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Were you drinking that water before you put the filter in???
What did it taste like? |
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How deep is your well, how close it the end to the bottom of the well?
Is your pump losing it's prime then stirring shit up when it starts to suck stuff back up? |
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Were you drinking that water before you put the filter in??? What did it taste like? Never really noticed... The house was built around '78 or so... and the plumbing has never been touched until now. I think the debris is a recent problem, but it's entirely possible we've been drinking it for awhile and never knew what garbage was in it. |
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Crack in the casing of the well or hopefully for your sake a broken line in the yard. Look for the best looking spot of grass.
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I suggest a series of filters.....the first two are screen mesh spin down filters with the first being a coarse screen and the second being a fine screen.
After the water passes through these two it then gets filtered by the cartridge filter. The first two will catch most particles large enough for you to see with the naked eye. The last one can then filter the really fine sediment. When you do this buy extra screen filters for the first two. You can then swap them out monthly and after you do you can just hose off the screen filters and alternate them every month. If you take care of them the spin down filters last for years and allow you to go months between paper filter changes. ETA I agree with the above persons.....if this is a new phenomenon you need to find out if something in the system has changed or become damaged. |
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Check your water softener if you have one. If you do, it's probably not working. What you are seeing are rust particles and rust scale that builds up and flakes off. If it was actual sand or debris it would look differently. [casing or bad point screen]
And yes, when you drain the pipes you will loosen a ton of scale on the walls which will quickly clog the filter the first time. |
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Were you drinking that water before you put the filter in??? What did it taste like? This. And dibs on guns & ammo. |
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How deep is your well, how close it the end to the bottom of the well? Is your pump losing it's prime then stirring shit up when it starts to suck stuff back up? Those are questions I just don't know the answers to... this is my parents old house... and unfortunately much of the knowledge about this stuff was lost when my Dad passed away in 2001. I seem to remember the well was 200-250ft or so... but I really am not sure. We had a pump guy out about 2yrs ago because the pump was popping the breaker occasionally. The pump guy pulled it up and found a chaffed wire that rubbed thru and was grounding against the pipe. He repaired the wire and dropped it back down the well... I don't think he had it all the way out the pipe though. |
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sooner or later you will be pulling your well and all of your questins will be answered.
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Quoted: Crack in the casing of the well or hopefully for your sake a broken line in the yard. Look for the best looking spot of grass. Probably a crack in the casing. |
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Crack in the casing of the well or hopefully for your sake a broken line in the yard. Look for the best looking spot of grass. You know what... I recall a section of yard that seemed like it was damp all year round... for no apparent reason. Maybe a 10-15ft diameter area in the middle of the yard... about 20ft away from the pump though. I'll bet that right there is the culprit. |
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You're pulling water DIRECTLY from the ground. Yeah, it'll have shit in it. Yeah, your filters will dirty up quick. It hasn't hurt you yet, I doubt it will hurt you tomorrow.
What kind of country boy are you? I drink from a rusty tin can d'rectly from a well whenever I can. Just rinse the spider webs out a little first. You want "clean" water, move to town. You were fine before you figured out you had a problem .Fix the "problem" and continue on. |
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I'd be curious to see what inside of your water heater looks like.
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You're pulling water DIRECTLY from the ground. Yeah, it'll have shit in it. Yeah, your filters will dirty up quick. It hasn't hurt you yet, I doubt it will hurt you tomorrow. What kind of country boy are you? I drink from a rusty tin can d'rectly from a well whenever I can. Just rinse the spider webs out a little first. You want "clean" water, move to town. You were fine before you figured out you had a problem .Fix the "problem" and continue on. I'll probably give it a week or so and see if it clears up... Like I said... we've had similar issues before, but not of this magnitude. We have had some heavy rains off and on for the last few weeks... so maybe things are just stirred-up in the well at the moment. At least now I can catch all the debris in one place... instead of having it clog up all the faucets, toilets and shower heads. |
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I suggest a series of filters.....the first two are screen mesh spin down filters with the first being a coarse screen and the second being a fine screen. After the water passes through these two it then gets filtered by the cartridge filter. The first two will catch most particles large enough for you to see with the naked eye. The last one can then filter the really fine sediment. When you do this buy extra screen filters for the first two. You can then swap them out monthly and after you do you can just hose off the screen filters and alternate them every month. If you take care of them the spin down filters last for years and allow you to go months between paper filter changes. ETA I agree with the above persons.....if this is a new phenomenon you need to find out if something in the system has changed or become damaged. After seeing the amount of junk getting pumped into the house, I actually considered something like this... maybe a 2 or 3 stage filtration system. I'll tell you what though... I was goddamn impressed at how well this filter works. It didn't let a damn thing thru at all... I'll update the thread in a few minutes with a pic of filter #1. You won't believe it. |
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Iron ochre bacteria. You can treat your well and it'll kill it. Bacteria in the water eat iron in the water and produce that red rust, or so I'm told. A friend of mine had the same problem with his well, and he was changing out filters every few days. His pump finally died and the well guy treated his well when he replaced the pump. It's crystal clear now.
