Getting rid of the guck

This post ties in neatly with yesterday's post about weeds.

We draw our utility water (for washing dishes, showering, watering the lawn, etc) directly from the lake using a pump and an intake line that hangs off of our dock. You can imagine what the water quality is like when the dock is enveloped by weeds! Bleh.

Last year when we installed the faucet in the bathroom, we had some problems with water pressure. We quickly realized that it wasn't the pressure that was the problem. There was lake guck building up on the wee screen "aerator", inside the end of the faucet. Once we removed the screen, water flowed freely.  And yes. Sometimes bits of cedar would spit out of the faucet. That was the price we paid to have running water in the cottage.

However, when we installed the shower head, it became clear that we would need a better system for removing the guck from the water, otherwise we'd be cleaning out the shower head after each use! Not very feasible. I also had lingering concerns about what all of that guck was doing to the inside of our hot water heater. (eww?)

After a little bit of web searching, I hit upon a whole-home sediment filter. It sounded perfect for what we needed, and best of all, it was fairly affordable (around $50 - $60) and easy to install. Several companies manufacture them. I was looking at models from Watts Premier, as well as Rainfresh, both available at big-box home improvement stores.

I picked up the Rainfresh unit, only because I happened to be at Lowe's at the time, and that's the brand they carry. I also grabbed a couple of replacement filters. I figured we'd want to have some on hand at the cottage so we wouldn't have to make a trip off the island to buy filters when the running water reduced to trickle.

Many filters are available, varying by porosity, and composition (polybead, charcoal, ceramic, etc.) The unit came with a 5 micron polybead cartridge. I picked up replacement 5 micron and 30 micron cartridges just in case the 5 was too fine and kept getting bunged up.

The unit I bought was a step up from the basic bare-bones model. It was an FC150, which includes a bypass/shut-off valve at the top of the unit that turns off the water in the sump for easy cartridge replacement, or in case we want to run the hose (no point filtering that water, right?).

Although they say you may want to enlist the help of a plumber to install these units, it was dead simple, and we didn't even need the connector kit (CK2) that they recommend purchasing. The Captain spliced the water line after the pump and pressure tank, but before the hot water tank (note: the Filter housings come in 3/4" and 1" pipe sizes). He inserted grey couplings that he had left over from the pressure tank project, attached them to the housing for the filter unit, clamped it all down, turned on the water, and Bob's your uncle!

Best of all, the gunk is gone! The water still isn't potable (that's a project requiring a lot more money, for another time) but we can shower and wash dishes without chunks in the water. Yay! We'll have to see how often we need to replace that filter cartridge. They say they'll last 4-6 months, but our water is pretty messy. I'm hoping it's just once per summer. At least with the bypass model it will be quick and easy to swap out the filter!