Home Water Analysis - Need a Filter?

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We have one of your filters on our refregerator and it seems to filter our water beautifully. However it doesn't last very long.

We are wondersing if you have a filter that you could recommend for the entire house. Below is an analysis of our water.

pH - 7.3
Iron, mg/l - 0.7
Manganese, mg/l - 0.47
Hardness, GPG as CaCO3 - 5
Alkalinity, GPG as CaCO3 - 3
TDS, mg/l Estimate by conductivity - 86
Appearance Yellow/Turbid & Yellow/Clear

If this isn't clear please ask via email anything else you would like to know.

[rscardigno]

Water Issues

What would you like to accomplish by filtering your water? Based on the numbers listed, it looks like turbidity and iron may be the primary concerns, but it is important to know what problems you are experiencing. Your hardness level is in the moderate range which may or may not be causing any problems. Are you seeing any staining or are you just concerned with your drinking water? Did your analysis break your Iron readings in to Fe+2 and Fe+3?

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Yellow color

Currently there is some staining but not a great deal. (probably from
the very high level of mg)
The most disturbing is the Yellow color that, when we fill a bath tub or
any white container is quite objectionable. While house sitting my
daughter ran a jet tub of water, When she saw it the large tub she
elected to not get in. We believe it is a dissolved organic material.

[rscardigno]

Organic Iron

Based on the fact that your Iron levels are high, it seems like the most likely cause of your water problem is organic iron. The best treatment for organics is carbon based water filters. The iron may require a water softener, but I would start with a carbon based filter first and then if the problem does not clear up or you would like to remove the iron as well, add the water softener. What color is the staining that you are seeing? To recommend a carbon based filter for you, I would need to know your water usage. How many bathrooms are in your home?

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Iron Staining

We do have a bit of iron in our water, but it takes a long
time to stain the toilet bowls because of the iron. We have 2 bathrooms,
and just the 2 adults living here, so we use whatever the normal amount of
water that 2 adults would use in a given day. Our water has a constant
light yellow hue to it, and when it sits in the toilet bowl, I can wipe it
off with just toilet tissue and the bowl is then white again. It takes
about 2 months of flushing before faint yellow streaks appear on the sides of the toilet bowls when the holes are to allow water into the bowl.
Having had 12 ppm of iron at a previous location, this is nothing to keep
clean compared to that residence. The iron does not stain my white
laundry, nor does it stain the bathroom and kitchen sinks so I'm thinking the iron is not a major problem, just an annoyance.

I do notice some dark gray or blacker spots when the sinks have not been rinsed well after pouring coffee down the drain, or when I rinse off fresh
fruit. Someone mentioned to us that the manganese will do the dark to
black staining. It will come off when I use Soft Scrub or something along
that line. We don't have any problem in the shower or tub for staining
because I use Tilex afterward and it has enough of whatever is in it to keep them from staining or streaking.

We have a Kenmore Refrigerator that uses the Frigidaire PureSource 2 Ice/Water filtration system which I ordered from you which seems to be doing
the trick in getting the water and ice clean and clear. The filter has
been in use since January 30th and the only thing we notice is that the water dispenser is getting a little slower in dispensing the water, but it
is still clean and fresh tasting water. The box says that the filter is
supposed to last 6-9 months or 400 gallons whichever comes first. So
other than making ice cubes and I drink about 48 ounces of water a day, plus the 4 - 5 ice cubes I use in my water, the filter has gone through 4 months
of filtering. As I mentioned, it is slowing down in the water dispenser,
but the water is still clear with no iron or organice matter in it. So
whatever is in that frig filter is working as far as I can tell.

Now the question is what kind of filter is that, and how can we get one that is large enough to filter all of the household water - not outdoor water -
that would not go through the filter. What would be the cost of such a
filter, would there be cartridges to replace or backwashing to do?
Please address these questions for us.

[rscardigno]

Carbon whole house water filters

The refrigerator filter that you mention is a carbon block filter which maximizes water carbon contact to remove many impurities from your water. The flow rate on a refrigerator filter is about 1/2 gallon per minute. There are carbon based whole house filter systems that you can use, but since the flow rate must be much higher, carbon blocks are rarely used. What you can try is a carbon based filter system such as the AP801 which can be found at http://www.filtersfast.com/AquaPure-...ter-system.asp. You will also need the AP815 carbon filter which can be found at http://www.filtersfast.com/Aqua-Pure...er-filters.asp. The flow rate on this filter is 5 gallons per minute and is as close to the refrigerator filter as you can get. You would install this filter on your incoming water line and all water will be filtered. Since the carbon filter is working for your refrigerator, there is a good chance that this will work for your whole house, but there are no guarantees. Iron removal typically requires a water softener, but if it is not fully dissolved, then this will work. The filters do need to be changed every 3-6 months depending on the amount of impurities it removes. You will know when it is time when the water changes color to yellow again or when your water flow slows down.