How Does The Spindown Filter Work For Well Water?

Hello,

I was told by my contractor I need a ‘spindown filter’ for our house. We get our water from our own well and we get fine flaky sediment coming from our well. Where are the filters installed, before or after our pressure tank? How often do I need to change or clean the filter?

- Larry S
Oregon

Larry,

Spindown filters have filter screens that come in different mesh sizes, such as 30 mesh, 60 mesh, 120 mesh. The mesh size refers to the number of holes in the screen per square inch.

How To Use a Sand Separator With Auto-Purge To Take Out Sand From Well Water

I currently have a Rusco spin down sand trap plumbed before whole house filter. Well pumps sand and water to main tank (no bladder). Filter clogs daily now. I also have an early model Lakos twist 'n clean (still in the box). Thinking my problem is bigger than the little filter. Considering smallest SandMaster unit plumbed before pressure tank. Will need auto purge or AccuPurge or maybe visual purge.. No doubt, I'll need SOME sort of purge. Don't see these options or pricing. Looking at options and need more to go on.

We do actually offer the smallest SandMaster system as a complete package including the AutoPurge kit:

How Can I Remove Sulfur Odor Only In My Well Water?

Mr Bulfin,

I was referred to you by our neighbor. They have a similar problem with sulfur odor in their well water, although they had iron staining as well. Our well water is fine except for sulfur which you know causes a terrible odor and taste. What do you suggest for our problem, our water analysis is attached. We have two person in our home, with the occasional relative visits, and 2 bathrooms.

-Jay

Wilmington, IL

Jay,

Thanks for emailing and sending in your water test report. Since your well water has odor only and is in both the hot and cold water, one way to eliminate this problem is with an Air-Charger Sulfur Filter.

If you see evidence of sulfur bacteria (such as stringy deposits and/or bubbles in the toilet tank) you might want to consider adding a chlorine feed pump and contact tank ahead of the air-charger filter.

Toilet Tank Inspection For Unpleasurable Odors

Hello,

My problem is very strange, I have odor in some parts of the house but not in the other. For example my upstairs bathrooms have really stinky smelly water when we first turn on the water. This is worse if we have been away for a day or two I noticed.

This is driving my daughters crazy, what can I do? Our downstairs bathroom and kitchen sink are fine.. no odor! We do have water heater odor problems, if we leave the house for several days, we notice some rotten-egg odor from the water heater at first.

We bought this house last year and it had sat for some months before we moved in. We had our well water tested and it came up positive for coliform so we shocked the well with bleach and now it tested OK, no bacteria.

Thanks for any help you can provide,

Phyllis R.

Dear Phyllis,

Actually we run into this a lot, this a common problem for many wells with sulfur and/or iron bacteria. Some wells have high levels of these bacteria which metabolize sulfates in the water and produce hydrogen sulfide gas, which give the water the terrible ‘rotten-egg’ odor.

How To Determine Your Well Water Flow Rate

Dear Sir,

What is the best way to find out how many gallons per minute my well can pump out? I am looking at putting in an iron filter, but I don’t know if my well has enough flow to backwash it right? I called my well guy and am waiting to hear back from him.

- Bill

Bill,

This is a good question and comes up a lot. If you have a standard well with a pressure tank and pressure switch, you can use the steps below to determine your well’s flow rate in gallons per minute.

What To Test Your Water For If You Live Near A Gas Station, Industrial, Or Agricultural Area

Dear Clean Water Systems Folks,

We live in the country outside Oklahoma City, and there are farms and a truck stop nearby where we live. We just moved here and have two kids and my wife wants to get the well water checked. What do you recommend we test for?

-Jim
Oklahoma

Jim,

We recommend the WaterCheck by National Testing labs. It is a professional EPA-certified laboratory results that is a fraction of the cost of regular laboratory testing. This is a comprehensive test that will test for a range of chemicals and metals including; bacteria, metals, other inorganics, volatile organics, pesticides, herbicides, PCB's, and more (Click here for full list).