Here's a page about it: Iron Bacteria |
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Quoted: Quoted: Crack in the casing of the well or hopefully for your sake a broken line in the yard. Look for the best looking spot of grass. You know what... I recall a section of yard that seemed like it was damp all year round... for no apparent reason. Maybe a 10-15ft diameter area in the middle of the yard... about 20ft away from the pump though. I'll bet that right there is the culprit. Find the point where your water enters your house and find the well head, draw a line from the two and dig, the line is cracked. Happened to me, all of the sudden the water got "muddy". Found the soft spot with shiny grass, there was a pressure tank and the line cracked at the outlet fitting. It was a mud puddle underground and the water line was picking it up. Dont let it go, for the love of God atleast dig and make sure. If you dont and Im right your pump will burn up. You start running your well dry and all kinds of problems. And figure this will all start going on this winter. |
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Dont let it go, for the love of God atleast dig and make sure. If you dont and Im right your pump will burn up. You start running your well dry and all kinds of problems. And figure this will all start going on this winter. Yeah I bet you're right now that I look again, my friend never had sand in his filter, just red goo. |
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I am not sure that I understand the possible connection between the wet spot in the yard and this guy's water filter.
The line from the well is under pressure and it can leak into the ground and cause a wet spot. But because the line is always under pressure it is impossible for dirty ground water to enter at that leaking spot and cause the dirty filter. Before you spend anymore money give it some time and see what happens. Filters should look dirty. If your filter doesn't get dirty looking then you don't need a filter. You probably have a little iron in your water and it is precipitating out and your filter is removing it. |
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Quoted: Iron ochre bacteria. You can treat your well and it'll kill it. Bacteria in the water eat iron in the water and produce that red rust, or so I'm told. A friend of mine had the same problem with his well, and he was changing out filters every few days. His pump finally died and the well guy treated his well when he replaced the pump. It's crystal clear now. Here's a page about it: Iron Bacteria That or a leaking casing. |
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Do you have a pressure take before the filter? If so, the bladder could be shot or that tank could be giving you the debris.
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Just take the screens of the faucets. No cloggin then. I live in town and that's what I do. It ain't gonna kill ya.
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I am not sure that I understand the possible connection between the wet spot in the yard and this guy's water filter. The line from the well is under pressure and it can leak into the ground and cause a wet spot. But because the line is always under pressure it is impossible for dirty ground water to enter at that leaking spot and cause the dirty filter. Before you spend anymore money give it some time and see what happens. Filters should look dirty. If your filter doesn't get dirty looking then you don't need a filter. You probably have a little iron in your water and it is precipitating out and your filter is removing it. Depend on if it is a suction pump or a pressure pump. Since he has a deep well it would be a pressure type but the bladder tank would bleed back into the ground and the pump would run on/off quite cyclically even when no water was being used inside the house. OP, cut into the dirty filter and see just how far the discoloration really has been drawn into the filter media. I'd bet it's just in 1/8 on an inch or so. I used the carbon type filters myself tho they clog pretty quickly if there is a plethora of larger particles. |
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Quoted: I am not sure that I understand the possible connection between the wet spot in the yard and this guy's water filter. The line from the well is under pressure and it can leak into the ground and cause a wet spot. But because the line is always under pressure it is impossible for dirty ground water to enter at that leaking spot and cause the dirty filter. Before you spend anymore money give it some time and see what happens. Filters should look dirty. If your filter doesn't get dirty looking then you don't need a filter. You probably have a little iron in your water and it is precipitating out and your filter is removing it. It all depends on if and where his pressure tank is, a well water system needs a pressure cutoff or the pump will continuosly run until it burns up, 2 years or so. The pressure tank is usually about 25 gallons and holds the pressure so its instantly their when you open a valve. He needs to dig up the wet spot in his yard, just to be safe. Like I said it happened to us, normal water one day then all of the sudden dirty as all hell clogging the filters. An hour with a shovel is better than a 400 dollar pump. |
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Do you have a pressure take before the filter? If so, the bladder could be shot or that tank could be giving you the debris. Yes... The pump is submerged in the well... and pushes water into the bladder tank. The filter is mounted immediately after the tank. How do you test for a ruptured bladder ? The tank is as old as the house. 1978. |
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Do you have a pressure take before the filter? If so, the bladder could be shot or that tank could be giving you the debris. Yes... The pump is submerged in the well... and pushes water into the bladder tank. The filter is mounted immediately after the tank. How do you test for a ruptured bladder ? The tank is as old as the house. 1978. There are people that figure these things out. Called plumbers. Call one. It may be more expensive, but the answer will come quicker. |
