filters

[thirteen]

I went thru the FAQs and the old board sytem and I have sent several companies questions about there water filters. Their problem is I will have a low presure gravity system. 8-10 lbs at best and most need or want elecricity or higher preasure for their systems. It was for the whole house but I have changed to just getting domestic drinking water. I am looking for help in finding a good low presure filter system that works. My water spring area is fenced but there are cattle that move thru the area a couple of times each year. Just trying to be safe.  

[watermanhfl]

Hi,

Some quick thoughts.  Here in upstate NY we have many lakes where cottages use the lake water.  However they do not drink it.  Some treat the water by injecting clorine into a holding tank using an injection pump.  Then use the large bottled water for drinking.

If you have a steady flow from spring then make up a concrete dougnut with a streened intake at bottom.  Place over spring source so that when you call for water you are getting just released water.  Extra spills out the top. Still would not drink that.

Best solution would be a shallow well tapped into the spring vane.  Should not be too expensive.

Filtering water to be pottable is not easy.  You need either a distilling type technology or a very tight 0.2 micro membrane that needs lots of pressure and clogs easily.  I would try above solutions first.

I have and love well water.

[wpowokal]

If possible I would dig out the spring, place a course medium into the hole, cover with black plastic then cover over that with clay rich soil. I have recently done this with one on my farm, for now it is used for stock water but I would have no problem drinking this water.

Obviously after placing an outlet in the bottom of the hole, off which your potablle water is drawn.

If all else fails a ultraviolet filter will suffice. But realy a few germs are good for you, OK some are not. An activated carbon filter will remove most undesirable flavors.

Your low pressure is only relevent to what flow you are prepaired to accept after any filters. For low pressure run it into a sealed tank ie lid on it and light excluded, off which you draw you drinking water.

allan down under

[wooferhound]

What about those Pitcher Filters where you just pour the water in and it magically filters through into the pitcher.

[jacobs]

We live in cattle country also but our well is 100+ feet deep so our water is probably safe, however not wanting to take any chances, we ozonate our drinking water. Our ozone machine runs on about 25 watts of power.

[feral air]

I'd just get the most efficient booster pump I could find and go from there.

[kurt]

how about a berkey water filter that sits on your counter.

[Stonebrain]

Sand is a good filtering medium.

I think a 1' diam 3' long upright cilinder filled with sand would be quite good.

The water must be a flow with regular interruptions to let the air in.I have understand

that oxygen plays an important role in this.

Of course this can not be a presurized system,and the debit by gravitation is (and must be) rather slow so you must regulate the incoming flow.The outcoming flow must freely go in a reservoir.

For not investing to much in expensive installations or equipment better feed your house with unfiltered water and filter the drinking water in an homemade filter(if you're aventurous) or with a commercial domestic waterfilter(you buy it anywhere,at least in France) if you want to do it the easy way.

cheers,

stonebrain

[Stonebrain]

I forgot:

It's always good to let the water after capturing in a relative big reservoir(if you filter it or not) where it gets to rest so the dirt sinks to the bottom and the water will be cleaner.

[luckeydog]

I have a Berky and it works great.. mine is a counter top model

it holds 1.5 gal of water. this is the travel Berky there are larger

ones available. I payed full pop at 220 dollars. the nice thing is you can clean the filter with a scotch bright pad.

[strider3700]

I ozonate my water as well.  Basically I run from the spring to a collecting tank, then from the collecting tank into a circulating tank and I bubble ozone into this tank.  The water then goes into a pressure pump then a charcoal filter and then into the house.  3 years of drinking it and We're doing fine.  Of course we regularly drink unfiltered water from the lakes around here when camping and that's also fine so our water is pretty good in general.

[thirteen]

I looked up the Berky water filter it will do the job I am looking for. With a little modification I will make a small float and valve system for the water level to fill it as needed. That will work good for when the kids are up the rest of the time it will be filled as needed. Thanks for the info

[alternety]

If the water is clear, and you are just going after pathogens, all you need is a UV or ozone unit.  The ozone is probably cheaper to run, the UV puts nothing in the water. None of the other filters mentioned will get rid of pathogens unless it is one of those stand-alone units, with which I am not familiar.

I believe ozone will dissipate naturally if it sits for a bit.  Chlorine needs to have some contact time between injection and consumption and would need to be filtered out with a charcoal filter.  

You can get your water tested for coliform bacteria.  A lab can do it and there are some DIY kits online.  With the cattle being a periodic contamination source, this may not be helpful.

When you install your system, you should sterilize you piping system that will handle the potable water after the filter (or just the whole system).  Use unscented bleach (google for concentration) and let it sit for 12 hours or so.  Then run the water until you can't smell chlorine.

One source of contamination that is many times overlooked is the hot water supply.  It should be treated as potable water.  If you keep the tank below 140 F it is a big breeding reactor for things like Legionnaires.  A shower can kill you. For those about to take to their keyboards to tell me I am crazy about the hot water - it has happened. Documented.