recommendations for filtration systems...

[Scuppers]

Hi

We get our water from the lake and I am looking into installing a filtration system (sediment + UV). Does anyone have any recommendations on systems. My understanding is that reverse osmosis systems require high water pressure and discharge waste water that would go into the septic. Is this right?

Thanks

[fatlazyless]

....like why bother with a filter system....probably best just to go the lug-a-jug, blue plastic 3-gal or 5-gal or 6-gal water container and get it filled somewhere with town water, or use the 25-cent/gal water vend machine at the Gilford Hannaford...that supposedly is Laconia town water which also goes thru reverse osmosis inside the vend machine.....and pick up a quality beer while u is there....something like Beck's Sapphire beer, 6% alcohol, and about $12/12-12oz bottles at Hannaford's

...the lake water is super-duper as a quasi-grey water system....make that an almost drinkable water system for doing the dishes, showers, washing, and maybe even brushing one's teeth, but not for drinking or cooking consumption, which is where the lug-a-jug water is used...after 21-years of doing this routine...while it is not totally 100% www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diarrhea fail-safe.....it seems to be ok .....

[wifi]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

....like why bother with a filter system....probably best just to go the lug-a-jug, blue plastic 3-gal or 5-gal or 6-gal water container and get it filled somewhere with town water, or use the 25-cent/gal water vend machine at the Gilford Hannaford...that supposedly is Laconia town water which also goes thru reverse osmosis inside the vend machine.....and pick up a quality beer while u is there....something like Beck's Sapphire beer, 6% alcohol, and about $12/12-12oz bottles at Hannaford's

...the lake water is super-duper as a quasi-grey water system....make that an almost drinkable water system for doing the dishes, showers, washing, and maybe even brushing one's teeth, but not for drinking or cooking consumption, which is where the lug-a-jug water is used...after 21-years of doing this routine...while it is not totally 100% www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diarrhea fail-safe.....it seems to be ok .....

Another reassuring, science based contribution... I did get a laugh tho

[Slickcraft]

We have a sediment filter and a granular activated carbon filter in front of a Sanitron UV unit.
http://www.amazon.com/Pentek-S1-BB-P...d_sim_indust_9
http://www.amazon.com/Pentek-GAC-BB-.../dp/B004VN9W24
http://www.ultraviolet.com/water/sanitr01.htm

We have the water tested every year at the Laconia Water works, never a problem.

[fatlazyless]

Originally Posted by wifi

Another reassuring, science based contribution... I did get a laugh tho

...not that it makes any difference... but Sapphire is a word somewhat similar to diarrhea.....as they both use double consonants followed by an 'h' ...... www.getdrunknotfat.com/Becks-Sapphire-calorie/

[rgilfert]

I installed a Pura (Model UV20-3) "whole house" system at the beginning of the season this year (April) and it worked great for us (aka we're all still alive and kicking). The system combines ultraviolet filtration with a five micron sediment filter & a ten micron carbon block filter. This unit provides bacteria protection, removes sediment, and reduces chemicals, while improving taste and odor.

http://www.purauv.com/purauv20.htm

The following is a picture that I took of our installed system

[Pineedles]

That Pura system you installed does not look complicated at all. Plus the price seems relatively inexpensive. Thanks rgilfert.

[rgilfert]

Originally Posted by Pineedles

That Pura system you installed does not look complicated at all. Plus the price seems relatively inexpensive. Thanks rgilfert.

You're correct, it was extremely easy to install: 3/4" input, 3/4" output, a couple of ball valves to isolate the system and facilitate filter changing and then plug it in. The only mistake that could potentially be made is to reverse the input and output connections (obviously the input should occur on the sediment filter (i.e. left) side).

If you saw the price on the Pura link that I provided.....I actually paid a lot less (i.e. just over $500) from a different site.

[LIforrelaxin]

So I am thinking of upgrading my filtration system next year. Currently I only have a single stage sediment filter, and realize I need to get at least a second stage in place... I see some people going with these UV filters... Are they really necessary....

I am thinking just a sediment and then carbon filter will do the trick... for most uses... Doing the UV on the entire house just seems like over kill... if the lake was that dirty, we wouldn't even want to be swimming in it...

I am not saying that down the road I won't put a small unit with UV under the kitchen sink... but the entire house seems a bit over kill...

[rgilfert]

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

I am not saying that down the road I won't put a small unit with UV under the kitchen sink... but the entire house seems a bit over kill...

LIforrelaxin, I can't fight your logic regarding a whole house unit being overkill....and to be honest I thought about just doing the kitchen faucet....but I was afraid that someone might get sick (and especially my grandchildren) from drinking from the bathroom faucets so I opted for covering the whole house. I justified the incremental expense of a larger unit with peace of mind.

[lakershaker]

Currently, we have the water coming from our pressure tank filtered through a 20x4" sediment filter and then a 20x4" carbon filter, then through the UV. We also have a smaller RO for the refrigerator/ice maker and a spigot at the sink (although, with the UV we have no problem drinking from any faucet, it just seems to taste better from the RO). Generally, this is fine, except for the really bad drop in water pressure. Our upstairs shower is barely a dribble, and if someone flushes a toilet, it disappears...

I have been looking into a pre-filter before the pressure tank, which I think will solve some of this problem. I can remove the sediment through this and then only have the carbon after the pressure tank. Also, the lake clogs the filters, so we end up changing them several times a season - this pre-filter can be purged and should save us some money on new filter elements.

I would say to LI, you should def get the UV. It installs in the main line, doesn't impact the pressure, and gives you significant piece of mind. The lake is clean, but if you happen to get wildlife doing what they do in the lake, you could get a bad case of a bacterial problem... There is a big difference between swimming and drinking the water.

