Well water sediment filter change

[Stelcom66]

For those that have wells and have a filtration system - about how often do you change the filter? I guess every case can be different. I had the system installed in the fall of 2020. In 2010 I had the system changed from a jet pump in the basement to a submersible pump. Since then, the washing machine valves would occasionally not completely shut due to very fine sediment. Never had that situation with the jet pump. I think the pump is now close to the bottom of the well and stirs things up when it runs.

For the first time I changed the filter a year and a day ago. Did again today. Both times the filter was relatively dirty, but never noticed any less water flow. I wonder for those who have a similar system - what's the typical interval for changing the filter? Other information I've found says don't change it until a decreased water flow/pressure is noted, but that never happened. I couldn't see letting it go longer based on how it looked.

 

[Rusty18]

How deep is new pump compared to old pipe? If new pump is lower that could also be part of the sediment problem.

At my grandparents house we had well water and I don’t think they changed the filter in 20 years...and yes it was freaking disgusting when I finally figured out what it was and decided to change it but there wasn’t any noticeable difference in pressure/flow. My guess is the house piping was the limiting factor keeping the flow well below what the filter was capable of passing.

Are you sure valve issues are from sediment and not mineral build up? We had really hard water and valves would work for all of 6 months then you had to do quick work when something needed tore apart.

 

[Stelcom66]

According to my notes, the pipe for the pump is 120', with a well depth of 135'. I would have thought the pump would be closer to the bottom. I don't know how low the previous footvalve saw with the old system. Wow 20 years with the same filter!

I suppose I could have mineral buildup also - but when I changed the filter there was some what appeared to be black sand in the housing. I cleaned all that out. Back in 2010 when the submersible system was put in, water was present 40' down. For about a month we've been in a severe to extreme drought situation, so it's got to be a lot lower now.

 

[walhondingnashua]

Not sure why bur mine seems to be worse in the spring. Maybe every 2 months or so I change it.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

I like the clear housing so you can see the filter. I tell people once a year or as needed. You can put a pressure gauge before and after the filter to see any pressure drop if you want to.

15 ft off the bottom of the well should be fine. Your pipe is probably rusty and the pieces could be falling from above the pump. Strange to have such a deep well when you have water so high. We have a 25' well and the water is the best the lab has ever tested. I put it in myself. Our neighbor has a drilled well that is at least 80 ft deep, because the driller said "we have to keep going" even though he had great water at about 15 ft. I know many others who have been gouged by well drillers too. A guy not far from here built a house and he had good water at 25 ft, but they drilled to almost 200 and now he needs a water treatment system. Just crazy.

 

[Stelcom66]

Yes, ya'd think 15' from the bottom would be fine. And I also wondered why the well was dug so deep. That was in the 1950s. One of my sons just started working for a water company, and already he helped raise 2 pumps due to them kicking up too much sediment. I wish mine had water 25' down. Just saw the weather, we're still in a severe drought, so I'll bet my water is lower than usual.

I do want to rig up a rain barrel or something to collect water, every little bit helps. I always have a 5 gallon bucket of water in case the power goes out to flush the toilet a few times. I had a rain barrel, but my bad - should have drained it before we usually get a hard freeze. We had an early one a few years ago that cracked it,

 

[Woodcutter Tom]

Would you guys mind sharing information on the type of water filter you have in your house. I am considering installing a filter system and am trying to get ideas. I removed all the steel piping and replaced with copper. That steel pipe was nasty inside.
Names, model and photos if possible would be great. Thanks.

 

[fabsroman]

Here are some pics of my system. 3 cartridge system and RO system was purchased on Amazon and the pressure tank and plumbing supplies were purchased from SupplyHouse. I did this install 2 1/2 years ago a couple months after we bought the house. Before this, there was no water filtration system in the house and we were having issues with sediment clogging screens on faucets and shower heads.

The 3 cartridge system has a pressure gauge on each cartridge. I have yet to replace the sediment filter, but the GAC filter in the 2nd filter spot must have broken this spring and it clogged up the CFB in the 3rd filter spot. The pressure dropped significantly on both of those filters overnight. So, I replaced both filter 2 and filter 3 with CFB filters that should last quite a while.

The spin down filter prior to the filter system probably saves the sediment filter from being replaced. The pics I have attached are recent, and the sediment filter still looks pretty decent. Also, if you look at the RO system, you can see that the sediment filter on it is still pretty white, which means the whole house filter is doing its job really well.

Last two pics are a before and after. Wasn't completely done in the after pic, but it was close to being finished. Prior owners had a 20 gallon tank on a house with 5 1/2 baths and 6 bedrooms. I went to an 85 gallon pressure tank with a cycle stop valve. Anyway, probably way more detail than is needed for this thread.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

Looks like a great setup, and it includes some great examples for other homeowners, with the big tank, sediment trap and cycle stop valve.

 

[Stelcom66]

Mine is quite basic, brand name Viqua. It has a bypass system, which I'm glad I have just in case something happened mechanically to the filter housing. The plumbers said that's what some of their emergency service calls are for - where the homeowner could not successfully replace the filter.

I replaced the cartridge twice in the two years I've had it. This cartridge will probably be replaced sooner than a year, according to the label it's recommended to be replaced in 3 months. I also had sediment clogging faucet screens and water supply valves in the washing machine.

 

[Woodcutter Tom]

Very nice setup Fabsroman. Quick question for you and Stelconn66. Are you placing your filters on the well side or on the house side of your pressure tank?