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Since he has a deep well it would be a pressure type but the bladder tank would bleed back into the ground and the pump would run on/off quite cyclically even when no water was being used inside the house. I think we may be on to something here... I have noticed the last few months, the pump will kick on for no apparent reason... when no water is being used. Looks like I will be doing some digging tomorrow. ...OR making a phone call to a pump guy. |
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Quoted: Quoted: I am not sure that I understand the possible connection between the wet spot in the yard and this guy's water filter. The line from the well is under pressure and it can leak into the ground and cause a wet spot. But because the line is always under pressure it is impossible for dirty ground water to enter at that leaking spot and cause the dirty filter. Before you spend anymore money give it some time and see what happens. Filters should look dirty. If your filter doesn't get dirty looking then you don't need a filter. You probably have a little iron in your water and it is precipitating out and your filter is removing it. It all depends on if and where his pressure tank is, a well water system needs a pressure cutoff or the pump will continuosly run until it burns up, 2 years or so. The pressure tank is usually about 25 gallons and holds the pressure so its instantly their when you open a valve. He needs to dig up the wet spot in his yard, just to be safe. Like I said it happened to us, normal water one day then all of the sudden dirty as all hell clogging the filters. An hour with a shovel is better than a 400 dollar pump. The guy has a little iron in his well water. 99% of all well water has iron in it. It is not a big deal unless it is staining something in an annoying way and you are telling him to dig up his yard!!! |
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1978 should be a plastic hose most likely, they don't rupture very often and when they do, it's usually from freezing or being nicked and damaged.
A wet spot in the lawn however that never dries should be at least checked out, especially if it follows the path from the well to the line in at the wall. |
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The guy has a little iron in his well water. 99% of all well water has iron in it. It is not a big deal unless it is staining something in an annoying way and you are telling him to dig up his yard!!! Well... the size and amount of debris is plugging up all the faucets in the house. The hose to the washing machine has a screen in it. That was plugged up and my wife couldn't do wash. The toilet fill valve was clogged with debris and wouldn't refill the tank after a flush. The shower head was clogged with debris too. These are problems I CAN'T live with... hence the filter. They are also problems that are relatively NEW problems... and rather extreme compared to previous issues of the sort.This is why I tend to agree... there is a bigger problem that needs addressed. |
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Do you have a pressure take before the filter? If so, the bladder could be shot or that tank could be giving you the debris. Yes... The pump is submerged in the well... and pushes water into the bladder tank. The filter is mounted immediately after the tank. How do you test for a ruptured bladder ? The tank is as old as the house. 1978. There are people that figure these things out. Called plumbers. Call one. It may be more expensive, but the answer will come quicker. To check the bladder tank itself check the air pressure at the valve. make sure it's holding air and that no water squirts out. If the bladder tank was shot, the pump would kick on everytime the water was used as it would not have any pressure pushing back on the water inside the bladder itself. They do need to be checked and air added over time. There should be a info sticker on the tank itself. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I am not sure that I understand the possible connection between the wet spot in the yard and this guy's water filter. The line from the well is under pressure and it can leak into the ground and cause a wet spot. But because the line is always under pressure it is impossible for dirty ground water to enter at that leaking spot and cause the dirty filter. Before you spend anymore money give it some time and see what happens. Filters should look dirty. If your filter doesn't get dirty looking then you don't need a filter. You probably have a little iron in your water and it is precipitating out and your filter is removing it. It all depends on if and where his pressure tank is, a well water system needs a pressure cutoff or the pump will continuosly run until it burns up, 2 years or so. The pressure tank is usually about 25 gallons and holds the pressure so its instantly their when you open a valve. He needs to dig up the wet spot in his yard, just to be safe. Like I said it happened to us, normal water one day then all of the sudden dirty as all hell clogging the filters. An hour with a shovel is better than a 400 dollar pump. The guy has a little iron in his well water. 99% of all well water has iron in it. It is not a big deal unless it is staining something in an annoying way and you are telling him to dig up his yard!!! Do you have a well? Im telling him what I wished Id have done because whats happening to him is what happened to me. How the hell do you explain the big wet spot in his yard? All he has to do is dig a hole a little deeper than 18" in the middle of the wet spot and check. Im not saying rent a fucking backhoe and triaxle for Petes sake. Art, do what you want, I screwed around and spent a lot of wasted money because my line broke in the winter and the water didnt come up to make the grass extra green and the ground soft until spring. |
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1978 should be a plastic hose most likely, they don't rupture very often and when they do, it's usually from freezing or being nicked and damaged. A wet spot in the lawn however that never dries should be at least checked out, especially if it follows the path from the well to the line in at the wall. Correct... we have a 1" plastic line. Now that I think of it... the spot in the yard is sort of a low spot, so it may not be related. The well is real close to the house (10-15ft) and the damp area is another 10+ feet away from the house. It may just be a low area that doesn't drain... |
