Water Filter For Well Water

[stgrhe]

Our villa that is under construction in Pranburi, will be getting its water supply from a 130 metre deep well. Last year I tested the water twice in order to get an idea of its quality. The results from the tests, figures shown below, show that we need a water filtering system and possible also a softener.  

These are the test results:

May 2009

Turbidity: 0.24 NTU

Total Hardness (CaCO3): 240 mg/l

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): 302 mg/l

October 2009

Turbidity: 1.37 NTU

Total Hardness (CaCO3): 230 mg/l

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): 296 mg/l

Which Filter?

The question is which filter to use and I seek advice from experts in this field and current users. The two filters I am considering are:

1) Waterco's (Australian brand) W300 that uses a zeolite reusable filter and available in Hua Hin.

(http://www.waterco.com.au/CMS/default.asp?cmsnumber=1&page_id=43&area=Domestic%20Filters%20and%20Softeners&status=stage3&status2=nosub)

2) Pure's Masterseal (Thai brand) A7 with auto wash back that uses a two-stage non-reusable and non-specified filter.

(http://www.masterpure.com/index.asp?pageid=113&parent=8&directory=46&pagename=content)

or are there any other alternative that I have missed?

Softener (Possible Second Stage)

Pure do not have a softener system but Waterco have but it is currently not marked here in Thailand as far as I understand. It is called Commandomatic and could be of interest should the filter prove not to be sufficient enough to reduce the Calcuim Carbinite in the water.

Your suggestions please

[longball53098]

Can I ask? There were more results than you listed yes? How about tests for iron, copper and other materials? Bacteria test? Most Thai wells have an iron content that will stain everything.

May I ask what lab and where? And how much was the cost?

You say the well is 130 meters. This is quite deep.

[stgrhe]

The tests were done by iWater in Khon Kaen using their own in-house test. They have a fairly good set up and know what they are doing. I wish we had such a company here in Hua Hin.

http://www.iwater.co.th/index-en.html

They charged 500 baht per test but these test did not include tests for minerals. We intend to have a full test made later on, there are some 15 odd parameters that need to tested I have been told, and then let the KK University do the test. For such a test we first need to collect a sterile sample bottle from the lab in question. Such a full test costs about 5,000 baht.

[stevehaigh]

i'm thinking about getting one of these M5 units from homepro

http://masterpure.com/index.asp?pageid=135...agename=content

they are about 22,000 baht

in the installation diagram they show it before the tank and pump

http://masterpure.com/index.asp?pageid=135...agename=content

but i'd rather put it after the tank and pump so i can use the same tank and put for the unfiltered garden water

do this see any problem with this? (my pump is 2bar so it looks ok since this is rated to 4bar)

[stgrhe]

i'm thinking about getting one of these M5 units from homepro

http://masterpure.com/index.asp?pageid=135...agename=content

they are about 22,000 baht

in the installation diagram they show it before the tank and pump

http://masterpure.com/index.asp?pageid=135...agename=content

but i'd rather put it after the tank and pump so i can use the same tank and put for the unfiltered garden water

do this see any problem with this? (my pump is 2bar so it looks ok since this is rated to 4bar)

Their M5 model is intended for municipal water sources so if you have an underground tank and sufficient pressure and flow at your plot it shouldn't be any problem as I see it.

My supply is from a well and although the bore pump provides a good flow I do not want unfiltered water in my tanks (there are two working in parallel) because over time it will be sediments building up.

For my garden supply I have a third tank with its separate pump. This tank collects water from the rain gutters and back-wash from the pool as my pool is a MagnaPool. I can also feed this tank with water from the well during dry season.

This is my set up:

[bubba]

The tests were done by iWater in Khon Kaen using their own in-house test. They have a fairly good set up and know what they are doing. I wish we had such a company here in Hua Hin.

http://www.iwater.co.th/index-en.html

They charged 500 baht per test but these test did not include tests for minerals. We intend to have a full test made later on, there are some 15 odd parameters that need to tested I have been told, and then let the KK University do the test. For such a test we first need to collect a sterile sample bottle from the lab in question. Such a full test costs about 5,000 baht.

Having used University laboratories for water testing in the past, I would be a bit wary regarding the level of quality and the methods practised there. If they are telling you that they will provide a single sterile bottle for the full testing suite, they are already showing their lack of compliance with the standard testing methods, which require all sort of different bottles with different types of preservatives. Our office occasionally requires groundwater and wastewater testing and we have since used an American environmental laboratory group with a laboratory located in Bangkok and have found that they follow international standards with their work. They also have some expats there so it's a lot easier to communicate.

Here's a link:

http://www.ncalabs.co.th/

[stgrhe]

Thanks for the link. I shall keep them in mine when I later will be making a full environmental test of the well water. The first tests were, as I have mentioned, limited to turbidity, hardness and TDS only.