Whole House Water Filters

[CDNinKS]

Green slimy stuff is algae growing in the lines or tanks. Algae needs light to grow, so if you have the blue plastic holding tanks that is where the algae is growing. If you have stainless and the lid is not letting light in then it must be growing in the water lines somewhere that they are exposed to light. That is why if you have a clear or semi clear garden hose and you leave it out in the sun, the next day when you turn it on green algae comes out.

[147SAG]

have you tried a manual backflush? Does your salt tank have water in it? On my system there is a filter attached after the water softener and before it goes into the tank, a long black plastic unit. Is that plugged?

Yes there was salt water in the tank but the filter was plugged,cleaned it but found out that the plastic gears were stripped so I ordered a new head and sent the other one out for repair.Well not even 5 days went by and the gears were stripped again.It should be under warranty,have since removed the whole system so we can have water in the house.I am looking at replacing this one with the manual ones,the plastic gears just don't last and the new heads are 10,000 baht not worth the head ache for the automatic one.I looked at one that a Thai fellow has who sells water he has 4 stainless tanks the narrow ones and one filter and another unit stainless that has I think 8 small filters in it.I have seen 2 or three of these tanks being used before but not 4 tanks.After the New Year the guys that put in his system are going to come and look at what I need for a filter system.

[Bluetongue]

Green slimy stuff is algae growing in the lines or tanks. Algae needs light to grow, so if you have the blue plastic holding tanks that is where the algae is growing. If you have stainless and the lid is not letting light in then it must be growing in the water lines somewhere that they are exposed to light. That is why if you have a clear or semi clear garden hose and you leave it out in the sun, the next day when you turn it on green algae comes out.

Thanks for that, its not in the tanks as these are the Thai style ones with lids and there is no algae inside. So I only have a very short length of the pvc blue pipe exposed to sunlight where it comes up out of the ground to supply the tanks, and then from the tanks to the hose pump. I suppose they are a bit translucent and that is where the algae is growing, meaning what? I could just replace those pipes every now and then if it was an issue and not worry about a filter or should I try and kill the algae. Sorry to sound dumb but where I came from I used to call a plumber and got a tradesman with about 30 years experience, in fact I used to leave the key for him so I didn't have to come home from work, jus paid him later

[CDNinKS]

View PostCDNinKS, on 2010-12-23 20:50, said:

Green slimy stuff is algae growing in the lines or tanks. Algae needs light to grow, so if you have the blue plastic holding tanks that is where the algae is growing. If you have stainless and the lid is not letting light in then it must be growing in the water lines somewhere that they are exposed to light. That is why if you have a clear or semi clear garden hose and you leave it out in the sun, the next day when you turn it on green algae comes out.

Thanks for that, its not in the tanks as these are the Thai style ones with lids and there is no algae inside. So I only have a very short length of the pvc blue pipe exposed to sunlight where it comes up out of the ground to supply the tanks, and then from the tanks to the hose pump. I suppose they are a bit translucent and that is where the algae is growing, meaning what? I could just replace those pipes every now and then if it was an issue and not worry about a filter or should I try and kill the algae. Sorry to sound dumb but where I came from I used to call a plumber and got a tradesman with about 30 years experience, in fact I used to leave the key for him so I didn't have to come home from work, jus paid him later

Normally the blue PVC will not allow enough light to grow algae, so I doubt that is your problem. What is your water source? Is it possible that the algae is coming from there? Sorry, just re-read your original post and see that your source is a bore hole. I'm at a loss where your algae might be forming......

Edited December 30, 2010 by CDNinKS

[CDNinKS]

Yes there was salt water in the tank but the filter was plugged,cleaned it but found out that the plastic gears were stripped so I ordered a new head and sent the other one out for repair.Well not even 5 days went by and the gears were stripped again.It should be under warranty,have since removed the whole system so we can have water in the house.I am looking at replacing this one with the manual ones,the plastic gears just don't last and the new heads are 10,000 baht not worth the head ache for the automatic one.I looked at one that a Thai fellow has who sells water he has 4 stainless tanks the narrow ones and one filter and another unit stainless that has I think 8 small filters in it.I have seen 2 or three of these tanks being used before but not 4 tanks.After the New Year the guys that put in his system are going to come and look at what I need for a filter system.

Any idea what is causing the gears to strip? Is it possibly build up of calcium or sand in the unit causing the valve to jam?

[doglover]

View PostCDNinKS, on 2010-12-23 20:50, said:

Green slimy stuff is algae growing in the lines or tanks. Algae needs light to grow, so if you have the blue plastic holding tanks that is where the algae is growing. If you have stainless and the lid is not letting light in then it must be growing in the water lines somewhere that they are exposed to light. That is why if you have a clear or semi clear garden hose and you leave it out in the sun, the next day when you turn it on green algae comes out.

