I have pretty much always had a whole house water filter in my home.
The filter is a sediment filter rated at 16,000 gallons and lasts about 3
months before it needs changing.
Two years ago it needed about 2 months between changing.
In the past month the filter needed to be changed weekly!

I have contacted (two years ago and now more recently) the local water
authority, dpw, and town supervisor and have emailed digital photos of the
water filters. The local water authority, as expected, simply quotes how
NYS mandates periodic water testing and such and pretty much guarantees that
the water is safe to drink/use. It does not recommend a use of a water
filter (only as personal preference).
It's not like I water my lawn (and my neighbor's) or have a swimming pool or
take 100 showers each day. There has been no annual flushing of the
hydrants yet and now local fires needing the fire department to make use of
the hydrants.

I have also contacted a water testing facility and there is not much they
can do/suggest. Of course they said I could test for everything my town
tests for (for $4000) or I could bring in an old filter and they can test it
for iron ($45) which they think is the most likely cause. They think the
insides of the water distribution pipes are slowly corroding and again,
short of replacing or resurfacing the insides of these pipes with a cement
coating, the sediment and discoloration is just something I would need to
accept and live with.

Is there an inexpensive testing kit that is available so that I could test
for iron and such ?

Any other thoughts on this are appreciated.

Walter

"Walter Cohen" wrote in message
news
Is there an inexpensive testing kit that is available so that I could test
for iron and such ?

Salesmen for filters, softeners etc. usually
carry with them a simple minerals test kit
for free tests during the sales pitch.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

What is the micron rating and the physical size of the filters you use. You
may want to add a pre-filter using a 4.5" x 20" particulate filter at a
larger micron rating than you use for final filtering. This way you take out
the larger lumps first, without clogging up your main filter. If your house
filter is a 1 micron filter, you may want to pre-filter with a 5, 10 or 20
micron ahead of it. They are not expensive and will save your good filter,
if you are using good filters.

"Don Phillipson" wrote in message
...
"Walter Cohen" wrote in message
news
Is there an inexpensive testing kit that is available so that I could
test
for iron and such ?

Salesmen for filters, softeners etc. usually
carry with them a simple minerals test kit
for free tests during the sales pitch.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

On May 2, 7:27 am, "Walter Cohen" wrote:
I have pretty much always had a whole house water filter in my home.
The filter is a sediment filter rated at 16,000 gallons and lasts about 3
months before it needs changing.
Two years ago it needed about 2 months between changing.
In the past month the filter needed to be changed weekly!

I have contacted (two years ago and now more recently) the local water
authority, dpw, and town supervisor and have emailed digital photos of the
water filters. The local water authority, as expected, simply quotes how
NYS mandates periodic water testing and such and pretty much guarantees that
the water is safe to drink/use. It does not recommend a use of a water
filter (only as personal preference).
It's not like I water my lawn (and my neighbor's) or have a swimming pool or
take 100 showers each day. There has been no annual flushing of the
hydrants yet and now local fires needing the fire department to make use of
the hydrants.

I have also contacted a water testing facility and there is not much they
can do/suggest. Of course they said I could test for everything my town
tests for (for $4000) or I could bring in an old filter and they can test it
for iron ($45) which they think is the most likely cause. They think the
insides of the water distribution pipes are slowly corroding and again,
short of replacing or resurfacing the insides of these pipes with a cement
coating, the sediment and discoloration is just something I would need to
accept and live with.

Is there an inexpensive testing kit that is available so that I could test
for iron and such ?

Any other thoughts on this are appreciated.

Walter

I am surprised they want to charge you so much for a test. My local
county agency had mined tested for iron and hardness for $10, no lie!
I was given a menu of things that could be tested for but even if
tested for everthing the total was less than $50. I'm in Minnesota so
maybe we don't have to test for so many things.

It sounds like sediment from whatever source is the problem anyway and
agree with EXT on details, nice post.

"Walter Cohen" wrote in message
news
I have pretty much always had a whole house water filter in my home.
The filter is a sediment filter rated at 16,000 gallons and lasts about 3
months before it needs changing.
Two years ago it needed about 2 months between changing.
In the past month the filter needed to be changed weekly!

