Water filtration system, just starting research

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Is a well an option?

I'm on a well so I have a whole home as well as an additional filter for our drinking water from the kitchen sink/fridge.

Honestly, if it were a health concern I would go with whole home. Don't want to take a sip of bathroom sink water and mess shite up.

Call someone out that knows what they are doing, they will test the water and tell you exactly what is in the water and what to treat with.

I have a 50 gallon bladder going to a calcite filter which feeds the whole house.

I have an aquasana rhino whole house and I have to say the difference was staggering.

We are on well water in St Tammany and our water was terrible.

Someone gave me this filter because they couldn’t get it installed. The skeptic in me would never spend $1000 on a water filter.

Having seen the results in the bathtub and drinking water I think I would buy it again if I had to.

That’s an impressive system.

I take about 4 showers/day on good days and have taken up to 14 before calling 911. Wonder about maintaining properly with a $2500 system???


(Warm/hot running water helps with the pain and nausea)

So the system Rajincajun posted is very similar to the one I use for my saltwater aquarium.

If that's what you are looking for is a reverse osmosis system that will remove total dissolved solids then you might look for a used 5 stage reverse osmosis system for an aquarium. Mine is 7 stage for the aquarium and I'll describe what each stage does. Bulk reef supply has lots of quality systems like this for good prices and good videos that explain them.

Stage 1 (sediment cartridge) doesn't remove any TDS, just non dissolved dirt, etc.

Stage 2 and stage 3 (carbon cartridge) - also doesn't remove any TDS.

These are the first three big cartridges in his Pic. Although you can put whatever type of cartridge in there you want.

Stage 4 (chlorine filter) removes chlorine that's the small tube on top in his pic

Stage 5 (Reverse osmosis ) this will remove 98% of TDS. They are the most expensive to replace and last the longest. About 35 dollars. That's the long tube on top in his pic.

Stage 6 and 7 on mine are di resin cartridges that remove the last 2% of tds. (Not pictured in his)

You can get digital inline tds meters from bulk reef supply that you can use to measure incoming and outgoing tds so you know how well your reverse osmosis cartridge is working. (I.e. know when to change it)

Your not going to be taking showers running through that though. It's slow to make water even with a booster pump it takes me about 4 hours to make 20 gallons.

That's why the one he has pictured comes with a pressurized tank. So you fill up the tank and then you can get water out of it quickly when you need for drinking, etc.

It also will waste water about 4 to 1. So it takes 5 gallons of water to make one.

I don't know if you need something that involved, but that's what I have to have for corals, zero tds.

If you want to know more I can tell you about how long your cartridges will last and how to keep up with when to change them.

Here is my first 5 stages. The pressure gauge will help you know when to change your first three cartridges. The little box with the screen is the inline tds meter to help you know when to change your RO cartridge.



This is my booster pump that helps make water faster or helps if you don't have high enough pressure in general.



You use a plastic wrench like thing to change the big cartriges (sediment and carbon), it's not that hard. Just don't want to over tighten them cause they can be a pain to get off if you do.

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What chemicals in particular are a trigger?

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Not completely sure what specific chemicals. I can smell the chlorine when they do treatments but I’m sure they use more than just that. The last 5 years or so it depends on municipal location (I was on a good aquifer in NWLA, then went to HSV, Ar, and now West Funroe).

The difference in location and probably competent personnel makes a difference.

The only issue about using a whole house filter is that it’ll knock out the Cl2 or chloramines in all of your water pipes. If a line stays stagnant for a while, it can grow stuff in that line because there is no Cl2 to kill it or additional Cl2 to kill it when the line is finally run again. This can spread throughout your piping.
I work in the water treatment business and this is something we have to watch for on dead end lines and sections of houses that aren’t used often. We will get complaints from elderly people that have 2 story homes and nobody uses the upstairs. Then when they finally do use it, the water is awful and it’s because the Cl2 had dissipated in the lines and stuff began to grow. Just make sure turn your water lines over and don’t let water set up for long periods of time.

I am not saying this will happen but that it can.

I live in WM also. We built mid 18 to early 19. My biggest regret was not installing full filtration. Call Kens Coffee and have them quote you. Everyone I know that has it loves it. From what I understand you just have to backwash it from time to time. I’ve been told it make a huge difference.

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Wonder about maintaining properly with a $2500 system???

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The Rhino is a modular system so each component can be replaced independently when needed. Even the main tanks when the time comes.
Regular maintenance includes replacing the pre-filter a few times a year and the post-filter twice a year. Of course that depends on the condition of your water source. The UV light is rated for a year but I find they last a good bit longer. All very easy to replace with the 'pro upgrade' which has the bypass system with 3 ball values to redirect flow around the system and isolate the filters.

my new (old) house came with 2: a reverse osmosis system with what looks like a giant scuba tank in the crawl space and then that 2 filter system w/ the big white 'key' to replace the filters like the post above.

the 'backwash' system seems to be for the whole house and it looks like the smaller filter system fuels a dedicated water spigot in our laundry room (why not the kitchen??) and i have yet to replace the 3 filters but its only like 20-$30 on amazon so i need to go ahead & do that. i am absolutely sure it hasn't been changed in years.