Well Water Treatment for New Homeowners: Four Important Steps To Take

Dear Sir,

We are buying our home that is supplied by well water. The water has some odor in it, and there is rust stains in one of the bathtubs. We had it tested for coliform bacteria and nitrate, and both came up non-detected. What steps should we take to find out which type of treatment is best for us? We grew up on city water, and are just finding out more about our well and pump and how it all works.

Frank Stanton,
Michigan

Mr Stanton,

This is a great question and comes up frequently. It pays to educate yourself about your well and pump system and understand how to read a water test report. Whether you decide to purchase and install a water treatment system, or have a local water treatment professional install and maintain it, becoming familiar with some basic concepts and systems will save a lot of money in the long run.

Will Salt Free Water Softeners Remove Chlorine?

Greetings,

Looking for whole house filter & salt free softener system. send me your recommended system with detail and price. I am on city water and our water seems a little hard, I was told it was 10 grains per gallon. We have a 2.5 bathrooms, 4 in our home. We would like chlorine-free, soft water, but my wife doesn't like salt softeners. Can I get a no-salt softener that also removes chlorine?

Fred,
Springfield, MO

Hello Fred,

Thanks for contacting us regarding your question. Our Filtersorb no-salt system works well and comes with a whole carbon filter:

Advice For Living Off-The-Grid

Hello,

Have a camp off grid. Solar power, dug well 15 feet , 36 " wide. Well pumps to holding tank 450 gal. on second floor. Gravity feed from there. I have installed a small pump [used in campers] to boost water pressure for shower, other wise gravity feed to sink and toilet. Have 110v available. I need advise on UV water treat options and pre-treatment including filtration for the UV.

Thanks, Robert

Hello Robert,

We have many customers who use our non-electric manual backwash filter systems and DC powered UV sterilizers to filter and sanitize spring and well waters.

For a shower and sink and toilet, 6 gallons per minute models would be a good flow size UV to get. We have one model, from Atlantic UV that is 12VDC, that is very good, the MIN-6:

How to Get Rid of Bacteria and Sulfur Smell in Well Water

Dear sir,

I want to get red of coliform bacteria and the sulfur smell in my well water. We have lived here for several years and now it is getting worse. I shocked the well with bleach, and tested again for bacteria and it came out clean, but my wife doesn’t trust it. As you can see from my well water report, we have iron, and some manganese.

We are on a budget and don't want to spend a lot. Our well has got plenty of water, but I figure we only pump about 6 gallons per minute.

What do you folks recommend?

-Frank H
Oklahoma

Dear Frank,

For your application we recommend a Chlorinator, ContactTank and Greensand iron filter. The chlorinator will kill the bacteria and allow the greensand filter to remove the sulfur odor.

Greensand filters often use potassium permanganate to clean the greensand media, but no potassium permanganate powder is needed with this type of greensand filter, all it takes some chlorine bleach added once every few months, its very easy to maintain. An optional carbon filter will remove the chlorine.

How To Use Fine Mesh Softener Resin for Iron Removal

Hello,

I have a Culligan softener and it works fine but I have a lot of iron stain problems. Is there any one system that can soften water and filter out iron?

Thanks,
Al

Dear Al,

There is not one system that works well over the long term for both hardness and iron. If the water comes out of the ground crystal clear, with no sulfur odor, and the pH is 7.0 or less, you can use a softener with fine-mesh resin to remove the iron and hardness, as long as some resin-cleaner is used in the brine tank (such as Res-Up, or citric acid).

How to Eliminate Iron and Manganese with Greensand and Chlorine

Hello,

I have a shallow, hand-dug well about 3.5 feet in diameter and around 50 ft. deep. I cannot drink the water due to high iron and manganese content. I want to shock the well, but also want to purchase a filtration system to rectify the issue. My water analysis results show a coliform count of 3 MPN/100mL, and 5.2 NTU turbidity.  

Thanks,

Joanne C.