Is there an inexpensive testing kit that is available so that I could test
for iron and such ?

What are you using as a criteria for making the change? I change min when
it looks dark or the water flow is getting restricted. Most of what I get
is crud from the 100 year old pipe between me and the water treatment plant.

There are test kits available LaMotte, Hach, and others make them. I have
no idea of cost. A Google search will give you plenty of information. You
may also want to ask the water department to do a flush of the main on your
street. Just opening a hydrant may be a big help.

On May 2, 10:54 am, "EXT" wrote:
What is the micron rating and the physical size of the filters you use. You
may want to add a pre-filter using a 4.5" x 20" particulate filter at a
larger micron rating than you use for final filtering. This way you take out
the larger lumps first, without clogging up your main filter. If your house
filter is a 1 micron filter, you may want to pre-filter with a 5, 10 or 20
micron ahead of it. They are not expensive and will save your good filter,
if you are using good filters.

"Don Phillipson" wrote in message

...



"Walter Cohen" wrote in message
news

Is there an inexpensive testing kit that is available so that I could
test
for iron and such ?

Salesmen for filters, softeners etc. usually
carry with them a simple minerals test kit
for free tests during the sales pitch.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I use a GE Smar****er FXUSC filter rated at 5-15 microns.

Walter

Go to an aquarium store. They usually have a variety of inexpensive test
kits.


"Walter Cohen" wrote in message
news
I have pretty much always had a whole house water filter in my home.
The filter is a sediment filter rated at 16,000 gallons and lasts about 3
months before it needs changing.
Two years ago it needed about 2 months between changing.
In the past month the filter needed to be changed weekly!

I have contacted (two years ago and now more recently) the local water
authority, dpw, and town supervisor and have emailed digital photos of the
water filters. The local water authority, as expected, simply quotes how
NYS mandates periodic water testing and such and pretty much guarantees
that the water is safe to drink/use. It does not recommend a use of a
water filter (only as personal preference).
It's not like I water my lawn (and my neighbor's) or have a swimming pool
or take 100 showers each day. There has been no annual flushing of the
hydrants yet and now local fires needing the fire department to make use
of the hydrants.

I have also contacted a water testing facility and there is not much they
can do/suggest. Of course they said I could test for everything my town
tests for (for $4000) or I could bring in an old filter and they can test
it for iron ($45) which they think is the most likely cause. They think
the insides of the water distribution pipes are slowly corroding and
again, short of replacing or resurfacing the insides of these pipes with a
cement coating, the sediment and discoloration is just something I would
need to accept and live with.

Is there an inexpensive testing kit that is available so that I could test
for iron and such ?

Any other thoughts on this are appreciated.

Walter

On May 2, 8:27 am, "Walter Cohen" wrote:
I have pretty much always had a whole house water filter in my home.
The filter is a sediment filter rated at 16,000 gallons and lasts about 3
months before it needs changing.
Two years ago it needed about 2 months between changing.
In the past month the filter needed to be changed weekly!

I have contacted (two years ago and now more recently) the local water
authority, dpw, and town supervisor and have emailed digital photos of the
water filters. The local water authority, as expected, simply quotes how
NYS mandates periodic water testing and such and pretty much guarantees that
the water is safe to drink/use. It does not recommend a use of a water
filter (only as personal preference).
It's not like I water my lawn (and my neighbor's) or have a swimmingpoolor
take 100 showers each day. There has been no annual flushing of the
hydrants yet and now local fires needing the fire department to make use of
the hydrants.

I have also contacted a water testing facility and there is not much they
can do/suggest. Of course they said I could test for everything my town
tests for (for $4000) or I could bring in an old filter and they can test it
for iron ($45) which they think is the most likely cause. They think the
insides of the water distribution pipes are slowly corroding and again,
short of replacing or resurfacing the insides of these pipes with a cement
coating, the sediment and discoloration is just something I would need to
accept and live with.

Is there an inexpensive testing kit that is available so that I could test
for iron and such ?

Any other thoughts on this are appreciated.

Walter

A dependable and trustworthy pool store could test for iron, copper,
and calcium (CaCO3) hardness.
Unfortunately they are impossible to find.