Recommendations for a filter that will turn lake water potable?

[lhommedieu]

I have a solar power/generator system that uses a Wayne shallow well pump to pump lake water to a pressure tank. From there the water can be sent to the house to be used in a sink and toilet.

We have been boiling the water for dishwashing, and bringing in potable water. I would like to avoid these steps. I was thinking up putting in a stronger physical filter at the lake for larger particles in the water, but for potable water I think that I would need a chemical filter of some kind, located somewhere between the pressure tank output and the house, to be replaced each year. I've used RO systems before but I think that given the water saved/discarded ratio, this would place a strain on my solar power system (without the generator), and it would take a long time. I'll send some pictures of the water system soon.

 

[Brett V]

How much water do you need? A simple chlorine injection unit can disinfect your water for household use like washing dishes and a gravity filter will make it tase good and perfectly fine to drink. Berky filters are good but overpriced for what they are.

 

[frankrudis65]

I use an osmose filter,actually a set of 4 filters.It starts with a good sand and mud filter,goes down to a micro filtering system,an anti return blocking system at the front and the end and the osmose filter in between .You mustn't save money there as there are a lot cheap versions on the market....Those filters are able to filter heavy metals ,chemicals,pesticides ,Nitrit ,bacterias,viruses etc.But they need to be of high quality! Don't play with your health
I paid in the region of €2000.- and the filters except the osmose filter need to be changed every year about€200.- the main filter (osmose) needs to be changed about every 4 years.....Filter change and Desinfektion of the whole system is vital to guarantee drinkable healthy water.I use a vitalizing filter as well,which adds anything you would find in spring water level .Best filter sets contain pumps.Goid luck by choosing Frank,northern italy

 

[Chispas]

Have you had an analysis of the lake water ? For me, that would be the first step.

 

[frankrudis65]

How much water do you need? A simple chlorine injection unit can disinfect your water for household use like washing dishes and a gravity filter will make it tase good and perfectly fine to drink. Berky filters are good but overpriced for what they are.

I used the Berkey filter for a while...not soooo happy with it as you need to phisicaly open the stainless steel pot to add water.In this way it is easy to contaminate the water.It was for me not a system where you plug and playFrank

 

[lhommedieu]

How much water do you need? A simple

Have you had an analysis of the lake water ? For me, that would be the first step.

A chlorine injection unitcan disinfect your water for household use like washing dishes and a gravity filter will make it tase good and perfectly fine to drink. Berky filters are good but overpriced for what they are.

the kit that Bret is using above?

For dishwashing: maybe 10 gal/day? For drinking: maybe 3 gal/day? Which chlorine injection unit would you recommend? For drinking water: would the water taste "off" if it when through a chlorine injection unit first?

Edit: the Berkey description on Amazon.com says that it removes chlorine taste from water.

 

[lhommedieu]

Have you had an analysis of the lake water ? For me, that would be the first step.

Like the testing kit that Bret is using above?

 

[lhommedieu]

Pictures of the water system. Green hose up to pump from lake. Orange hoses to house and shower house respectively.

 

[Backyard]

Your only options are, RO as mentioned above. Chlorine or other chemical disinfectant also mentioned above. UV filter and possibly distillation.

RO is a good viable option. Energy use and output production can be a concern as well as the required filter changed.

Chemical is very easy to do but either requires a testing kit to monitor/test chlorine levels. Or a pump, sensor and feed controls that can do this automatically. Test strips or other testing is still advisable for calibration. This is not a aet and forgot system. But takes very little power and is very effective at sanitizing the water

UV is a possibility. I wouldn't skimp on a cheap Amazon or Chinese version as you never know how well they will actually work. Go with a name brand with backing and support. Replacement bulbs can be expensive for a good high output one. Takes time and can have limited flow. Possibly the cheapest and least maintenance in the long run. But should have a spare bulb on hand just encase. Doesn't remove anything from the water so chemicals and metals will need to pass through additional filters for removal. Added cost and maintenance here

Distillation has high energy requirements but can remove many chemicals, metals and pathogens. Have to be careful with this as some chemicals close to the boiling point of water may get carried through. Can also potentially inadvertently pass through some bacteria and viruses through the vapor depending on design. Requires demineralization or descaling periodically.

