As the owner of a Water Filter you understand the difference that good a Filtration System can make, but people don’t stay in one home for ever. As you make plans to build a new home or remodel an existing home be certain to plan space for your Water Treatment Equipment you will be glad that you did. Trying to jam Systems into cramped spaces is not recommended for several reasons.

Water Treatment Equipment will sweat in the Humid months, installing right next to a sheet rock wall might not be the best place. Service companies often charge by the 1/4 hour. If it takes longer to service a system because it is hard to get to, you will pay more. There are also issues now about accessibility as well. In order to service a system in a pit/cellar many companies will have to charge very high fees to bring in a tripod, winch, cable and harness set up, plus a second man in order to meet OSHA regulations.

Plan ahead, assume that there will be a water problem. Make sure that there is accessibility to the main cold water feed to the building, that there is a drain line somewhere nearby that’s not too close to the ceiling, and an outlet in the area. These steps will make your life easier and save you money for many years to come.

If you have any Water questions please visit our website at www.secondwindwater.com or call 1-800-287-5767. Until next time this is Chris Saltmarsh CWS-6 saying, “Thanks for reading, and please think ahead about space for water Treatment in your home, and enjoy your great water”…

Drinking Water Filters are designed to solve for a wide array of contaminants. However no one filter can remove everything. If you want to significantly reduce the dissolved solids in you Drinking Water, I recommend Reverse Osmosis (RO). RO uses a semi-permeable membrane that water molecules pass through slowly. Water also goes to Waste carrying away over 90% of the contaminants. In most RO systems the waste water is somewhere between 2/3 to 1/2 of the total water flow, sending the remaining 1/3 to 1/2 to storage. The storage system will then deliver the water to a Specialty Faucet, often branching off to a refrigerator door ice/water maker. Not only is RO popular in Residential Drinking Water applications, it’s also used a lot in the parts industry to create rinse water.

As a Standard Reverse Osmosis Membrane ages the Membrane will decay requiring replacement after 3-4 years. As the Membrane approaches the replacement date the Water Quality will start suffer. RO Systems that flush the Membrane with clean water will last considerably longer than 4 years. Membranes aren’t cheap, so knowing the average run time for a Membrane is an important buying feature when shopping for an RO.

RO Systems also come with a variety of Cartridge Filters. These Cartridges are there to remove Chlorine, Iron, Grit, Sediment, Taste, and Odor, amongst other things. If you are on City Water that is chlorinated be sure that your pre-filter is Carbon. RO Membranes do not tolerate Chlorine and Carbon is great at removing Chlorine. The Cartridges on most RO systems are changed once a year. This sounds easy enough to do, but like most things mechanical, it’s best if left to a trained Professional.

If you have any Water questions please visit our website at www.secondwindwater.com or call 1-800-287-5767. Until next time this is Chris Saltmarsh CWS-6 saying, “Thanks for reading, and think about an RO for your home, and enjoy your great water”…

Many people own Water Filters to improve the taste of their Drinking Water. Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) is one of the most common medias for improving taste and odor in water. GAC is actually quite amazing. The structure of GAC is both Macro-porous and Micro-porous. This means that the surface of the GAC has large holes in it, and within those large holes are many many smaller holes. This is important because GAC allows the gases, solids, and even some soluble contaminants in the Water to become trapped inside of its pores. Most other Filtering Medias only trap particles between the pieces of Filter Media. GAC actually traps contaminants within itself, and between the Pieces of Media. GAC also has an enormous capacity for the removal of Chlorine, which is important if you are on most Municipal Water Supplies.

GAC is like most good things, it requires some moderation. Once Carbon becomes saturated it can begin to dump into the Water stream, making the Water worse than ever. So, the regular replacement of GAC media and Cartridges is always important. Many people have GAC filters on their refrigerator water/ice dispensers. After a while the water can start to taste a bit stagnant, if the cartridge isn’t changed on time. In general a good rule of thumb is to change Carbon Cartridges for drinking water every 6 months, for best results. As always this recommendation is not etched in Stone. It really depends on your individual Water quality and Water usage. Secondwind Water Systems recommends the regular replacement of GAC adsorption media, on non-chlorinated water supplies, every 3 years, in order to control the growth of Bacteria across the bed.

If you have any Water questions please visit our website at www.secondwindwater.com or call 1-800-287-5767. Until next time this is Chris Saltmarsh CWS-6 saying, “Thanks for reading, and remember to change those GAC cartridges regularly, and enjoy your great water”…

As the owner of a Water Filter you have to understand that although your Water Treatment Equipment may be considered to be low Maintenance, no Mechanical Equipment is ever “Maintenance Free”.

Filter Media will grind against itself during the Backwash Cycle, Sacrificial Media dissolves away, and Absorptive Media will become saturated with contaminants, eventually they will all need to be topped off or replaced.

Timers need to set to the correct time of day, and battery back ups need to be replaced. These are the most commonly known service items on a Filter. What is not so commonly known is the need to replace Pistons and Seals. These parts wear over time and if they aren’t replaced in a timely fashion they will allow untreated water to weep through the valve. Pistons and Seals/ Flappers and Springs can also cause a valve to bind and stick in position. The long term effect of this is Bad water quality and Rock Hard Filter Media.

I prefer to blog about lighter subject matter than this, but I can’t stress the need for regular scheduled Maintenance on your Water Treatment System. It will pay for itself and usually save you money to have your System Serviced by a trained professional. All to often the real savings isn’t obvious because when the water is good everyone is happy. It isn’t until a mechanical malfunction occurs that the true savings start to become apparent. In this economy most folks can’t afford to replace something that could have been salvaged by a timely service call.

If you have any Water questions please visit our website at www.secondwindwater.com or call 1-800-287-5767. Until next time this is Chris Saltmarsh CWS-6 saying, “Thanks for reading, and remember to have your Preventative Maintenance scheduled on time, every year, and enjoy your great water”…