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The guy has a little iron in his well water. 99% of all well water has iron in it. It is not a big deal unless it is staining something in an annoying way and you are telling him to dig up his yard!!! Well... the size and amount of debris is plugging up all the faucets in the house. The hose to the washing machine has a screen in it. That was plugged up and my wife couldn't do wash. The toilet fill valve was clogged with debris and wouldn't refill the tank after a flush. The shower head was clogged with debris too. These are problems I CAN'T live with... hence the filter. They are also problems that are relatively NEW problems... and rather extreme compared to previous issues of the sort.This is why I tend to agree... there is a bigger problem that needs addressed. The "problems" are not new, correct? Ongoing problems only now with evidence from the new filters? Solution. Move to a town with a top notch water rating. Or get lots of filters. |
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Art, do what you want, I screwed around and spent a lot of wasted money because my line broke in the winter and the water didnt come up to make the grass extra green and the ground soft until spring. Tomorrow I will call Homer Defrain of Defrain's Pumps. He's the guy that was out a couple years ago and fixed the chaffed wire. His sticker is on the bladder tank. All he does is well pumps and he's a really cool guy. He could have up-sold us a bunch of shit we didn't need, but instead just fixed the chaffed wire and charged us for his time. He got here within 30 minutes of the phonecall, and saved us a ton of money. That might be easier than renting a triaxle and backhoe to dig up a 1" line. |
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Art, do what you want, I screwed around and spent a lot of wasted money because my line broke in the winter and the water didnt come up to make the grass extra green and the ground soft until spring. Tomorrow I will call Homer Defrain of Defrain's Pumps. He's the guy that was out a couple years ago and fixed the chaffed wire. His sticker is on the bladder tank. All he does is well pumps and he's a really cool guy. He could have up-sold us a bunch of shit we didn't need, but instead just fixed the chaffed wire and charged us for his time. He got here within 30 minutes of the phonecall, and saved us a ton of money. That might be easier than renting a triaxle and backhoe to dig up a 1" line. He'll probably do a pressure test of the line and check the bladder tank out. You also could have a bad screen at the bottom of the well or could just be pulling water from another direction that has far more iron in it. Water is not static underground and does flow. Also construction or additional wells around you that have been added can change how your well draws. |
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I've used that filter before and while I think its a good setup, there is another model, much larger that is probably more suitable to your application. The filter is about a gallon in size. Assuming that you get this problem fixed, you will still probably be changing it more that you like. With a coarse particle filter in the unit you already have, adding the larger one downstream would handle the house needs with a carbon filter that could go 1-3 months.
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Here's a pic of the 1st filter, with a new one alongside it. I'll tell ya... I'm damn impressed with this thing. Nothing got through it. http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc83/yullose/DSC077412.jpg http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc83/yullose/DSC077402.jpg Just in case any of you guys want to run right out and buy one for yourselves. http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc83/yullose/DSC077422.jpg GE makes water filters and jet engines. |
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where's the pic of your empty bank accounts? The tank and pump replacement totalled $2300 including all parts and labor. The digger rental will be under $300.... and I dug the hole myself. The pump guy came out tonight about 7pm and repaired the broken tube for $100... and I gave him a $20 tip for showing up on short notice. It took him longer to get here than it did to make the repair. The water filtration setup was about $100 with all the fittings and spare filters... I installed that myself too. Total cost to date is still under $3000. |
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So did you run over the nice neighbors fence, plants and landscaping?
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How deep was your water line? Damn. I hate it when Im right, I feel bad for you we pretty well had the same thing except for the water line being 10ft down.
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sooner or later you will be pulling your well and all of your questins will be answered. this guy was right on the money!!!!!!!!!!! |
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How deep was your water line? Damn. I hate it when Im right, I feel bad for you we pretty well had the same thing except for the water line being 10ft down. See the pic showing the ladder ? Thats a 24ft extension ladder (collapsed to 12ft)... so the hole is a good 8-10ft deep at the broken line. Our well is 150ft deep from the top of the well cap... When we lowered the new pump down the pipe, we hit water with another 40ft of drop to go... so I'm sure we are sucking from a pretty huge reservior. |
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So did you run over the nice neighbors fence, plants and landscaping? Negative. I had plenty of room to play. I've run these things before when I worked for the rental store... just never dug holes with them. I was a little worried about clipping the house with it at first, but after a few minutes on it... it's just like playing a video game. |
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