Welcome to March everyone. Mike and I got quite a few different things done last week but the big job was coming up with a water filtration system for our house. We have a well here but it is very hard water, doesn't taste good and is wreaking havoc on my skin and hair. Mike finally came up with a plan.
He wants to use a water softener on the house in addition to a water filter and a charcoal filter.
Coming up with the mounting brackets is the aggravating part. For years Mike has complained about water filters not coming with good brackets…so now he made his own.
Getting ready to install the filters on the house:
Mike made nice brackets to attach the filters. Now the well water will go through the the sediment filter, then the charcoal filter and then the water softener.
Now time for all the plumbing pipes and lots of connections:
Cutting pvc pipe down to size:
It's looking good so far:
Cutting out the original pipe that went from the pump directly to the house:
Some of the old is out:
Mike hooking up new pipe from the well pump and into our filters:
Running pipe up to the filters:
Ooh it looks nice and complicated, lol. Now we cross our fingers to test it. Hopefully there are no leaks and it all works:
Ugh…well we have a couple of issues. We have one leak which isn't too bad to fix. The the other problem is that now our pressure switch on our pump is too far from the bladder tank and the pump surged and would not stay steady. Mike spent the night trying to come up with an easy way to fix this.
The next day Mike cut the old pipe from the pressure switch:
Fixing the leak:
Mike cuts the line and hooks the pressure switch closer to the bladder tank. This solved our problem:
Our new system. It now works great and surprisingly we have hardly any sediment in our filter.
That was one of the last big jobs to finish up.
After that Mike and I pressure washed the house and windows. It's nice not to have spots all over the windows.
That's all for now. Just another update. We plan on finishing the gardens, getting some curbing, and adding a gate….oh and we almost have the pool table set up for the kids next week:)
See you all next Monday.
The problem I see, is, the charcoal filter will get plugged lickety split, in no time at all.
ReplyDelete(I used to have charcoal filters on my lines, that I installed. Within a day or two, they got plugged because of the lime that the city put through the lines to protect the pipes. You with hard water, will have to find out if you can just go with two sediment filters after awhile, when you get tired of changing out the charcoal filters all the time.
I wish you well...
Jesse
Thanks for the heads up. So far so good but we will keep an eye out on the filters.
DeleteIs there a box to cover the pump and water softener?
ReplyDeleteI sorta agree with Jesse, about the charcoal filter, but since you have the sediment filter before it, you will probably be OK. Heck, if you notice that it's plugging quickly, you can change things around and go for "Plan B", which would be (in my opinion) a charcoal filter at the kitchen sink, since that is where you would probably do most of your water drinking anyway. I'm assuming that the refrigerator (if it has a water dispenser on the door) had it's own water filter.
Is there a reason for the different base under the window (where Mike was pressure washing) as compared to the other windows around the house that have the red brick? Did they have window boxes at one time? It looks nice, but it almost seems as if the those other windows need the same window dressing?
It's really looking great, and I'm sure you are going to have a great time with the kids when they come down!!
There is no box yet. Mike may build one before we leave. We will keep an eye on the filters. So far there is hardly any sediment in the one filter. How do you check the charcoal one?
DeleteI have no idea why there are two different bases. All of the other windows have the brick under them except for that one bedroom window. Of course it has the be on the side that you see when you drive or walk up to the house, lol. Apparently the house had to be built up in that corner at one time. Maybe the original brick cracked??? I told Mike we need to have those windows matched at some point. It is just a foam decoration….wonder where to find those.
Oh yeah…can't wait for the kids. The little one is e-mailing me every day with the count down:):)
There really is no way to check the charcoal filter, though I guess mike could put in some pressure gauges, to see if there is a pressure change between the inlet and outlet of the filter...but basically, you'll see that the water pressure drops at the faucet....and if the sediment filter is new, then the charcoal filter is to blame. Since you are using it for the entire house, you may have to replace it more often, and Mike may decide to change the set-up to have the "taste" filter at the sink, rather than having "tasty" water going to the pressure washer...LOL!!
DeleteThat window base sounds like it may be another challenge for you guys. Mike should be able to make a mold of it, by enclosing it in plywood and pouring some sort of molding product.....then take that down and and fill it with some foam product to recreate the base..seal and paint. I don't know any of the specifics, but I bet it would interest Mike to try it....and it would be a really interesting blog entry. Of course, it would be different for the smaller window bases.....we'll have to think about those?
We can't wait to hear about the adventures you and the kids have when they come down to visit. I hope you write up a wonderful story about it.