 

[fabsroman]

Very nice setup Fabsroman. Quick question for you and Stelconn66. Are you placing your filters on the well side or on the house side of your pressure tank?

The filters are all on the house side of the pressure tank. Believe it is against code to have anything between the pressure tank and the pump. Where I am in Maryland, even the cycle stop valve between the pressure tank and the pump might be a code violation, but it is ridiculous as far as I am concerned.

The cycle stop valve allows me to have 67 psi of pressure as long as water is being called for. Technically, the system goes down to 50 psi, the pressure switch turn the pump on, the pressure climbs, and then the pump is throttled by the cycle stop valve to maintain 67 psi and never hit the 70 psi cutoff until after water is no longer being called for. So, my wife has 67 psi for most of her shower. When we have to fill the pool, the hose is running at 67 psi. The pump itself can easily keep up with a bunch of appliances being on. Installed a tankless water heater too that can supply hot water to 6 appliances at a time. No more cold showers for me as my wife runs the washing machines and dishwashers while I am in the shower.

The cycle stop valve prevents the on and off of the pump as water is being called for.

The large pressure tank prevents the on and off of the pump just for flushing the toilet a couple of times.

The on/off of the pump is what kills the pump. Once the pump is on, having it run slower and longer is actually better for it versus full off and full on. Kind of like trying to run a mile via sprint/walk/sprint/walk/sprint/walk versus a steady jog.

Probably way more information than you wanted, but hoping it helps somebody else working on these issues. Had researched all of this many years ago and was going to do it at the old house. Then, we decided to move.

Now, if I can just get to installing the wood stoves and zero clearance fireplace in this house.

 

[Stelcom66]

Mine is after the holding tank. I would have thought it would make sense to have it before the holding tank and I wondered why that was the case - but from what fabsroman said, it may be against code. I wonder why that is. I'd imagine at this point there's a lot of sediment in the holding tank. My pressure gauge hot not worked for several months before the filter system was installed and replaced then. I'd imagine because of a sediment buildup.

 

[fabsroman]

I found the answer for why the filtration system should be installed after the pressure tank. The reason is because if the filtration system gets clogged so much, like mine did when the GAC filter broke, then the pressure leading to the pressure tank might be too low and the pump might run for a very long time.

Water Filter Before or After Pressure Tank? Let's Find Out!

Should you install your whole house water filter before or after the pressure tank? Both options have their pros and cons. Learn more here.

www.best-osmosis-systems.com

This also brought up a pretty good maintenance item that I have not been doing. That is draining out some of the water from the bottom of the pressure tank every once in a while. Think I would have to shut off the valve allowing water to enter the pressure tank from the pump and then open the drain valve on the tank's tee. Going to have to add this to my calendar for New Year's Day.

 

[Stelcom66]

Interesting information - makes sense. I have a slight leak in what I think is a check valve, the right side of the T going to the holding tank (bottom of the T goes to the tank, left side to the filter/house) and the plumber said I'll need to replace the holding tank due to it's age. That, and once they start taking things apart, they likely have deteriorated where it's not practical or possible to install new fittings.

The holding tank is about 10 years old. The leak is about 2-3 tablespoons a day. If you were to drain the holding tank you could only turn the breaker off to the pump, right? Mine only has a main shut off valve, after the tank (left side of the T) toward the house

 

[Isaac Carlson]

I found the answer for why the filtration system should be installed after the pressure tank. The reason is because if the filtration system gets clogged so much, like mine did when the GAC filter broke, then the pressure leading to the pressure tank might be too low and the pump might run for a very long time.

Water Filter Before or After Pressure Tank? Let's Find Out!

Should you install your whole house water filter before or after the pressure tank? Both options have their pros and cons. Learn more here.

www.best-osmosis-systems.com

This also brought up a pretty good maintenance item that I have not been doing. That is draining out some of the water from the bottom of the pressure tank every once in a while. Think I would have to shut off the valve allowing water to enter the pressure tank from the pump and then open the drain valve on the tank's tee. Going to have to add this to my calendar for New Year's Day.

Running will not hurt the pump, just like with the cycle stop valve in the post above keeps the pump running until the demand is over.

Draining water from the tank? You do this every time you use water. It drains to near empty and then refills. The bottom feed design is self cleaning, compared to the old side feed that would eventually fill the bladder half full of sediment. Pressure tanks are not like water heaters where the water feeds are on top. Water heaters should be purged once a year, but pressure tanks are self cleaning.

 

[bigealta]

When the well guy came to fix a broken wire 1/2 way down the 160ft deep well at my rental, he wanted to "clean" out the pressure tank too. He climbed in the crawl space and shook the heck out of it after he set it up to purge into a bucket. He did it over and over while i turned the water on and off each time. There was a ton of sediment in there that he got out. That pressure tank was probably 20 years old at the time. It's still working well 6 or so years later.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

I don't know too many pressure tanks that you can shake while they are connected....

 

[bigealta]

I don't know too many pressure tanks that you can shake while they are connected....

Yeah he did disconnect it. I don't remember exactly how he hooked it up, i think with a hose and some adapters. I turned the water on and off each Shake and flush.

 

[ozarkoak]

Would you guys mind sharing information on the type of water filter you have in your house. I am considering installing a filter system and am trying to get ideas. I removed all the steel piping and replaced with copper. That steel pipe was nasty inside.
Names, model and photos if possible would be great. Thanks.

I have posted this before but here it is again. We redid the entire well house and added filters. we use the big blue setup from Apec. They have several types depending on your needs.