stronger than others, haven't noticed any trend. As this was our second home, didn't put a lot of effort into solving it, figure it would sort of flush out with more constant flow. Now we're here permanently and still deal with it.

I put one of the typical under sink filter systems in for our drinking and cooking water and it does a good job, albeit a lighter flow than I would like but OK. But, have figured out that it has it's down side. As the main water enters the house right under the sink, everything flows by that filter connection and it ***** charcoal out of the little filter system as it flows past. This then builds up in toilet tanks, in the washer, etc. We have a little used bath/shower that I need to remember to run every so often as it will really build up and flow black water for a few minutes before it clears. Never thought about dealing with the venturi effect in my house plumbing.

So now thinking of a whole house filter system. Problem is there is no room for it in the house (typical double wide manufactured home). So the plan would be to put it in a small enclosure outside right next to where the water enters. Plumbing wise, very simple job. Big issue is temperature exposure. Winters can get cold here. It's rare but can get down to -20, typically lows in winter would be teens to 20s. Snow slides off the roof and would build up around it too.

Any ideas on how best to keep the system above freezing. Have thought about lining the walls with a thermostat controlled heat trace cable, or maybe a snow melt pad. Enclosure can't be real big, it would be along the backside of the house in between that and a walk way (~2' clearance) so I need to keep it pretty tight to the system. Power is available to that's easy.

Thx,
JR

 

[Captain Spaulding]

You can’t really just filter out iron or hydrogen sulfide. An oxidation step is required. Typically green sand, possibly with air injection.

I’d build a well-insulated, air-tight dog house on the side of the house with an opening into the house.

 

[paredown]

First step always--get the water tested by a reputable place and figure out what you are dealing with.

In our case it was iron, sulfide and borderline bacterial contamination. So originally we set up a four stage--coarse filter, Greensand/Pot perm injection, fine filter and UV light.

We recently converted to greensand/air injection--less mess and no chemicals involved--but it does a less good job of controlling the iron, but it is good enough that the water is good for drinking, clothes washing is fine etc.

I agree with building an outside 'dog house' to house the equipment--the air injection and UV light (if needed) are both 120v so you will need an outlet as well.

 

[jblnut]

Something else to look into is hydrogen peroxide injection. I have injectors on my house and barn wells to keep the red **** from building up on stuff. The peroxide binds with the iron and keeps it in suspension after it hits air and keeps it from depositing itself on surfaces. It also has some bacterial killing properties. It’s worked wonders here and was simple to setup. Best part is that peroxide doesn’t freeze at a temp we’ll ever see here and it gets -40f sometimes.

As far as where to put it all ….. all the peroxide stuff can be outside without worry. Other filters and such I’d build a well insulated doghouse like has been suggested and stick an InkBird ITC-308 WiFi in there with a heater on the heat side. You’ll be able to monitor the temp over WiFi and it’ll kick heat on when needed.

 

[PCustoms]

First step always--get the water tested by a reputable place and figure out what you are dealing with.

This x2

Need to know what you're trying the "filter" before you can setup a system.

 

[dcg9381]

Everyone is giving good advice: Test the water, come up with a plan to treat it, build an outdoor shelter at point of entry and be able to heat it. Takes very little heat to keep a small pump house above freezing.

If the goal is "drinking water" you might consider simply doing a Point Of Use undercabinet RO system. RO gets rid of just about anything, including the dissolved solids that media filters can't handle. Even with a pump house that has filters, we have a RO system just in case something upstream fails.

 

[Bad Habit]

Yeah, the main local well drilling company, who also does filtration systems, will test your water and make recommendations. I had them run the tests and they gave me a quote for a system. No actual results or anything, just a simple quote for an air injection system. Had to ask for info on it, they sent me this link - https://www.water-right.com/products/impression-plus-air-system/

I asked about an outdoor enclosure, his guidance was it needed to have air so having ventilation and keeping it warm can be tricky. Awe inspiring help there.

