Need new filter advice

[adamrice32]

Hi All,

I live in a residential neighborhood in a small town and we have well water. The prior homeowners installed a standard 10" clear whole house filter. Over time I've been noticing that the lifespan of the filters has been decreasing, down to 1.5 weeks if I'm watering my lawn for 60 total minutes/day (yes, one of the sillcock lines is run after the filter...). The filters I've been using are Pentek C-1's (which, now that I'm looking closer at the specs, it seems like these might not be ideal). In any case, it appears that there's pretty heavy sediment in the water, and I know that it's time to re-jigger the system.

I had a comprehensive test done and there are a few items of concern, according to the board of health. The iron MG/L is 0.4 and the MCL is 0.3, and the manganese MG/L is 0.12 while the MCL is 0.05. Moreover, the sodium MG/L is 50.4, which is more than twice the Massachusetts guideline of 20 MG/L.

I was thinking about getting a 3-stage 20" big blue setup, allowing me to configure the various filters in series. Something like a large particle sediment filter followed by a smaller particle sediment filter, and finally a carbon filter. I'd like to avoid loss of pressure if possible. Are there any other (non cost prohibitive) alternatives that I should consider? I have the full analysis results if there are other parameters which would be helpful in making this type of decision.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

Regards,
Adam Rice
Bolton, MA

[samdog]

I think your idea is sound, although I'd suggest you hold it to 2 filters at first; a BB 30 micron pleated (they're washable) followed by a 5 micron carbon. If your pre-filter still restricts pressure too quickly consider adding an identical one in parallel to minimize pressure loss.

I'd consider putting an ion exchanger in between them bedded for the iron/manganese, but the experts will know best.