Personally I'd look into testing the water first. Then chlorine. Chlorine can be found as many stores like Walmart and hardware stores. Pool supply too. It's a well known method with lots of support and knowledge. It can even be used without any equipment or testing but doing so often means over dosing as it isn't detectable at the lower levels the test kits work in. So, it's often over done to be safe when no means of determining how much to use

UV would be my next choice

 

[Brett V]

I used the Berkey filter for a while...not soooo happy with it as you need to phisicaly open the stainless steel pot to add water.In this way it is easy to contaminate the water.It was for me not a system where you plug and playFrank

I had a Stenner metering pump and a 20? gallon tank which held the chlorine solution. It’s been 15 years since I lived in that house so I don’t remember the math involved. By that I mean you need to determine the ppm of chlorine desired in the water. Then it’s a combination of how strong the chlorine and water solution in the tank will be mixed and the injection rate. The metering pump will run when the well pump runs and it injects an appropriate amount of chlorine solution in to the water before it goes in the pressure tank.

 

[Norwasian]

Distilled water is the purest. Yes, it requires the most energy, too. Here's one that I personally used for years and found quite good: made-in-America quality.

Midi Classic Automatic Home Water Distiller Made in the USA

The Midi Classic automatic water distiller can produce up to 7 gallons of distilled water daily, has a 5-gallon storage tank, and has the longest warranty in the industry. The Midi Classic is proudly made in the USA. SHIPS IN: 2-3 WEEKS

www.purewaterinc.com

This Midi model produces up to 7 gallons per day. I found it to be adequate for a family of six for drinking and cooking water, but we used the tap water for everything else. They say it runs on 1,100 watts (9 amps at 110 volts, or 4.5 amps at 220 volts for the international model--which is what I bought).

The boiling tank does need to be cleaned out and decalcified/demineralized every so often. The unit uses charcoal filters in addition to distillation for taste and as a final barrier to whatever may have inadvertently passed through--but I found the filter to get waterlogged at times and ended up just bypassing it. Perhaps something was amiss with my electrical system, though, as the electrical grid in Laos where I used this was not without issues.

If you're running it only in daylight, during solar production, the 7-gallon figure will have to be reduced accordingly--or you may wish to get the next size larger. The production is calculated as 24-hour running time. It will run until the tank is full, then automatically stops, triggered by a float.

There are handy accessories that can be purchased separately for pumping the water to a spigot at your sink or wherever you may like.

 

[cs1234]

I like distilling water, but the energy requirements are no joke. My little distiller here at the house uses roughly 3000 watts per gallon over a five hour cycle. Distilling is off the table if you don't have enough solar/batteries.

 

[lhommedieu]

Thank you for your responses. I've used RO systems before when making beer, but that was when I had a modern water and electrical grid to draw upon. For my off-grid cabin, I think that I'd be running the generator a long time to get a sufficient amount of water for dishwashing. Boiling water has worked well so far so I guess that I'll stick with it.

I did like the gravity systems for drinking water and may start using one. My buddy has a 10L camping version that he swears by and that's about the same size as the larger gravity systems described above.

 

[wpns]

I’m really happy with a cistern, a Triple-O ozone treatment sytem with continuous filtration, and a UV light to break the ozone down.

No chlorine residuals, and all the water in the house is municipal quality so I don’t have to worry about what I’m showering in, brushing my teeth with, washing my vegetables with, cooking or making coffee with, rinsing the dog with, etc.

Probably overkill for what you need, but not as expensive as you’d think, plus the power consumption is like 50 watts for the ozone system

 

[cs1234]

I’m really happy with a cistern, a Triple-O ozone treatment sytem with continuous filtration, and a UV light to break the ozone down.

No chlorine residuals, and all the water in the house is municipal quality so I don’t have to worry about what I’m showering in, brushing my teeth with, washing my vegetables with, cooking or making coffee with, rinsing the dog with, etc.

