I'm hoping the forum can offer some advice on a whole house water filter system.

We moved here (little town north of Tulsa, OK) a bit over a year ago and found out that the water is not all that great. One of our neighbors had their on-demand hot water go bad inside of 2 years due to the sediment in the water.

So, here are the issues.

1) High chlorine content. (Worse in the summer months but there year round)
2) High sediment content.
3) Hard Water

Looking for recommendations for the type of whole-house filter\treatment system we should be shopping. Any recommendations on brands to avoid or look into is appreciated. Any insight into what kind of budget we should expect would also be appreciated. I realize that plumber rates vary by location, so if you have any idea about how much labor is involved, I can work it from there.

If it matters, our house is slab-on-grade with the water main feed and the hot-water heater in the garage. We want the system before the heater and expect it will be installed in the garage.

Thanks.

Ken

For hard water: A water softener.

For sediment: Depends. If it's bad enough: a 20 micron cartridge filter. Otherwise a 5 micron filter. (If it's really bad you don't want a 5 micron filter because it'll load up way too quickly.)

Chlorine: The only thing that'll do it is a reverse-osmosis system. Whole-house RO systems are very expensive, require a post-RO system pump and expansion tank (because RO is very, very slow), and are maintenance-intensive.

See if you have a Kinetico dealer in your area. They should be able to answer your questions if you do.

About 3 years ago I installed a Aquasana 5 stage "salt-less" filtration system. Instead of salt to demineralize the water it uses citric acid. The citric acid is supposed to encapsulate the minerals and render them inert. I replace a pre and post filter once a year. The used pre-filters are always brown in color when I remove them. As for the citric acid, I have noticed that the small holes on my shower head don't clog nearly as often as they used to so it is doing something. There is no soft water feel to the water like you still have soap on you. The water tastes fine.

For your hard water, it depends on how hard it is. Traditional water softeners replace the minerals with salt. It works really well but it adds some salt to your water, so if you have health issues then it is something to be aware of. Traditional water softeners also waste water every time they regenerate. If water is expensive where you are, it could be a consideration.

For the chemicals there are a lot of brands that will filter out chlorine and organics (fertilizer, etc).

We had a NUVO brand whole house filter, and I will be staying away from them forever. The plastic housing ruptured and did a lot of damage. We, of course, were out of town and out of cell coverage when it happened. Our water pressure is regulated well below their stated specification, and the forensic engineer has seen this exact same failure on the exact same filter housing.

We will be going with a newfangled non-salt softener, possibly from AquaSana. It does something to the ions to make them pass through the pipes without sticking to anything. The downside is any filter will reduce flow rate. By itself the flow rate is great. But put in series with another filter to remove chemicals and the flow rate could be too low for multiple people to shower at the same time.

A solution is to have chemical removing filters where you get drinking water. e.g. kitchen sink cold water.

If you do a traditional water softener the flow rate should be excellent, and you can likely add another filter in line for the whole house without problem.

You can add a simple cartridge filter to the incoming supply and then go with a softener system. My bro is on Tampa city water and that’s what he does. Changes the cartridge several times a year for a few bucks

I would suggest a 4.5" diameter filter instead of the 2" that seems to be more common. I installed a 4.5x10" last fall & it still looks new. The 2"x10 would show dirt in a month or so. When watering grass/landscape during summer, I noticed pressure loss after a month, sometimes less.

We've had 3-4 irrigation wells go in near us over the last few years & I've been getting more sediment in my water when they are running hard. Not terrible, but annoying. Hoping the larger filter will make it less annoying.

Thanks for the help. It gives me some avenues to investigate.

Check out Jeff's site for lots of good technical information and good prices on equipment.

I have used his water filters that connect to the kitchen faucet since the early 90's.

https://www.pure-earth.com/

Everpure ,

I have a Novo 489 HTO. I couldn’t be happier. It’s the greatest system I have ever had. It’s a water softener and while house filtration. It cleans itself every 960 gallons.

No water spots anywhere. I can drink from any tap. I am quite happy.

Link to the system I have.

Charcoal will remove chlorine. You can get the 20” big blue filter canisters and they last longer. A backwashing carbon, and dual tank softener. That would cover all of your concerns. Stick with fleck brand heads, any brand resin tank and pentair filter housings. Those are the big and reliable brands. If you’re worried abou salt in the water after softening, add an RO unit at the kitchen sink. Link below does free testing, and you can order and install yourself or hire a plumber.

https://www.discountwatersofteners.com/