Safe Water at the Cottage: Revers Osmosis - Part 3 of 3

The reverse osmosis system I used came as a complete system. All I needed to do was:

1. connect all the hoses
2. insert the filters in the appropriate cartridge holders
3. Install the system under the kitchen sink which consisted of a) drilling a hole in the counter for the faucet, b) installing the faucet, c) securing the cartridge set to the inside of the cupboard, and d) inserting a battery in the filter timer.
   

The Reverse osmosis system that I installed has a Five Stage Purification Process:

STAGE I: Sediment 5 Micron : Removes dirt, sediments, sand, and other physical particles.

STAGE II: Granulated Activated Carbon Filter: Reduces chemicals, such as chlorine, that may be in your water supply.

STAGE III: Carbon Block: Further reduces organics, odors, and other chemicals that might be present in you water supply.

STAGE IV: Reverse Osmosis Membrane: 50 gallon per day membrane removes 93-97% of dissolved mineral salts and other contaminants in the water supply.

STAGE V: Post Carbon Filter: A final polishing process that enhances and clarifies your drinking water.

My Supplier/Manufacturer:
Watts Canada

Related Posts:
Use the search on the Blog - search on Reverse Osmosis
;-)

Safe Water at the Cottage: Reverse Osmosis - Part 2 of 3

What is Reverse Osmosis?
Reverse osmosis (R/O) is a water treatment process in which water is forced through a semi-permeable membrane that has very small holes or "pores". Clean water passes through and impurities that are too big to pass through the membrane are left behind and flushed away.

How does Reverse Osmosis Work?
Reverse osmosis systems purify water by forcing pressurized water through a very fine, plastic membrane. If the raw water being treated comes from a well or another private source, disinfection and pre-filters (to remove chlorine and/or particulates/sediment) may be needed in advance of the R/O unit to remove contaminants that can foul or damage the membrane.

Stages of reverse osmosis:

1. During the initial filtration stage, tap water or well water (pressurized by a booster pump or pressure tank) is passed through a particle filter (a pre-filter) that removes silt, sediment, sand, and clay particles that might clog the R/O membrane.
2. The water is then forced through an activated carbon filter that traps minerals and contaminants such as chromium, mercury, copper, chloramine and pesticides. It also removes chlorine, which is important, as chlorine will shorten the life of the membrane.
3. Water is transferred under pressure into the R/O module, allowing only clean water to pass through the small pores in the membrane. Impurities unable to pass through the membrane are left behind and flushed down the drain.
4. Treated water is then sent to a storage tank.
5. Treated water is passed through an activated carbon filter before use to further improve the water's taste and smell.

Water that contains manganese, hydrogen sulphide or iron should be pre-treated to extend the life of the membrane. In fact the reverse osmosis package (system) that I purchased has 4 other filters to take out nasty stuff before it gets to the RO membrane.

Other URLs explaining Revers Osmosis:
How does Reverse Osmosis Work? (this explanation is really great!)
Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment (From the CMHC website)
What chemicals do Reverse osmosis remove?

Coming Up:
In Part 3, I show and describe my RO system

Related Posts:
Use search on the Blog and look for Reverse Osmosis
;-)

Safe Water at the Cottage: Reverse Osmosis - Part 1 of 3

In previous posts I have outlined the various filters I have installed. At the risk of sounding like I went overboard - and I probably did -- I installed one final water filtering system under the kitchen sink.

The system is a complete system called a reverse osmosis water filter. In part 2 of this series I will describe how reverse osmosis - as well as the other components of the system -- work.

In the picture to the right you can see two facets running. The one on the left is delivering water filtered by the main filter system I have describe in previous posts. The facet on the right delivers water that is filtered through the reverse osmosis system.

The water from the reverse osmosis system has actually flowed thought 9 filters - 4 belonging to the house water filtering system and 5 more associated with the reverse osmosis system installed under the kitchen sink.

So which was cleaner water?

Well it turns out - I tested both - that the water through the main water filter system is prefect - not bad stuff at all.

So yes it appears the reverse osmosis system may have been over kill.

Still I get great reviews from visitors about how good the water tastes...

Coming Up:
In part 2 I discuss how reverse osmosis works

Related Posts:
Creating Clean Water: Adding a Sediment Filter
Creating clean water: ge household filter
We Have Water!
Creating Clean Water: UV Filters
;-)

Creating Clean Water: 3 plus 1 Filters

The basic purpose of filtering water is to take all the nasty stuff out of the water that will make you sick, and to make it platable.

Our set up employs four filters in total:  3 filters that 'filter' stuff out of the water and one which zaps the water with UV radiation killing anything that made it through the first two filters.

Filter 1:
This is a a VU-FLOW filter, which contains a reusable 100 micron filter.  This filter takes out all the big stuff (a technical term used in the water filtering industry), so that the next two filters do not get plugged up too fast.

Filter 2:
This is a 30 micron filter.  It employs a GE Household water filtration unit, with a 30 micron filter in it.  This filter takes out anything larger than about 30 microns so as not to plug up the next filter in the chain.  By the way I do not necessarily use GE brand filters as the pricing is fairly competitive amount manufacturers and they all fill each others units.

Filter 3:
Her we use a 5 micron carbon activated filter.  As you can guess it takes out stuff bigger than 5 microns.  But it also has the function of taking out nasty flavours in the water.  It uses the same GE filter body as the previous filter.

At this point the water is pretty clean!  But I have taken the added safety measure with the fourth filter.

