We review the basics of a whole house water filter system including details about filter housings, water filter cartridges, and general maintenance. This is a must see for anyone preparing to install a whole house water filter system, or those planning to purchase a water filter. Details include proper water filter cartridge selection, proper lubricant for O-ring lubrication, and correct use of the spanner wrench.
Whole House Water Filtration Overview Video Transcript
Welcome to Water Wisdom sponsored by WaterFilters.NET.
I’m your host Aquaman and in this session
we’re going to look at knowing how to change
a carbon block and knowing when it needs to
be changed. What we see back here is a complete
filtration system; this is the way your filter
system should be installed when you do it
in your house. We have all the appropriate
components. We have shut-off valves before
and after the system and we also have pressure gauges before and after each of the filter
housings. You can see over here on the sediment
filter and here on the carbon block, pre and
post pressure gauges. Every filter cartridge
has an anticipated and normal pressure drop
when it’s brand new. This cartridge that
we’re putting in the system today is an
EP-20BB. It has an expected pressure drop
of about 5 ½ psi at a flow rate of 5 gallons
per minute. When that pressure drop increases,
that’s an indication that the cartridge
is clogging with particulate matter or that
the media is becoming exhausted and water
can’t pass through as easily so the pressure
drop increases. In this system, just a few
minutes ago, we ran the faucet over here at
4 gallons a minute and we saw a pressure drop
difference between the pre and the post gauge
of about 6 to 8 psi, that’s far above what
we would expect for the cartridge that’s
in here, so we’re going to change it. Here
is the process; we’ve shut off the water
valves before and after, and we’ve released
the pressure from the system by opening up
the tap that we have over here. You would
do this at your kitchen tap or your bathroom,
somewhere in the house you’ve got to release
the water. Then, each of these housings that
we sell has a red pressure release valve on
the top. I’ve got my handy, dandy bucket,
which you’re going to need, and I’ll be
glad I have in a minute. I’m going to release
the pressure for a few seconds, a little dribble
of water, looks like we’re good to go. Now,
I’m going to use my spanner wrench, this
is an SW-4, goes with these 20-BB housings
and I am going to remove this sump, righty
tighty lefty loosey, just like every screw
you’ve ever used in your life. Slide the
filter wrench up on and there it is, it’s
loose enough now that I don’t need the wrench
anymore and I’m going to loosen the filter
housing, this is the sump that I am removing
from the cap. In a few turns it’s going
to fall out into my hands and get me wet,
don’t wear your good clothes when doing
this project, here it comes, a little more
water, and there it is. Dump the water into
my bucket and there we go. There is our filter
sump and here is our used and well used carbon
block that we’re replacing, set this over
here in the sink for it to drain. There is
couple of other things we want to do before
we put the new filter in; it’s not a bad
idea to start by inspecting inside and checking
to make sure and see if any debris has been
left behind, in our case, look what I found,
an old o-ring that fell off of the old cartridge,
don’t want that in there or the new filter
won’t fit properly. Next, check the o-ring,
take the time to do this right, you’ll regret
if you don’t, if you put it back together
and your o-ring is damaged, you will spring
a leak and that is no fun for anyone. Check
it for flat spots, abrasions, dings, nicks,
looks pretty good. Now I am going to re-lubricate
the o-ring with food grade silicone grease,
available at WaterFilters.NET, do not use
any other lubricant that is a bad story, only
food grade silicone grease. I am going to
take a towel and clean out the groove that
the o-ring seats into, then I am going to
put some of this lubricant in a number of
places, starting with this groove that this
o-ring will seat into on this sump. Be generous
with the lubricant, you will be glad that
you did, it is going to make everything go
together easier and it will protect the longevity
and effectiveness of the o-ring. Now, put
some all over the o-ring, it’s kind of a
greasy job, nicely lubed; now I am going to
seat the o-ring into the groove. Now that
we have the o-ring seated I am going to take
one more glob of silicone grease and lubricate
the threads inside on the cap, this is also
very important, be generous with the food
grade silicone grease, you’ll be glad that
you did, a quick smear of grease everywhere,
food grade silicone grease, remember that.
Alright we’re good to go, right here we
have our EP-20BB 5 micron carbon block available
at WaterFilters.NET and I am going to slide
this down into the housing, make sure you
press it in and wiggle it a little so it seats
down, there is a small post at the bottom
of the sump, make sure it is sitting down
on their properly, now were going to reattach
the sump to the cap. Righty tighty and there
it goes, hand tight only, you’ll notice
I am not using the spanner wrench because
if I use that I could crush the o-ring which
would later lead to leaks and that would be
bad, nice and firm, hand tight, there we go
and it’s in. Let’s fire it up and check
for leaks, open up the valve on the outlet
side and previously you can find this other
video on our website, we changed the sediment
filter in this housing and you can view that,
it is the same process just a different type
of cartridge, you may find the results from
our disgusting sediment cartridge interesting.
We have our sediment cartridge, our carbon
cartridge and we’re ready to fire up the
pressure.
Nice and easy, you don’t want to slam it
with all that pressure; it will take a second
for the sumps to fill with water, so far so
good. It sounds like the first sump is filled,
no sign of any leaks,
sounds like the second sump is almost full,
and no leaks there either. Then run the system
to let the air out, there is probably a lot
of air built up, don’t be surprised if you
get some sputtering and spurting. It is perfectly
normal to find small air bubbles in the water
and also with the carbon filter, carbon fines;
it’s like little tiny black pieces of the
carbon that are loose, it’s perfectly normal
and harmless to ingest even though nobody
probably wants to, it’s harmless and that
will rinse out after you flush the system.
It is a good idea to crank the water on and
walk away for 10 minutes, let it purge out
those carbon fines and purge out any air bubbles,
then you’re good to go. My name is Aquaman
and this is Water Wisdom sponsored by WaterFilters.NET.
Thanks.
