Tap Water Carbon Filters?

[Auntiesue]

Have any of you used those in-house (or under the sink) water purifiers adapted for your garden hoses for water changes to remove chlorine from the water? If so, have you tested the water coming from that unit to ensure that chlorine was removed? What rate of water flow through the unit have you found that works for the particular unit you choose?

Which unit(s) would you recommend along with what type of cartridge would you or do you use?

[RayJordan]

I have used a carbon filter unit to remove chlorine from my water changes for about 10 years. It is a Spark-L-Pure unit and flow is almost the same rate as without running through the filter. I replace the carbon module each year inspite on never being able to measure chlorine after going through the filter and average about 80,000 gallons year. I think you can google Spark-L-Pure for more information.

I have heard that there is a different unit being used by some hobbyists that is less expensive. Here is a link for this other unit. EQ-300 Aquasana Rhino Whole House Water Filter - 20% OFF!

[HenryC]

I use to have one of those small carbon filters. The cartridge was good for no more than a few thousand gallons (my source water hss 3ppm chlorine). By 5000 gallons, it was only removing half the chlorine. I switched to one of the large whole house carbon filters that has 1.5 cu.ft. of activated carbon. It has now had 800,000 gallons pass through it and still reduces the 3ppm source water to undetectable chlorine level. With as much water as you are using, that would be a much more cost efficient solution. I got mine from the following company (do NOT get the KDF additive as it is a copper and zinc based chlorine neutralizer):

Whole House Filters from H2OFilter.net

[powerman]

i took some four inch pipe........three feet long and some plumbing parts....two 4 inch to 3 inch fernco fittings.. and bushings to downsize from there to ahose fitting on one end and a three quarter inch pipe on the other......i used some filter media cut in disks to keep the activated carbon in the tube....i have tested for chlorine and i get a reading of 0.0...without the carbon my tap water comes in between 2.2 and 2.7 ppm.......

[bdtodd50]

I believe that if you look at Water Filters for their 20-BB-34 housing ($72) and the Pentek CBC20-BB filter ($78), that you might like what you find. For my 8000g pond a 10% continuous flow is only .555 gpm. My research tells me that even though this filter is rated at 4 gpm and 100000gallons life, that chlorine removal is directly related to flow rate. This means that if you stay under 1 gpm then not only will it remove most chlorine, but also reduce the chlorimines as well.
I got this information after I called the tech guy at Pentek. The brochures can be misleading and confusing.

bruce

[Flounder]

Quote: Originally Posted by HenryC I use to have one of those small carbon filters. The cartridge was good for no more than a few thousand gallons (my source water hss 3ppm chlorine). By 5000 gallons, it was only removing half the chlorine. I switched to one of the large whole house carbon filters that has 1.5 cu.ft. of activated carbon. It has now had 800,000 gallons pass through it and still reduces the 3ppm source water to undetectable chlorine level. With as much water as you are using, that would be a much more cost efficient solution. I got mine from the following company (do NOT get the KDF additive as it is a copper and zinc based chlorine neutralizer): Whole House Filters from H2OFilter.net

Thanks for the link Henry, which model do you use?

[farne230]

Sue: When I had the 2cu-ft carbon filter added to my softener for the pond tap water, they said it would last about 1 year with 1,500 gallon water changes per week (80,000 gallons).
Bob

[HenryC]

Quote: Originally Posted by Flounder Thanks for the link Henry, which model do you use?

I have the FT-1.5-C40. On my original pond, the location of the carbon filter was not close to any electrical outlet, so I went with a model that uses sediment filters on the inlet and outlet versus a backwash control head. The only downside is I have to wash/replace the sediment filters periodically. Even though it is only rated at 8gpm, with my water pressure, I get 12gpm through it with enough dwell time to still remove all the chlorine.