Filter 4:
This filter doesn't filter it kills stuff in the water.  It employs a high dose of UV radiation to kill stuff in the water.  The UV source, a special light, needs to be replaced every year to ensure the high dose of radiation is maintained.  This is the most expensive part -- each new light source is about $90.

After 4 filters the water is very kill and essentially disinfected.  Tests have shown zero counts of evil bacteria.

If you wish to know more about each of the above filters check out the previous posts list below or the supplier links embedded above.

Related Posts:
creating clean water: uv filters
creating clean water: ge household filter



;-)

Creating Clean Water: Adding a Sediment Filter

We were going through 30 micron and 5 micron filters very fast -- almost a set every month!

This was going to get expensive!

I did a little bit of research and discovered a self-cleaning filter made by a company called VU-FLOW FILTERS based out of Florida, USA.

This filter uses a unique spinning action in the filter to spin out the sediment in  the water which collects mostly on the bottom of the filter.  Cleaning the filter is easy - periodically, just turn the tap on the bottom and the sediment that collects is flushed out.

I also found it useful to remove and clean the stainless steel filter screen and wash it about every second flush.

The beauty of this system is that there are not consumables.  The sediment is filtered out but a stainless steel screen, which can be just cleaned and replaced.

I choose to use a 100 Micro filter, as the pre-filter to my 30 and 5 micron filters downstream.

Coming Up:
In the next post I will show you the complete filter set up.

Related Posts:
Creating clean water: uv filters
Creating clean water: ge household filter

;-)

Creating Clean Water: UV Filters

I mentioned in the previous post that we draw our water from the Lake rather than a well. This presents an additional risk from thing that grow in lakes - in particular I was concerned about bacteria and viruses including chlorine resistant cysts such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia - no beaver fever for me!.

After a bit of a Internet search I settled on the systems manufactured by Trojan, built right here in Canada. In particular I purchased the TrojanUVMax D4.

The folks at Trojan have a great selector tool for determining which of their models fit your specific needs.

The key features I appreciated are:

1) User Interface

• Lamp timer display starts at 365 and counts down the days to annual lamp replacement
• Mute button allows you to silence an alarm

2) Lamp/Sleeve Combination

• Lamp and sleeve are removed without the use of any tools
• Lamp and sleeve remove from the UV chamber as one piece ensuring you are aware of any build up of minerals on the sleeve that may interfere with the proper UV dose being delivered to the water

3) Advanced Lamp Technology

• Low pressure high-output lamp technology provides higher UV output for better water purification in a system approximately half the size of conventional systems - saving space and making installation simpler

4) Constant Current Electronic Power Supply

• More energy efficient
• Withstands fluctuations in voltage that can cause low UV output and damage to the lamp

5) Safety Cap & Special Lamp Plug

• Safety cap prevents children from accessing the lamp or electrical components. It also prevents the lamp plug from accidentally being disconnected. Lamp plug design ensures that no one can power the UV lamp if it's not in the UV chamber. This prevents damage to eyes and skin from UV light.

;-)

Creating Clean Water: GE Household Filter

We draw water from the lake, hence, it has a bit more potentially bad things in it than well water so an effective filtration system is critical. Part of the system I have employed uses two GE filters that are rated for an entire house.

The model I used, GXWH20F, has some great attributes that make it easy to use:

1) the cartridge cover (this is called a sump) is clear so you can see what is happening to the filter.

2) 3/4 inch connections which fit our system perfectly

3) Pressure relief vent which makes filter changes easier

4) Filter reminder light which provides an alert when to change the filter cartridge

Installation Tips:

1) Install shut off valves on either side of the filters - so that you can stop the flow while changing filters

2) Install so that you can get at the sump covers easily to change the cartridges.

3) Install it as close to the source as possible so that you are protecting all of the system.

Coming Up:
We talk more about the UV filter

;-)

Creating Clean Water at the Cottage

Clean and drinkable water is very important!

Perhaps I went overboard but I put quite a lot of effort in to ensuring the water at the cottage is clean and drinkable.

Here you can see the first iteration of the water filtration system that I installed - starting from the left edge of the picture:

1) Pressure switch - the blue box is the pressure switch which controls the pump in the lake. It is attached to the pressure tank (not shown)

2) Two Whole House Filters - These are the two filters in the middle of the picture. The left most one uses a 30 micron filter. The right one holds a 5 micron carbon filter. The 30 micron filter is a first stage, removing the larger material from the water. The 5 micron filter has two purpsoes: a) to take out the small material that gets byt the first filter, and 2) takes out some of those nasty tastes.

3) UV Filter - This is the stainless steel filter to the right of the whole house filters. This filter uses a high powered UV light to sterilize the water as it passes by. The model used here is rated to treat the water for the whole home, eliminating 99.99% of bacteria and viruses including chlorine resistant cysts that are not tested for in routine water tests (such as Cryptosporidium
and Giardia - no beaver fever for me!).

4) PEX Manifold - This is the copper manifold on the right of the picture with all the PEX pipes connected to it. It`s purpose is to distribute the water to the various locations in the Cottage

Coming Up:
In the next few posts we will dig in to the parts of the water purification system in a bit more depth.

Products used:
Trojan UV MAX D Filter
GE Household Filters
PEX

Related Posts:

We Have Water! - Apr 28, 2009

Cottage on the Edge: Installing the Water System: Materials Purchased - Oct 03, 2008

4 Reasons Why PEX is a DIY Plumber's Dream! - Nov 04, 2008

PEX wins Hands Down! - Sep 20, 2008

;-)