It Can't be Filtered or Nothing Seems to Work!!!!
Part II
This article was written by Jeff Twitchell on December 31, 2000
Jeff is the V.P. Air & Water Quality Inc.
Introduction-
You have had a water treatment company come to take care of your cloudy
water. They install your new hope for clear colorless water. After the system is installed, the water doesn't look any better.
They tell you to wait a while(usually a few days to a week) and see if it clears up. IT
DOESN"T!!! What now?
They come back and check the operation of the system and everything seems fine. You are asked to wait a couple
of more days. After 2 days, the water does not look any better. You call them back.....
...They suggest changing the media. They do and the results are no better. You call them back....
...They suggest a different media ....no better...
...They suggest a multimedia
filters ...no better
...They suggest adding a cartridge
filter... no better... You ask for you money back...
If you are lucky, you will get your money back but this is not what you really want. What you really want is a
solution to your problem.
You ask yourself - what is this stuff? Can this be fixed? Is the equipment complicated? What will it cost?
What is this stuff?
What you have in you water are particles that are too small to filter
yet large enough to make the water appear cloudy. Generally we call these materials colloids. If there is iron in
the water, the water will have an orange or brown color. This is called colloidal iron. Colloidal iron is usually
the result of the iron in the water combining will organic material in the water. These colloids could also be
clay. If it is only clay, it will appear gray in color. One way to tell if you have either of these (colloidal
iron or clay), is to draw a glass of water and let it set for a few hours and check to see if the water at least
begins to clear. If you have colloidal iron, you will not see any settlement of the iron on the bottom. If you
have clay, you will see some sediment but the water will remain cloudy.
Can it be fixed?
Yes. It most certainly can be fixed. We use ultrafiltration. These systems
filter water through a membrane. The clean water is pushed through the membrane and the colloids are flushed off
the surface of the membrane with some of the water that does not go through.
What is in a UF system?
Because the UF filters are expensive, they are not usually
sized large enough to handle peak flows. This requires the system to have several components to allow the UF to
produce water during times of no use and store it for later peak demands.
The three basic components of the system are the UF filter (UF filter, housing, controls, pre-filter and solenoid),
storage tank with control float and repressurization pump. You can see more details on our ultrafiltration page.
What will it cost?
The cost will depend on the peak flow (gpm) and daily usage you require.
The greater the flow the more the system will cost. You can expect systems to start at a minimum of $4000. If you
require higher flows or have other materials in the water that need to be removed, you can expect this price to
be higher.
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