Thanks for that, its not in the tanks as these are the Thai style ones with lids and there is no algae inside. So I only have a very short length of the pvc blue pipe exposed to sunlight where it comes up out of the ground to supply the tanks, and then from the tanks to the hose pump. I suppose they are a bit translucent and that is where the algae is growing, meaning what? I could just replace those pipes every now and then if it was an issue and not worry about a filter or should I try and kill the algae. Sorry to sound dumb but where I came from I used to call a plumber and got a tradesman with about 30 years experience, in fact I used to leave the key for him so I didn't have to come home from work, jus paid him later

Normally the blue PVC will not allow enough light to grow algae, so I doubt that is your problem. What is your water source? Is it possible that the algae is coming from there? Sorry, just re-read your original post and see that your source is a bore hole. I'm at a loss where your algae might be forming......

I also had this problem with algae before. Here is how you could determine if blue pvc piping (thinwall....I would be surprised if thickwall does) lets in light.

1. Take a spare piece of blue pvc piping and check for critters by first shaking it out as best you can and then holding it up to light in a level fashion and looking from a distance and then closing in. Safety glasses are always a good idea. Don't need a snake bite in eye. Once sure it is free of any critters.
2. Plug one end with a pvc cap or anything else that will block light and using your forefinger and thumb form into an OK symbol and use that as a light seal between the open end of the pvc pipe and your eye.

Going to try this today out of curiousity.... Now I know for my washing machine there is white hose that came with the unit used to connect the washing machine to the water supply line. I am certain this lets in light. A double or triple wrap of electrical tape would take care of that though. I do know that the algae had contaminated more than just this supply hose so it will be interesting to see if any light penetrates the pvc. In the past I had a problem with too big a pump for too small of a borehole and this would make the pump chug when the water in the borehole couldn't keep up resulting with bursts of pressure which would loosen the dark green algae off in small chunks and come out at every outlet! The only place I had slime was at the washing machine inlet screen filter though. Since correcting the pump sizing problem I have had no issues with algae though I would imagine it is still caked on the inside of the pipes but the now even flow doesn't disrupt it and have not had a problem with slime either even though I have not taped out the light on that white hose.

[doglover]

Isn't there a company that provides units were they come and exchange the filter medium on a regular basis and do the backwash and flush at there facility. You will pay for the service but you donot have the hassel of maintence.

Oh there is, there is, see my rant in post #8. they create more hassle than they solve (a comon trait among "chang" of all types!) That's what drives me to the DIY forum. I don't prefer DIY, it's just less trouble in the long run in my experience....

According to your rant in post#8 (to which I have sympathy) you said they discarded the backflush water onto your property. If you reread the suggestion this would not be the case. A great suggestion although possibly too expensive with all that transportation and need for a base facility. In addition some of the filter media may not be so easy to swap out along with being unsure if you receive your original filter media in the end.

If there is no suitable location to runoff the discarded water on the property surely the local septic tank sucker truck would be happy to take away the water for anyone. Even 100 litres would be nothing for them, I only pay 200 baht to have a 6000 litre tank sucked out. Although they still have to show up and wait for that 100 litre or whatever backflush. This is an option for us rural folks anyway.

I am looking at purchasing one of these filter systems and would prefer to discard the water on my own (wifes) property rather than paying a truck or dealing with them and their heavy truck. A few posters have mentioned the issues with the high salt content in the backflush water. But no advice was given on where the best place is to discard the water. Could someone experienced offer some suggestions. I am guessing my freshwater fish pond and my lawn are not the ideal locations, nor my neighbours moat!. Also my in-laws most likely wouldn't be too happy with me running it off into their rice paddy either. So does that only leave a graywater septic system? (....if that is the right term)

[khunkeith]

we buy bottled drinking water and only use the tap water for washing and cooking. We have a 3 stage filter installed in the kitchen but, the rest comes from town water. We live in Phetchabun BTW. Anyway, to get to the point. With all the rain last summer, the town water was not always clean. several times, it was just outright muddy looking. I connected the well to the water storage tank but that water is pretty hard but, it's clean. But, because of the sediment from the town water, the downstairs shower head has clogged with lime and sediment. out water pressure upstairs has dropped too. I am not sure what we can do about it though. I would like to get a household filter but, don't need it good enough to make the water drinkable, just to clean it and remove the lime. also, is there anyway to remove deposits that have formed inside the pipes? We looked into a total household filter but, they were asking 60,000 THB.

[keiithonroll]

There are many companies offering whole house water filters. I would personally recommend Watercare as they are one of the leaders in the treatment industry.