What effect would excess rust have on snails?

I think it is the pipes rather than the hot water tank, it will come out of the cold too. I certainly hope the brita filter can be cleaned and not replaced as often. The filter itself is only $34.99, but the replacement cartridges are $17.99 and it says they only do 100 gallons :eek:. I wouldn't be able to afford to keep replacing them so quickly at that cost.
 
Actually, if all you want to do is remove rust, something like this will work:

http://www.deanbennett.com/water-filters.htm (The top one that does 5 micron filtration)

Since there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, as in the tanks getting replaced, this would be a more economical way to go. This is just a rust & sediment filter though... no carbon stage. I'd prefer a two stage, block carbon after the sediment in this case, to clarify and dechlorinate - but I haven't seen any on any of the sites I have looked at yet...

Of course if you wanted to drop about $8 K (USD), there *is* a really good way, but.... LOL (That would make for some really expensive fish water...)
 
ROLLIN said:
I think it is the pipes rather than the hot water tank, it will come out of the cold too. I certainly hope the brita filter can be cleaned and not replaced as often. The filter itself is only $34.99, but the replacement cartridges are $17.99 and it says they only do 100 gallons :eek:. I wouldn't be able to afford to keep replacing them so quickly at that cost.
It is possib;e that it is the pipes, depending on the age of the house, you may possib;y have galvanized pipes. That would be something to check out. Actually, I was assuming PVC or copper - it's been a long time since they plumbed houses in steel pipe. A galvanized main line from the meter to the house is not uncommon though, especially since I just noticed that you are up north where frost lines are a factor.

Aside from cutting the cartridge apart and rinsing it, I can't see how you could clean a Brita filter....
:joke:

The reality of it is that you can't. Once the block filter inside a Brita cartridge is full, it's full. Unless you are using them for drinking water only, they're not practical.
 
CaptnDan said:
Actually, if all you want to do is remove rust, something like this will work:

http://www.deanbennett.com/water-filters.htm (The top one that does 5 micron filtration)

Since there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, as in the tanks getting replaced, this would be a more economical way to go. This is just a rust & sediment filter though... no carbon stage. I'd prefer a two stage, block carbon after the sediment in this case, to clarify and dechlorinate - but I haven't seen any on any of the sites I have looked at yet...


Looks good to me. I wouldn't need anything to dechlorinate, I'm on well water.
 
I wonder if I could super cheap out, just buy the cartridges, and make my own "filter". I assume the filter just holds the cartridge.
 
Oh, I was assuming city water... You can get a sediment/rust filter to put in line for wells pretty cheap. And it's easier to do than city water too. You can put it on the line to the house, after the pressure tank.

Just be sure it's the last thing in line, do that by putting it after the T that runs the the pressure tank.
 
ROLLIN said:
I wonder if I could super cheap out, just buy the cartridges, and make my own "filter". I assume the filter just holds the cartridge.
Actually, I don't see why you couldn't, but I think it might more of a pain than it's worth. You have to make sure that it fit just right so the water had to go through the filter and couldn't bypass it.

By the time you did all the designing and building, I think I'd go the easy way and just buy a cheapie sediment/rust filter.
 
just curious, since i dont know anything about plumbing, how much would it cost to fix the root of the problem and replace the steel pipes?
 
Just to buy materials and do it yourself, it isn't expensive, but it's labor intensive, especially up north where you have to trench down below frost lines.

Finding where the line enters the house can be a challenge, but if you're replacing the whole thing it's a no brainer, start at the meter end and dig it up.

Other than that, it's really nothing more than gluing PVC together, and probably using an adapter right before the line enters the foundation to tie the PVC into whatever is used entering the house. (Commonly copper or poly)

Cost wise, you could do it for anywhere from $25 on up, depends of course on how much pipe you have to replace and if it's 1 inch or 3/4 inch. Even a long run could be done for around 50 bucks.

The problem the OP is posting about may be a bit more complicated in that he has a well, so the source could be anywhere from the well itself, to the pressure tank, or even the line running to the house. Troubleshooting the cause could be a bit of a pain, but well worth the effort for cost and labor savings, IME.
 
Well. I held off on getting one of those filters to see if it would clear on its own. It (the tap) hasn't been brown since this thread was last active. The tanks still are however (or were, details ahead), one so bad that you could not see from front to back until last night. I got so frustrated with looking at it that I changed 90% of the water three times in a row. Now it is crystal clear. I'll keep up these massive water changes every other day or so until I find the root of the problem. When it was really brown, daily water changes of about 50% were barely even making a dent in it.


Edit: I guess it was two nights ago when I did the three 90% changes, not last night.
 
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