Water softeners.....

Old Vet · #21 01/26/12, 09:44 PM

If you are on a water system owned by a company you will have to get a water system that uses salt. If you are on a well the sand filter will do the job without the fuss of refiling the salt in fact it does not use salt at all.The best thing is that aeration breaks the particle into a larger pieced so that the sand can filter it out. I used it on water that wold eat iron pipes in about a month and smelled like suffer or rotten eggs and the water came out looking like a brown mess but after the filter it was as clean as any water that I have tasted and made tea that was light brown like tea is supposed to look like.

NorthTexasGuy · #22 02/01/12, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Vet

I buried a bottom of a concrete 500 gallon tank and left 6 inches exposed then filled it with rock and sand up to 3 inches from the top put an areatior over that and a pump to get it to the houses. Then built a well house over that. The design was simple but it worked well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Vet

If you are on a water system owned by a company you will have to get a water system that uses salt. If you are on a well the sand filter will do the job without the fuss of refiling the salt in fact it does not use salt at all.The best thing is that aeration breaks the particle into a larger pieced so that the sand can filter it out. I used it on water that wold eat iron pipes in about a month and smelled like suffer or rotten eggs and the water came out looking like a brown mess but after the filter it was as clean as any water that I have tasted and made tea that was light brown like tea is supposed to look like.

I am interested in what you built. I am on a well and this is the first I have heard of something other than a salt softener to remove hardness. I don't know the specific harness, but our water will stop up faucet aerators in about 3 months. When we boil it, it leaves white sediment at the bottom. The water heater gets hardened white sediment in it. It ruined a Bunn coffeemaker with hard sediment in about a year. It makes terrible tea. The examples go on and on. I bought an electronic device that was supposed to remove and prevent sediment by emitting an RF signal into the water - we have been using it a year now and it hasn't helped. I don't want a salt softener due to the need for a reverse osmosis system and the ongoing cost of salt. I am looking for a permanent solution that has minimum maintenance.

Do you know of any plans I can look at to build by? I did a search for "slow sand filter" and didn't see anything on the household scale. You mention a concrete tank. Was it like an unused septic tank? Did it have a top on it, or a removable top? Otherwise how did you access the sand to maintain it? If it didn't have a top how did you keep trash and critters out of it? An internet search shows some on the scale of municipal use with open tanks. I just don't know how to do that and keep undesirables out.

Thanks,

Kyle

n9viw · #23 02/01/12, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Vet

I buried a bottom of a concrete 500 gallon tank and left 6 inches exposed then filled it with rock and sand up to 3 inches from the top put an areatior over that and a pump to get it to the houses. Then built a well house over that. The design was simple but it worked well.

Pictures, man, PICTURES!

I'm a clever fellow, but your description leaves me boggled, especially the aerator- I can't tell if it's a tube or a sprinkler or what.

TIA!

Nick (Pony!s OM)

Old Vet · #24 02/01/12, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NorthTexasGuy

I am interested in what you built. I am on a well and this is the first I have heard of something other than a salt softener to remove hardness. I don't know the specific harness, but our water will stop up faucet aerators in about 3 months. When we boil it, it leaves white sediment at the bottom. The water heater gets hardened white sediment in it. It ruined a Bunn coffeemaker with hard sediment in about a year. It makes terrible tea. The examples go on and on. I bought an electronic device that was supposed to remove and prevent sediment by emitting an RF signal into the water - we have been using it a year now and it hasn't helped. I don't want a salt softener due to the need for a reverse osmosis system and the ongoing cost of salt. I am looking for a permanent solution that has minimum maintenance.

Do you know of any plans I can look at to build by? I did a search for "slow sand filter" and didn't see anything on the household scale. You mention a concrete tank. Was it like an unused septic tank? Did it have a top on it, or a removable top? Otherwise how did you access the sand to maintain it? If it didn't have a top how did you keep trash and critters out of it? An internet search shows some on the scale of municipal use with open tanks. I just don't know how to do that and keep undesirables out.

Thanks,

Kyle

Quote:

Originally Posted by n9viw

Pictures, man, PICTURES!

I'm a clever fellow, but your description leaves me boggled, especially the aerator- I can't tell if it's a tube or a sprinkler or what.

TIA!

Nick (Pony!s OM)

I used to have one that for one house. The aerator is a screen wire that is warped around three layers of plastic pipe with a pipe that has holes in the top of it. It breaks the water up so that the iron will rust and this happens in the tank. Yes it looked like a unused septic tank with no cover. The way I kept critters out of it was to build a pump house over it. To make one for a one house I would use a tank that holes 100 gallons or their about. Fill it with rock (about 2 feet) and then sand(about 4 feet) cover a sand point hooked to another pump to supply the house. Use a float to regulate the water in the tank. When you are using it just scrape off the top of the sand when it becomes sealed over and replace it with new sand about every year or so. If you want to learn more PM me and I will give you my phone number.

NorthTexasGuy · #25 02/01/12, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Vet

I used to have one that for one house. The aerator is a screen wire that is warped around three layers of plastic pipe with a pipe that has holes in the top of it. It breaks the water up so that the iron will rust and this happens in the tank. Yes it looked like a unused septic tank with no cover. The way I kept critters out of it was to build a pump house over it. To make one for a one house I would use a tank that holes 100 gallons or their about. Fill it with rock (about 2 feet) and then sand(about 4 feet) cover a sand point hooked to another pump to supply the house. Use a float to regulate the water in the tank. When you are using it just scrape off the top of the sand when it becomes sealed over and replace it with new sand about every year or so. If you want to learn more PM me and I will give you my phone number.

Since I'm doing this after the fact do you think I could disconnect my pressure tank and reconnect it to the 2nd stage pump to keep the pressure at the house consistent then connect the well pump to a float switch in the top of the filter tank? Would I need something like a top-mounted well pump for the 2nd stage or another submersible pump? I don't get the idea of the aerator either. Was the supply pipe inside another larger sleeve pipe with holes in it with screen wire around the end?

Thanks,

Kyle

Old Vet · #26 02/01/12, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NorthTexasGuy

Since I'm doing this after the fact do you think I could disconnect my pressure tank and reconnect it to the 2nd stage pump to keep the pressure at the house consistent then connect the well pump to a float switch in the top of the filter tank? Would I need something like a top-mounted well pump for the 2nd stage or another submersible pump? I don't get the idea of the aerator either. Was the supply pipe inside another larger sleeve pipe with holes in it with screen wire around the end?

Thanks,

Kyle

Sure I did the same thing with my pump. Any pump will work but a top mounted one is the cheapest and is used more often. It is hard to type it out but the aerator is a frame made of pipe with screen wire warped around it with another pipe on the top that has wholes in it.It is like a square or rectangle that the screen goes on to provide 3 layers of screen separated by air space. Think of six pipes in a rectangle with screen that threads through it. Fasten the screen to the top one and fasten it to the lower one in a zig-zag fashion to provide screen about 4 inches from each other. It would be easier to tell you over the phone. I will give you my number in a PM so you won't have to worry about somebody calling you.