Filters

[Johnwindow1987]

Hi all hope everyone is having a good Monday.

I’m just after some advice I’m running a 40/40 system with one paper filter and one carbon filter I was talking with a friend few days back and he was saying u don’t need the paper filter just replace it with the carbon one and have two of them instead of one paper and one carbon [emoji848] ? He was saying that the paper filter dose not last and the carbon will last longer if running two . Hope u understand what I mean .

Thanks for any reply’s

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[steve garwood]

Hi all hope everyone is having a good Monday.

I’m just after some advice I’m running a 40/40 system with one paper filter and one carbon filter I was talking with a friend few days back and he was saying u don’t need the paper filter just replace it with the carbon one and have two of them instead of one paper and one carbon

? He was saying that the paper filter dose not last and the carbon will last longer if running two . Hope u understand what I mean .

Thanks for any reply’s

Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

If your talking about pre filters, he might mean a fibredyne filter.

In a lot of cases (including me), instead of changing 2 (sometimes 3) pre filters, you can just use one fibredyne filter.

Gripatank are doing a custom fibredyne filter that last longer than a standard one as the micron filter is slightly smaller.

The only downside is it will very slow down water production very slightly as the filters will be smaller 

 

[doug atkinson]

Big no as you do require a sediment filter. All major R/O systems will always have a sediment before carbon. If you’re using a Fiberdyne filter I would also advise a sediment prior. Having a smaller micron is okay in the summer but not in the winter as water molecule increase in size. The Sediment filter will trap dirt and proctect your second filter along with your membrane.

 

[Dave B]

I don't use a sediment filter as my water has none.. 6 months and the filter won't even start to look dirty

Wouldn't recommend it to others though

 

[Den]

I don't use a sediment filter as my water has none.. 6 months and the filter won't even start to look dirty

Wouldn't recommend it to others though

Mine was the same up to a couple of months ago the water company done some work and took weeks for it not to look cloudy straight out of the tap So have used one the last filter change.

 

[Johnwindow1987]

That’s all for your input but think I’ll stay with the paper pre filter just running two fibredyne filters sounded like it would work


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[trevor peacock]

been meaning to ask for a while, my tds is 330, I've got a fibredyne which I believe lasts for 37,500lts, I've got a sediment filter before as recommended, how long would that last? It never looks dirty!!

Also does using a sediment filter first mean the fibredyne will last longer?

 

[spruce]

been meaning to ask for a while, my tds is 330, I've got a fibredyne which I believe lasts for 37,500lts, I've got a sediment filter before as recommended, how long would that last? It never looks dirty!!

Also does using a sediment filter first mean the fibredyne will last longer?

We would change the sediment filter when we change our Fiberdyne filter. They aren't expensive.

On occassion our water is laden with sediment which necessitates we sometimes have to change the sediment filter once a month and the Fiberdyne once every 3 months. (We have 20" prefilters so the fiberdyne we use have a service life of around 66000 liters.) The sediment filter on our 4040 was red with sediment slime the last time I changed prefilters about 2 weeks ago.

Gardiners did suggest that in some cases it was ok to just have a single Fiberdyne filter as that would serve as a sediment and carbon filter. If your sediment filter always looks clean then maybe you could just use a single filter. However, the sediment filter costs very little where the Fiberdyne filter is much more expensive. So if I was in your situation I would still use a sediment filter. Many years ago we changed prefilters and unbeknown to us the water board did some work on the water mains. The next day our new sediment filter was blocked with sediment and had to be changed after a day's service. It was a case of just replacing a £5 + VAT sediment filter rather than a £24.00 + VAT fiberdyne filter. So in this case our sediment filter preserved and extended the life of the Fiberdyne filter. But if your water is sediment free then it won't mean a longer Fiberdyne filter life.

Now what will affect the Fiberdynes life is the amount of chlorine that it has to remove from your water supply. As we know chlorine destroys membranes. So the question is; how does the manufacturer of carbon filters know how much chlorine is in our water to calculate the service life of a carbon filter? The short answer is that they don't. They have to presume the our water is being dosed to the levels set out in the standards for water quality that the water board have to meet and use that as a basis for their calculations. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency in the USA) requires treated tap water to have a detectable level of chlorine to help prevent contamination. This also applies to the UK water supply.  The allowable chlorine levels in drinking water (up to 4 parts per million) pose “no known or expected health risk including an adequate margin of safety.” Only chlorine based disinfectants can provide lasting protection from waterborne diseases throughout the distribution system from treatment plant to the consumer’s tap.

@doug atkinson once posted that the further your tap is away from the dosing station the weaker the chlorine content of the water. So if your chlorine content is half of what the service life is calculated on then, theoretically, your carbon block will last twice as long. We often hear of windies using cheap filters and having no membrane issues even when replacing prefilter every 6 months. I have found that as long as I replace my Fiberdyne filter to the manufacturer's recommendations my membrane is ok. Its 6 years old now and still performing at 97% efficiency.

But I know that my first r/o was 1 year old when I purchased it along with a trailer system. The first time those prefilters were changed by the first owner was just before I bought it. The membranes were shot at a year old. I replaced the membranes and replaced prefilters every 3 months from then on. Those membranes lasted 6 years. So for me the service life stated by the manufacturers works and I will stick to it. I have a water meter on the r/o and once the service life is up the prefilters get changed immediately.