Heather recently moved into a new house and has discovered the previous owners had a water filter installed. Unfortunately, Heather isn’t very knowledgeable regarding the type of filter she has, its functionality, or its capabilities. Currently, she has no idea whether the correct type of filter was installed on her water system and is contemplating removing it completely. Having a filter as a part of a water system is very beneficial though as long as you purchase the proper one.
The reason why it’s beneficial to incorporate a water filter into your system is to remove impurities. If you’re pulling water from a well, there is likely debris in it that you’ll want to get out not only to help protect your health but also to protect your system and everything that the water ends up touching. There’s a variety of debris that can end up in your home’s water, a lot of which is known as sediment. Wellwatergeek.com points out the different types of sediment that could potentially exist in well water, including sand, dirt, rocks, rust, tannins, minerals and other insoluble impurities. Changes in color, taste, or odor can sometimes be a sign that these things are in the water. It’s important if these items are in your water to get rid of them as not only can the particles be damaging themselves, but they could end up potentially carrying bacteria into the water that could make someone sick.
For the above reasons, it is a good idea to include a water filter as a part of your home’s system, but it’s just as important to make sure you select the correct one. At Rusco, we recently introduced our new Big Filter line, which can be ideal for helping to remove sediment as well as a variety of other debris that could be in the water. The following information can help you out with deciding which option might be best for your application.
Big Filters come with either a solid blue or clear cover and are designed with ¾" and 1” inlets/outlets. Suppose you’re looking into getting one with a ¾" inlet/outlet. In that case, they can handle a flow capacity of up to 49 GPM regardless of whether it’s the 10” or 20” version. The versions that come with the 1” inlet/outlet can handle a flow capacity of up to 57 GPM.
Along with determining which filter housing size to go with, you’ll also want to figure out the best media type for your application. The Big Filter line is available with four different media, including melt blown, pleated, string wound and activated carbon. Melt-blown, pleated and string wounds are all good for removing sediment, scale, rust, coarse sand, shell, grit, fine sand and silt out of water. Activated carbon is a little more unique because these cartridges are designed to remove bad taste, odor, lead, chlorine, VOCs and chemicals.
Going a bit more in depth, melt-blown cartridges are made of three to four different layers of various pore sizes. This design allows for a larger dirt-holding capacity than some filters. They are specifically good for removing silt, oil, grease and dirt, as well as rust and iron.
Pleated filters offer the least amount of pressure drop because of their increased surface area. These can be used for removing suspended solids. Pleated filters are very resistant to chemicals and bacteria growth.
String wound cartridges are a good choice if you’re looking specifically for sediment removal. These can also be good for reducing sand, silt, scale and rust particles from water. Just like all of the other Big Filter cartridges, string wound offers a high surface area.
Activated carbon filters are formed using an extrusion process. These cartridges utilize absorption to remove the impurities that we previously listed. Activated carbon filters also offer a longer replacement life.
It’s of course important to figure out which of the above cartridges is best to use based on your exact situation, but you’ll also have to decide what micron size is needed. Activated carbon cartridges are only offered in 5 microns when it comes to Rusco’s Big Filter line, but melt blown, pleated and string wound can be purchased in sizes ranging from 1 to 50 microns. The lower the number, the finer the filter is and the higher the number, the coarser it is. Therefore, if you’re trying to filter smaller debris with a melt-blown, pleated or string wound cartridge, you may want to choose something in 1 micron. If, however, you’re trying to filter larger debris, a 50-micron filter may be the best option for you.
An additional benefit of purchasing a Big Filter cartridge from Rusco is that they’re designed to fit inside most housing brands on the market. This means that if you already own housing from another company, you can purchase one of the above cartridges and know it will fit into your current setup.
If you want to add a water filter to your system or modify an existing filtration system, investigate what Rusco has to offer. Call 1-800-345-1033 to speak to a knowledgeable customer service representative who can help figure out the best options for you.
Source Notes: All information in this article relating to the different types of sediment came from wellwatergeek.com.
