Whole house water filters

[Woody5506]

There's nothing illegal about what they are doing as far as I can tell. You don't have to maintain certifications to sell filters. It's like UL in electronics...quite optional and up to the buyer to insist on certain things.

I would think falsifying an EPA ID number and publishing the document (in this case basically to sell their product) would be illegal. "Uttering" comes to mind. In that case, I don't know how they'd keep getting away with it after all these years.

The water treatment provided by a GAC system like the Berkey is not the same as that of RO. GAC works on the basis of adsorption while RO relies on osmosis (transfer though a semi-permeable membrane). While GAC is good at removing contaminants like chlorine or organic compounds its not good at removing metals or dissolved solids like salts and other minerals like calcium and magnesium (i.e., hardness).

I understand that GAC wouldn't be a solution for hard water. In the case of Berkey, I'll say that *supposedly* it does remove heavy metals.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

We have very good water but everytime they replace a main pipe section we get a surge of sediment. This sediment messes up and blocks up all kinds of things like toilet valves ,hot water mixing valves boiler pressure regulators , fill valves,low flow shower head, temp balancing shower valve ect ect. Some of these valves and regulators are very expensive. Been using a whole house filter for years now and its a good investment for the $35 cost.

 

[begreen]

I put in a whole house filter many years ago, mainly to trap sediments. I was tired of replacing faucet washers that got grit embedded. About 5 yrs. later, the filter housing blew apart and flooded our pit basement. What a mess. Almost lost the furnace. If you are going to put in a filter, do not buy this type where the filter container threads over the filter head.

Ours blew apart right below where the theads start, where the gasket seal is.

Instead get a filter body that threads into the filter head like this.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Sounds like you need a pressure regulator. High water pressure is also hard on valves and other plumbing fixtures. That was the first thing i installed after the pressure actually blew a soldered fitting apart and flooded the basement.

 

[Highbeam]

I was warned about the clear plastic filter bowls shattering as @begreen notes. Apparently making plastic clear also makes it less durable in this application. Still, I own one as a prefilter to my iron filter to remove well scale and chunks. It has a screen in it and male threads on the clear bowl as bgreen recommends. I check it for spider cracking regularly. The clear plastic is hard to see through as the iron has stained it brown.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I have 2 of those clear plastic filters for quite some time now. Only problem iv ever had was they start leaking from inside the top. I think theres an o ring in there.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like you need a pressure regulator. High water pressure is also hard on valves and other plumbing fixtures. That was the first thing i installed after the pressure actually blew a soldered fitting apart and flooded the basement.

There is a pressure regulator ahead of it at the meter. 60psi. This happened in the o-ring area because of the pressure exerted when one tightens up the filter. The other design prevents this issue. It is the type of filters I installed on lab machines and I never had a failure with them.

Amazingly this failure happened within an hour of us coming back from a vacation. We didn't notice it for an hour or so. Had it happened while we were away the results would have been much much worse.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Our pressure is about 60 to 70 coming in ,iv regulated it down to about 30.
I dont know if this is why iv never had a fracture with it. I do know they dont sell this particular model anymore and the replacement is quite a bit more expensive, but ill always have one on my system. Its possible they have beefed it up some or changed the design like you pictured.

 

[stee6043]

Do you have a sump or drain in your basement? Cheap insurance against the bursting filters could be a 5 gallon bucket below the filter with a cheapo hose running to a nearby sump/drain. $10 or less

 

[Bad LP]

I’m only chasing a little grit and want it removed to prevent damage to the ceramic cartridges in my plumbing fixtures.
A quick backwash every 4 or so months and I’m good to go.