whole house water filter before pressure tank? New take on a popular question


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Old 10-27-17, 10:07 AM
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whole house water filter before pressure tank? New take on a popular question

I want to install a whole house water filter before my pressure tank to prevent junk from entering my pressure tank. Check valve will be installed before filter. I have done some research on this setup and lots of people say not to do it this way as a clogged filter would cause the pump to run past the tank tee pressure switch, causing excess pressure. My question is how much excess pressure is ok before the filter? I was thinking of installing two pressure switches wired in line, my system has a 30/50 switch on the tank tee, and I was thinking of putting a 40/60 switch in the check valve housing before the filter, that way if the clogged filter ever caused more than a 10 psi pressure difference the pre filter switch would shut pump down at 60 psi preventing excess pressure. The wiring would make it so both switches would need to be on to run pump, and if either switch hits its cut out pressure the pump would shut off. If I run the power to the pre filter 40/60 switch first, then to the 30/50 switch on the tank tee, then to the controller, this would allow me to run a light off of the 40/60 switch, as this switch in a 30/50 system should basically always be on, except when the pre filter pressure exceeds 60 psi before the tank tee pressure hits 50 psi, which would shut off my light, and the pump, letting me know its time for a new filter. People say there is no reason to filter before pressure tank because you can drain tank with outlet at bottom of tank that sort of makes sense, but I have a horizontal tank in a tight space, and the output is centered on one end, basically making it next to impossible to flush out any junk that gets into the pressure tank.



Any and all input is appreciated. Thanks
 
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Old 10-27-17, 10:25 AM
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I have two filters, one going to the GEO and one to the house and they are both post pressure tank.

Never really gave it much thought of any pro/con but I know it would be difficult to fit before the tank.
 
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Old 10-27-17, 11:08 AM
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I have a 1" inline check valve with 1/4" and 1/8" ports on it, so fitting the pre filter pressure switch and gauge would not be a problem. I also have the room to install the whole house filter after the check valve and before the tank tee.
 
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Old 10-27-17, 11:11 AM
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I have a whole house filter upstream of my pressure tank. The idea was to prevent sediment from entering the tank or my pressure switch which it seems to be doing and has worked fine for 15+ years. The downside is if the filter ever clogs the pump will continue to run until something blows.
 
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Old 10-27-17, 11:14 AM
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hence the second pressure cut out switch, to prevent the pump from running continuously when the filter clogs up
 
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Old 10-28-17, 07:46 AM
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I would think that all you really need is a filter AFTER your pressure tank. The pressure tank is really not more then a big pipe and any water and sediment that gets in there should come right back out, with that sediment getting caught in the filter situated right after the pressure tank. Your suggestion sounds overly complicated for very little benefit, in my opinion.
 
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Old 10-28-17, 09:30 AM
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I’m with Optsy on this one. Seems overly complicated - to me anyway. It seems to me you will only see the alarm (no light) and have the safety activated (switch #2 opens) when the pressure drop across the filter(s) is 10 lbs or more – if I understand correctly.

10 lbs is a big drop across filters. (I’m gauge crazy and I put gauges all over the place). The typical pressure drop across a sediment filter is about 1-2 lbs (and I think most filters are designed to be about the same, not 100% sure). So it seems to me you should be changing filters long before you see a 10lb drop. But I think I see what you are saying – it’s not mandatory to change the filters before that point.

But the cost is running your pump at a higher pressure than you will realize in the house, for the reward of not having to check your filters some other way. Couldn’t you put a gauge on one of the tappings in the check valve? Might be better.

Also, no real biggy, but your reliability goes down somewhat in that you would now have to have 2 pressure switches that have to work for you to get water in your house – as opposed to one pressure switch.

I agree with Optsy about the filters after the tank – unless maybe the horizontal tank presents some kind of special problem.

Not an expert, just my opinion.
 
 

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