Probably overkill for what you need, but not as expensive as you’d think, plus the power consumption is like 50 watts for the ozone system

How much do the consumables cost for your system?

 

[wpns]

How much do the consumables cost for your system?

$125 for the ozone bulb, supposed to change it once a year but since I have four of them, I don’t do it that often. The filters are washable the air pumps last five years, air stones are cheap, but also washable. UV bulb is about the same cost and about the same replacement interval.

 

[fuzzmunky415]

Backgrounder: in the late 70's, mom read an article about pesticides in groundwater, and having disposable income, sprung for the new-fangled DOW RO filtration system, which back then was 1000's of $$$. Same filter/better system is now sub $200, and self-maintaining. All that to say I've lived most of my 60+ years drinking RO water.
That is until recently, last year it was discovered NANOPLASTICS are in everyday tap, as well as RO 'filtered' water, so I have added a final purification step of distilling. RO is great at microplastics as well as all the other stuff you'd want to filter, but the spun polyethylene sediment, as well as any deionization beads bleed nanoplastics into the final filtered water.
I simply added a cheap distiller, and fill it up with RO water from the RO filter tap, runs on about 700 watts for about 2 hours for a gallon. I run it in the cool of the morning and cool of the late evening to get the extra 700Wh's of heat added to the house, so I don't consider the watts 'wasted'. I make about 3 gallons of water a day, we drink coffee, tea and occasional electrolyte mixes.
RO currently using:

Amazon.com

Distiller currently using

Amazon.com

So for about 1.5 years, I haven't HAD to decalcify, it only sees RO water, but about every month I do add some vinegar to make the inside haze shiny again.

In your sitch, I would do sediment pre-filter via whole house (large) filter, then proceed with water testing for levels needed to sanitize water, decide on sanitation method, then trial that for main house. Drinking Water' can be further refined at the tap in the way of RO/Distilled. It's not that expensive or time-consuming to be assured you're drinking clean water.

 

[cs1234]

I simply added a cheap distiller, and fill it up with RO water from the RO filter tap, runs on about 700 watts for about 2 hours for a gallon. I run it in the cool of the morning and cool of the late evening to get the extra 700Wh's of heat added to the house, so I don't consider the watts 'wasted'. I make about 3 gallons of water a day, we drink coffee, tea and occasional electrolyte mixes.

Dang, what water temperature are you starting off at? Mine uses 600 watts for 5 hours to do a gallon.. actually closer to 5 1/2 hours.

https://www.h2olabs.com/p-55-stainless-steel-model-300ss-water-distiller-with-glass-carafe.aspx

 

[Lee_Adamson]

For creek water I use one of those 3-stage whole-house filter systems to get the particulates out, and then gravity feed the drinking water that doesn't go into something that will be getting boiled anyway through one of those sawyer squeezes. They clog up if you get much dirt in them, but if you have pressurized water you can reverse the hose fittings and back flush them pretty good. This is mountain stream water though, so I suspect it doesn't have the build-up of toxins like you'd get in a lake or larger waterway further downstream though. Never tried the Berkey. I'm too cheap lol.

 

[doing it different]

I’m really happy with a cistern, a Triple-O ozone treatment sytem with continuous filtration, and a UV light to break the ozone down.

Ozone breaks down very quickly. Because of a "loose" o2 molecule.
It has a very short life span.

Don't think you need UV to break it down.. you just make the ozone with UV light.
UV is extra and just incase I am thinking.

I inject ozone to my well water to help make it rust. So sand filter can remove it...

 

[LakeHouse]

I have a solar power/generator system that uses a Wayne shallow well pump to pump lake water to a pressure tank. From there the water can be sent to the house to be used in a sink and toilet.

We have been boiling the water for dishwashing, and bringing in potable water. I would like to avoid these steps. I was thinking up putting in a stronger physical filter at the lake for larger particles in the water, but for potable water I think that I would need a chemical filter of some kind, located somewhere between the pressure tank output and the house, to be replaced each year. I've used RO systems before but I think that given the water saved/discarded ratio, this would place a strain on my solar power system (without the generator), and it would take a long time. I'll send some pictures of the water system soon.