[Bear Islander]

I use a Pura filter similar to the one pictured above but it is not whole house. The UV-B-3 is smaller and less money and less flow. It feeds the icemaker and spigots added to the sink. If I ever replace it I will go with the UV20-3.

I also use a cheap whole house sediment filter before the Pura. There is a lot of sediment in the lake and I change the much cheaper filter a few times a summer.

[Scuppers]

Thanks everyone, this has been really useful.

I have been wondering about the drop in water pressure and that is a neat idea to have a sediment filter before the pressure tank. Just to show my ignorance, is there any sense to putting the pre-filter before the pump?

thanks.

[Bear Islander]

Originally Posted by Scuppers

Thanks everyone, this has been really useful.

I have been wondering about the drop in water pressure and that is a neat idea to have a sediment filter before the pressure tank. Just to show my ignorance, is there any sense to putting the pre-filter before the pump?

thanks.

I am not a pump expert but I would not add any restriction to the pump intake. Pumps are much better at pushing than than are at pulling. Keep the intake as short and simple as you can. Even a new filter will add a restriction, and that will increase as the filter is saturated with sediment.

[Steveo]

1. how often are you changing filters and lamps on the system

2. I thought carbon filters are pretty much just for chemical removal primarily for smell and taste. I get no smell or bad taste from the lake water I pull, is it necessary.

[rgilfert]

Originally Posted by Steveo

1. how often are you changing filters and lamps on the system

2. I thought carbon filters are pretty much just for chemical removal primarily for smell and taste. I get no smell or bad taste from the lake water I pull, is it necessary.

As stated, this was my first season (4/18 thru 10/15) on the system and I went the entire time using the original filters. In the August time frame we did begin to detect a noticeable degradation to the water pressure at the tap (indicating that the sediment filter was getting clogged). When I pulled the filters while closing the camp it was confirmed that there was substantial amount of sediment in the sediment housing (however the carbon & UV housings were completely clean). The manufacturer recommends replacing the carbon filter & UV lamp annually and the sediment filter as necessary. Going forward I plan to use two sediment filters during the season and adhere to the manufacturer's recommendation for the other two.

As for the carbon filter...I agree, I've been coming to the lake for a ton of years and have never noticed a smell to the lake water (unless a dead fish has washed up on the breakwater). But here my impeccable logic goes as follows....if I'm OK with spending $460 for the sediment and UV capabilities....why not spend $40 more and get it all (and YES....my wife hates the way that my logic works).

[ApS]

Originally Posted by rgilfert

LIforrelaxin, I can't fight your logic regarding a whole house unit being overkill....and to be honest I thought about just doing the kitchen faucet....but I was afraid that
someone might get sick from drinking from the bathroom faucets so I opted for covering the whole house. I justified the incremental expense of a larger unit with peace of mind.

While Lake Winnipesaukee's water isn't the quality it was in the 1960s, One would think that waterskiers and tubers would get snootfulls of lakewater sufficient to cause illness today. Yet that doesn't seem to be the case.

At Lake Winnipesaukee, I've changed from distillers to simply boiling my personal drinking water. The rest of the family drags in Town water, who sends annual mailings advising of Town water's harmful chemicals.

Boiling lake water early in the morning adds moisture and warmth to the interior and that water has stored with no difficulties throughout the warm months—and through the winter. A real test came when I suffered a "skin-tear", and rinsed that injury with that cooled and sterile product. Town water can't avoid forming trihalomethanes, which can't be good for contact with open wounds—especially a wound as extensive as a skin-tear.

Speaking of steam, this is a cute Plow and Hearth item to put on your woodstove during the off-season. Steam exits through the nose!



As for filters, the boiled water is run through coffee filters into "Sun-Tea" containers stored above sinks. One of those plastic "gold" filters can support a paper coffee filter. One would think a coffee filter would be too coarse for filtering; however, flowing only three gallons of "clear" lake water will clog one coffee filter! (Although the filtrate is invisible, it's most likely suspended vegetative filaments).

This is an in-series filtering system, probably necessary for the installation.



At a different lake, I devised the following parallel filter system, which has three sediment filters. Each operates independently of the others, allowing a continuous maximum flow. When the right filter leaked, I simply shut that one unit off using its self-contained lever.

The intake draws from the middle of a large field of aquatic vegetation of lily pads and reeds, which is supposedly a very clean environment. It's been operating for years, but no need to use the reverse-flush feature has appeared.

[Scuppers]

That is an interesting idea to have the filters in parallel.

I had to chuckle at all of the left over PVC fittings in the bottom of the picture. I wonder if there is a general law of nature regarding "# of pvc fittings purchased because they seemed like a good idea at the time" vs. "# of pvc fittings actually used".

Thanks everyone for the great replies.

[chocophile]

Some additional thoughts about these systems:

1) consider the annual maintenance (steps and cost) and (if seasonal) the annual shut-down/start-up steps. Our system adds both cost and complexity, but is worth it, in my opinion.

2) we have just the sediment and UV for whole-house then a small carbon filter on a drinking faucet in the kitchen. I think the carbon filter is essential because it removes the "lakey" taste of the water, especially noticeable in the spring. You might not need a whole-house version of that, especially if the cost of that filter is high.

3) our sediment filter has a weekly backwash cycle that can help with the problem of reduced pressure. Our sediment filter is probably oversized anyway and we never have a pressure problem; it's a tank with a sand-like filter medium, and the backwash prevents channels that can form in the medium which reduce the filter effect.

4) make sure you can continue to get parts/supplies into the distant future. Choose manufacturers that are likely to be around, even if they are more expensive now. I've had to repair a few things and replace the UV bulb every 12-months of use. Fortunately, I have always been able to get the parts.

Good luck!