Island house help
 

We have a house on Sleeper's Island and are having water pressure issues. We get our water from the lake. have good pressure in the tank (Well-Mate), but then get intermittent pressure inside the house. One minute its fine, next its almost a trickle. My husband reset the pressure range on the tank, seemed to improve briefly, but quickly back to where it was. The pump seems to be operating normally, we can hear it kick on and run when the tank asks for water. Does anyone have experience with this type of problem? Wondering about the air bladder inside the tank?

Update: We just checked the sediment filter that we replaced 2 days ago and it is completely clogged with sludge already, even though lake water is crystal clear. This has never happened before. Does anyone have experience with this? Trying to sort out what is happening. Changing the filter again fixed the problem, so the pump and tank are fine. It looks like the tank is in line before the filter. Is that normal and could the tank just be full of gunk? Any ideas or info would be helpful. We are only on our second season, figuring this out as we go along.

Are you sure your filters simply don't need changing?? I have to change mine once or twice during the season for the same water pressure issue....

Dan

Dan, so we just went down and checked the filter that he just put in 2 days ago. It was completely clogged with junk. Do you have any experience with why that would happen in 2 days? Has never happened to us before.

Thanks, Jenny

Pressure in tank should be 2 psi lower than low water cut in pressure. Check tank pressure with tank drained of water. If any moisture comes out of needle valve where you check bladder pressure most likely bladder is leaking and tank needs to be replaced. Good luck!

Is it possible that your intake line got pushed down into the silt/lake bottom?

I don't see how, its pretty protected by rocks and the end of the dock, but we'll take a look. Do you know if there are any simple filters on those intake lines? We are pretty able to do things, we just don't know a lot about how this system works. We've never had this happen, so clearly something is not right. Do the tanks become full of sediment, slime, etc over time or is that not a normal thing that would happen?

Yes, we know that (thanks to a you tube video last night, lol) and all was well.

The end of the line should have a foot valve on it which has a screen on it so nothing to big gets in. Yours could of deteriorated over time possibly.

well trouble
 

Did you raise the intake off the bottom as not to pick up sand that's what would fill the sediment filter, along with that you need the clean every screen along the way to the faucet. This will also fill the tank with sediment ?

Let us know...
 

Did you figure out why the filter got clogged so quickly? Solution?

Swimmers?
 

Is there a lot of swimming activity near the intake? Especially swimmers with fins tend to kick up the bottom a bit.

I am by no means a professional but I would think if your filter got clogged in two days something has been compromised at the pump such as a pre-filter screen or your intake is not sitting on the lake bed properly. See Lakeboaters post above....

Do you know what size filters you are running (micron size)? You should have at least two sediment filters possibly a 50 micron and a 5 micron??

It may be wise to have a pro come in and check out the system. Island Support I'm sure could help you out.

Good luck!

Dan

What depth is your intake at?

Gilford Well did our filtration system. At the time of installation they recommended an intake stand, a metal frame that would keep the intake off the lake bed. We didn't go with it as ours was already on something and we never had a sediment problem.

May be worth looking into.

Intake location, water depth and height above bottom matter a lot.

I just replaced our filters after 3+ months of several days a week use. There was almost zero visible sediment. The intake is in deep water, more than 15', on the opposite side of the breakwater from docking and held off the bottom by a frame. Actually the intake is a submersible pump mounted on a stainless steel frame installed by Island Support Service.

Our prior system had the intake just off the docking side of the breakwater, in about 6' of water held about 1' off the bottom. Docking always kicked up sediment from the prop wash. After 3 months of use, the sediment filter was packed with sand and grit.

Slick, I was just wondering when you had your water system redone.?? Do you know how difficult is it to get a permit to get a channel dug in the shallow water so you can bury the first part of your pipe so it doesn't freeze? Or don't you use it in the winter? I know someone who wanted to continue to use lake water but didn't want to deal with getting a permit for a machine to dig in the lake so they got a well. The existing pipe was not buried.

We don't use it in the winter on Welch. Water line is not buried but does stay in the water over winter. Drain valve at shore is used at closeup. New system installed 2 years ago.

I'm on Sleepers as well and I go through the dirt and rust filters on my system approx every 2 weeks. I just recently changed the location of my filter so that water supplied to my outside hoses is NOT filtered. Water supplied to my hoses now comes out just after my Well-trol tank and before the filter. We have a lot of flowers and plants that need water and of course rinsing off boats and decks etc. This has more than doubled the filter life.

Just curious....

Do you lucky enough to live on an island sanitize the lake water in some way before use in your house?

Do you use UV lamps or other types of systems?

Or do you bring potable water with you for cooking, etc.?

Mine goes through two sediment filters, then a UV sanitizer / purifier, then we have carbon filters at interior sink locations. Had it tested a number of times and its better than Poland Spring and tastes great but the wife still makes me lug the bottled water for drinking! :emb::emb:

Dan

I can almost understand how she feels... after all.... Fish have sex in that water!

I like how people are so worried about the lake water when it is filtered. Where does town and city water come from before it is treated? Laconia comes from Lake Winni. Wolfeboro comes from Beech Pond.

Good System
 

At the recommendation on someone on the forum I bought this system last year. It was about $1,000

pwp@purewaterproducts.com

It has a sediment filter, charcoal filter and UV chamber. I installed it after my small sediment filter from Lowe's thinking that the $5 filter will eliminate at least some of the sediment before it gets into the more expensive filter system. I have my outside water set up before the filter system.

After two weeks with the new system I took a sample to the Laconia Water Department and they confirmed that it is drinking quality water. That was enough information for me so I went out and bought an ice maker for my freezer.

I can now confirm that cocktails taste better with Winnipesaukee ice cubes!

Our filtered lake water was better than our well water in Dover by a longshot.

When we bought out island camp 20 years ago it came with a UV filter on the water line. I removed it because if there is any sediment at all in the water (or on the transparent tube that separates the water from the UV bulb) as it passes along the UV light, the sediment casts a shadow and the UV light does not disinfect that water. Instead, I installed a 20 micron and a 5 micron sediment filter, which filters all water going out of our lake pump, and I also installed Seagull filters at all sinks. The way those work is that no water automatically goes through those filters, but if you want to drink water, brush teeth, or use water in cooking, you pull on a diverter or turn a valve which sends the cold water through the filter. The water that goes to our hose bib, hot water heaters, washing machine, toilet, bathtub and shower is only treated by the sediment filters and not the Seagull filters. The water that goes through the Seagull filter is cleansed of all bacteria, benzene, organic compounds, viruses, parasites, gasoline and other petroleum distillates, etc. and is great for drinking. So we have never had to haul water from the mainland for drinking. The Seagull filters typically last for a season or more, given that the sediment filters take out the big stuff and if those get clogged it is not a big deal since the sediment filters are very inexpensive. The Seagull filters are available, and their specs are as well, at https://generalecology.com/ We have had our filtered drinking water tested at a lab and it is pristine.

Water Quality
 

Wow great information. We have been drawing lake water for over 30 years. We had a sediment filter once and used it for a short time then took it off. Been living off lake water ever since. I'm 75 and feel and look I'm 45. people ask me why so young. I say it is gin and tonic's and Lake winni wine every night. ha ha ha