There are lots of good high-volume, whole house recommendations above, but I'm not sure you need that.

I have an off-grid lake house with a water system gravity fed by a stream partway up a mountain. The stream water is contaminated with choliform bacteria, E. Coli, and Giardia, to varying degrees throughout the year, but effectively it's never safe to drink directly.
I installed a point-of-use solution for drinking water: Link. It filters bacteria and cysts, and a few other things. Anyway, point is: The water is safe to drink, and we've done testing to confirm that this is true; no measurable biological contamination in the filtered water.

As for other uses, you really don't need to boil water to make it safe for dishwashing. Soapy water is pretty good at killing things, which is why we use it. It's not strictly necessary, but if you install the filter system where you do dishes (likely the best place anyway), you could use filtered water for rinsing. But if you dry your dishes, this shouldn't be a problem either.

We also have a high-flow sediment filter at the point the system enters the house, since the stream water in the spring carries lots of sand and dirt, but that may not be an issue with you for lake water (depending on the lake, of course). Link

 

[cs1234]

As for other uses, you really don't need to boil water to make it safe for dishwashing. Soapy water is pretty good at killing things, which is why we use it. It's not strictly necessary, but if you install the filter system where you do dishes (likely the best place anyway), you could use filtered water for rinsing. But if you dry your dishes, this shouldn't be a problem either.

Many dishwashers will have an optional sanitizing rinse function you can enable, the dishwasher will heat the final rinse water up to some really high temperature to kill anything living. It wouldn't get rid of any chemicals and such, but would kill critters.

 

[fuzzmunky415]

Dang, what water temperature are you starting off at? Mine uses 600 watts for 5 hours to do a gallon.. actually closer to 5 1/2 hours.

https://www.h2olabs.com/p-55-stainless-steel-model-300ss-water-distiller-with-glass-carafe.aspx

I'd have to guess, but we keep the place cool (coast side, heating costly) so about 62F ish. The unit only holds a gallon, so it heats quick, starts delivering water in 15-20 mins.

edit : see yours is a lot like mine, the AMZ and says 750 watts for mine...fan should only consume about 20-30, so rest is the heater.

 

[cs1234]

I'd have to guess, but we keep the place cool (coast side, heating costly) so about 62F ish. The unit only holds a gallon, so it heats quick, starts delivering water in 15-20 mins.

Are you sure on the two hour thing? Maybe you are having so much fun distilling that the time is just flying by.

AI is telling me it takes about 9000 BTU or so to evaporate 1 gallon of water starting at 65F. That breaks down to somewhere around 2700-3000 watts. You have a 750watt heating element in your distiller.. so it should take somewhere around 3-4 hours or so?

edit.. BTW, I use a digital plug in timer for mine, I set it exactly for 5h30m to avoid it using all the water up. I get much less build up / sludge that way at the expense of some really nasty water I pour down the drain.

 

[fuzzmunky415]

Are you sure on the two hour thing? Maybe you are having so much fun distilling that the time is just flying by.

AI is telling me it takes about 9000 BTU or so to evaporate 1 gallon of water starting at 65F. That breaks down to somewhere around 2700-3000 watts. You have a 750watt heating element in your distiller.. so it should take somewhere around 3-4 hours or so?

edit.. BTW, I use a digital plug in timer for mine, I set it exactly for 5h30m to avoid it using all the water up. I get much less build up / sludge that way at the expense of some really nasty water I pour down the drain.

Just cold-asked wife, she says she thinks 3 hours as the evening batch ends about 11pm, but we don't watch clocks around here, and I haven't worn a watch in over 40 years. lol
Mine makes a gurgling sound as it purges the final water, so I try to get out of the recliner to manually shut down when/if I hear it...otherwise the reset fuse trips and the unit shuts off. I prefer to catch it if I can hear it, and we try to never fall asleep with the unit still on, will actually kill it mid-batch before leaving it fully unattended. Just a hyper-safety mannerism.