Am planning on doing a real test and get results so then can make a better informed decision on a system (if actually needed). Interestingly, I have a simple charcoal inline filter on the icemaker and it takes out any bad taste issue. The little filter system under the sink also does a good job of taking the taste out, it's just that it lets the activated charcoal leak back into the rest of the plumbing. I've not found a small enough backflow preventer. Maybe just run another inline filter backwards to catch any backflow into the rest of the system.

 

[mm08822]

I would get a few water tests done at different times of the year. There can be some seasonal effect for slight differences that might indicate an additional undesirable.

Get the analysis report to understand what the water quality actually is, not just "somebody's solution".

Can you add in some distance between where your filter sits relative to where it Ts off from the main line? Example - add 3-4' of coiled 1/2" copper tubing. Worst case, add a check valve with the tubing but it too could further drop your sink pressure and may even capture a charcoal crumb defeating its purpose.

 

[My Old Tools]

An air over water pressure tank (no bladder) can help with the iron. The 20 inch big blue filters are pretty good with lots of cartridge options. Carbon block can eliminate some of the smells, but you may need a bleach injection to kill the existing iron bacteria. We use two 6 foot tall sand filters with auto backflush on our well which services 8 homes. Fleck is a top brand.

 

[RoninB4]

-Certainly NOT an expert on water filtration but had to design and install a system 7 years ago for my well. Testing, as others have posted, is important and should be the first step. Would strongly suggest using a peroxide instead of a chlorine compound as an oxidizer on the iron. Chlorine compounds can cause more health problems than the peroxides and while the chlorine may work great when the equipment is new will it clear out ALL the chlorine as the equipment ages? Also consider how often filters need to be changed and the availability. I use a few debris traps and screens that can be monitored/cleaned before reaching the big blue filters, pressure tank, and Fleck water softener. A lot of snake oil out there so arm yourself with knowledge.

 

[pembol]

Yeah, the main local well drilling company, who also does filtration systems, will test your water and make recommendations. I had them run the tests and they gave me a quote for a system. No actual results or anything, just a simple quote for an air injection system. Had to ask for info on it, they sent me this link - https://www.water-right.com/products/impression-plus-air-system/

I asked about an outdoor enclosure, his guidance was it needed to have air so having ventilation and keeping it warm can be tricky. Awe inspiring help there.

Am planning on doing a real test and get results so then can make a better informed decision on a system (if actually needed). Interestingly, I have a simple charcoal inline filter on the icemaker and it takes out any bad taste issue. The little filter system under the sink also does a good job of taking the taste out, it's just that it lets the activated charcoal leak back into the rest of the plumbing. I've not found a small enough backflow preventer. Maybe just run another inline filter backwards to catch any backflow into the rest of the system.

Are you sure the black stuff you are seeing is from the your under sink filter, and is not some sort of sediment from the well? Unless you have a pressure tank on the downstream side of the under sink filter, it seems quite unlikely that it would back flow through this filter as there is no where for the water to come from if the sink faucet is closed. You could try switching that filter to a carbon block filter or just a sediment filter for a while and see if the black stuff goes away - I am guessing it won't.

 

[Bad Habit]

Yeah, I've had that thought too. I've talked to neighbors about it and nobody else has the problem. Of course their wells are different. Ours is ~350' deep, where the others are on the other side of the canyon (~250 ' away) and only in the 65-75' range. The geology around is unique. I have never seen any black soil/rocks/etc. around here but who knows at that depth. (If you want to geek out about Cascade mountain geology and the Missoula floods amongst other things, look up Nick Zetner on YouTube. Lots of great info, and of course everyone's favorite- geology lectures )

I don't think it's actually backflowing, but just pulling the fine particles in some sort of weird eddy current. My fluid dynamics understanding isn't that great, so may be wrong. Never had the problem before we put the little undersink filter system in. Seems to worsen as the changeable filters age, like they're breaking down over time. It's a 3 filter system, so next change I'll change the position so the charcoal one is in the middle.

 

[My Old Tools]

Sulphur sediments out black and stinks like rotten eggs. I grew up a few miles from the Sulphur River in Texas. A lot of wells had that problem.