Well Water Filtration?

[Orale 1,112]

I put in a well and septic system on a hilltop property near Comfort this past year and just finished building two tiny houses the well will serve. I've been staying at the property this week getting the tiny houses ready for use. I installed water filters under the kitchen sinks for cooking and drinking purposes, but I'd like to put in some kind of water filtration system at the well pump water outlet so that all the water going to the tiny houses is clean of any potential contaminants. 

I've been researching options online but I admit I don't really know or understand what kind of system I'm looking for. I see carbon filtration systems, reverse osmosis, and water softener systems amongst others. They seem to vary in price from a couple hundred dollars to multiple thousands of dollars. I'm a city guy, so using well water is a new thing for me. Any advice is appreciated. I'm also going to call the company that did the well and pump today to see if they have a recommendation. 

[Shoxthemonkey 1,983]

I have a Culligan whole house filter on my well system. It has cylindrical canisters that I change every month. It is used mostly to trap sediment that gets pumped to the house and does a good job of that. The filters are mud coated when removed. I still have a full range of Culligan tanks that follow this filter to get sulphur and other minerals out of the water before it is sent to the softener. The water is unusable without all of this in my case. YMMV. 

[Bevo 13,635]

9 hours ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

I have a Culligan whole house filter on my well system. It has cylindrical canisters that I change every month. It is used mostly to trap sediment that gets pumped to the house and does a good job of that. The filters are mud coated when removed. I still have a full range of Culligan tanks that follow this filter to get sulphur and other minerals out of the water before it is sent to the softener. The water is unusable without all of this in my case. YMMV. 

I don't have a well and never have, however, I kind of like science. I would think that the first filter in Shoxthemonkey's case should be centrifugal. That would capture most of the particulates and make it so he wouldn't go through filters so fast.

[Shoxthemonkey 1,983]

That would probably be better but the WHF cost less than $75 and I installed it myself. The wife can change filters by herself and with her stiff fingers from RA that's no small thing. We are on our 2nd unit in 30 years and we get a years worth of filters for under $100 when we buy in bulk. It is a really simple system that does a great job.

[Bevo 13,635]

34 minutes ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

That would probably be better but the WHF cost less than $75 and I installed it myself. The wife can change filters by herself and with her stiff fingers from RA that's no small thing. We are on our 2nd unit in 30 years and we get a years worth of filters for under $100 when we buy in bulk. It is a really simple system that does a great job.

Depending on if there is room between the well and the WHF, you could still add in a filterless centrifugal system, and I would guess that it too would be easy to install. I wouldn't do it without talking to a professional though, because I don't necessarily know what I am talking about. My concern is that if you are catching that much sediment as you described, it is going to lower your water pressure and it is going to quickly become less effective leading to sediment and other matter passing into your house.

[thunderlounge 8,030]

I'm 5 or so years out from building, but have been doing a lot of digging around to set myself up for later research when the time gets closer.

One of the things I've looked at, that made my list, has been this whole house filter for well systems:

https://www.aquasana.com/whole-house-water-filters/rhino-well-water-with-uv-filter/tall-salt-free-water-conditioner/probypass/lm-pre-filter-100365593.html

 

I'm not sure how I would set one up yet, as I don't know what the layout will be or anything else. But it may be something of interest to you. I obviously can't personally recommend, but it's something that may be worth checking into.

 

[cabowabo 4,578]

For those who have sulfur stinking hot water out of their water well, replace your anode rod with one of these.  The smell will be gone within a few hours.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H459TAK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

[immamac 43,558]

13 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

I'm 5 or so years out from building, but have been doing a lot of digging around to set myself up for later research when the time gets closer.

One of the things I've looked at, that made my list, has been this whole house filter for well systems:

https://www.aquasana.com/whole-house-water-filters/rhino-well-water-with-uv-filter/tall-salt-free-water-conditioner/probypass/lm-pre-filter-100365593.html

 

I'm not sure how I would set one up yet, as I don't know what the layout will be or anything else. But it may be something of interest to you. I obviously can't personally recommend, but it's something that may be worth checking into.

 

Have one of these. The pre and post filter and the UV light are great. The all in one wombo combo filter thing is pretty much just bullshit. You need a salt softener and probably an oxidizer to clean well water properly. I use the main component of the aquasana thing just for a carbon filter basically. 

[Shoxthemonkey 1,983]

26 minutes ago, cabowabo said:

For those who have sulfur stinking hot water out of their water well, replace your anode rod with one of these.  The smell will be gone within a few hours.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H459TAK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

These are the shit for removing that shit smell. The hardest part of installation is removing the passive anode from the tank. It's like they weld those things in.

[Shoxthemonkey 1,983]

1 hour ago, Bevo said:

Depending on if there is room between the well and the WHF, you could still add in a filterless centrifugal system, and I would guess that it too would be easy to install. I wouldn't do it without talking to a professional though, because I don't necessarily know what I am talking about. My concern is that if you are catching that much sediment as you described, it is going to lower your water pressure and it is going to quickly become less effective leading to sediment and other matter passing into your house.

Lower pressure is generally how we know it's time to replace the filter. It goes along fine until one day it is noticeably down. A quick trip to the basement and all is right in the world again.

[cabowabo 4,578]

6 minutes ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

These are the shit for removing that shit smell. The hardest part of installation is removing the passive anode from the tank. It's like they weld those things in.

I've replaced two of these.  First anode came loose with a breaker bar.  Second one required an impact wrench.  And you have to cut through the damn insulation to get access to the anode head.  But getting rid of that smell is definitely worth it.