could everyone check my water treatment system please?

TOO LONG DIDN'T READ: here's the basic setup. I'm certain I'm missing something. I expect to be corrected. Could you please explain why if you correct? I like to continue learning the why and how of what I'm doing. 😁

Raw rain water in Settle tank
--->Output for animal water.

10 micron washable
5 micron washable
---> Output for non-potable basic cleaning. Shower, mopping, etc  (Everywhere but in the mouth or in the food)

1 micron washable
.5 - .1 micron
Aquatru undersink RO https://aquatruwater.com/product/under-sink-water-purifier
UV LAMP VIQUA VH150 UV System https://www.freshwatersystems.com/products/viqua-vh150-whole-home-uv-water-disinfection-system
clean potable water output
---> To small distiller for CPAP use.

Water finishers if I wish
Small water storage for in cabin use, sink, etc. (~5 gallons).


LONG STORY

I'll put the big filter set up ahead of the ro system to get the water as clean as possible for RO system. It feels to me more logical to invest in washable filters so I can reduce the wear and tear on the RO system as much as possible by back washing or swapping rinsed filters periodically. Makes it easier to keep the sensitive RO membrane in good condition.

I have decided on the Aquatru undersink RO for this setup.

(Slightly related side note. When I move to my new property in a few years I plan to use the same filters and UV lamp, just switch to the Katadyn PowerSurvivor 40E for my RO and upgrade to a Class A UV filter. If you have any opinions on the future setup let me know. I'll assume you're referring to the Aquatru, otherwise. I'm aware the katadyn needs different setup as far as flow and PSI and that it's ridiculously overbuilt and expensive for the use I purposing. I intend to invest in a buy it once setup at that point in the future. I choose the Katadyn for it ease of repair, solid construction, and can be used independent of electricity OR water pressure by using a hand pump.  I plan to work all that detail out later when I move. But if you geek out over this sort of thing. Feel free.)

I'm using the UV lamp to catch any escaping bacteria from the RO filter. The RO filter should do it's job just fine. The UV filter is a extra precaution. A thorough UV should be rated NSF/ANSI 55 Class A. But since I have so much filtering already done I figure a Class B at 30mj/cm2 won't be a problem. AND. If I can figure out how to run the water through the UV system aat 3.5 gpm it will effectively act as a Class A  at 40mj/cm2.

I do have a solar set up. But my first goal is potable water. I'll figure out how to power it and make adjustments after I solve the water problem.

I couldn't find anything specifically about water treatment. So I hope rain catches is the correct forum area.

I use a system with a 50micron, 10/1 micron, 0.5 micron in series, followed by a Luminor GUV-4S LED UV treatment.

I run it at well under 1GPM, into a 40 gallon stainless tank that gravity feeds the sink. Sink is the only water source in the tinyhouse.

I like the energy efficiency of the very small UV system that I can use with such low flow, and batch filtering keeps power usage super low.


Your system sounds pretty good to me; I haven't used a RO system before for comparison..

I would want to hit the shower water with 1micron/UV, personally. I usually take my mouth with me into the shower, so it just seems less worrisome to treat that water like it might meet my mouth.


Main issue in my system that may also pertain to yours; first flush diverter and coarse filtration before the main storage tank. I have a first flush diverter using a screen at the intake, a float to divert water to tank when diverter full, and a small weep hole to allow it to drain slowly.

It sucks, it clogs in multiple ways, and it runs all the water over the accumulated debris. I will start from scratch on this part of the system next time round.

I am thinking covered gutters, centrifugal first flush diverter, and a barrel sand/gravel filter before storage..  time will tell.

D Nikolls wrote:I use a system with a 50micron, 10/1 micron, 0.5 micron in series, followed by a Luminor GUV-4S LED UV treatment.

I run it at well under 1GPM, into a 40 gallon stainless tank that gravity feeds the sink. Sink is the only water source in the tinyhouse.

I like the energy efficiency of the very small UV system that I can use with such low flow, and batch filtering keeps power usage super low.


Your system sounds pretty good to me; I haven't used a RO system before for comparison..

I would want to hit the shower water with 1micron/UV, personally. I usually take my mouth with me into the shower, so it just seems less worrisome to treat that water like it might meet my mouth.


Main issue in my system that may also pertain to yours; first flush diverter and coarse filtration before the main storage tank. I have a first flush diverter using a screen at the intake, a float to divert water to tank when diverter full, and a small weep hole to allow it to drain slowly.

It sucks, it clogs in multiple ways, and it runs all the water over the accumulated debris. I will start from scratch on this part of the system next time round.

I am thinking covered gutters, centrifugal first flush diverter, and a barrel sand/gravel filter before storage..  time will tell.

Ok. I think I found the same unit. The specs me it
(30 mJ/cm2 at 95% UVT) 0.6 GPM

(40 mJ/cm2 at 95% UVT) 0.4 GPM
So it looks good.

I'm wondering if I set up a low flow rate UV system, how would it affect the physical filters? If I recall correctly the standard Culligan candle style filters need at least 20gpm to work properly? Maybe I need some sort of flow/pressure regulation between the prefilters and RO. And between the RO and UV.

Dakota, I have a lot of experience with rainfall collection for domestic use.
I also believe that in many cases treatment of the water is not necessary if certain conditions are met initially.
- Primary storage tank is at least 5000 gallons.
- You store at least 3 months supply of water.
- First flush filters are used to exclude the initial flow of dust and bird poo.
- Have leaf traps on each tank also.
For improved water draw from the top of the tank with a floating outlet.

Some questions about your plans;
- what size primary tank do you plan to use?
- Will you have leaf guards along the spouting?
- will you have agricultural spray allied in the area near your house?
- look at my signature for more details.

There is not enough information here to make any suggestions. You have to test the water first and tell us what the issues are.

Where I live any sort of non-drilled well source typically has bacteria. This is easy to solve with boiling, UV post-filtering or distilling, but if the water has high amounts of heavy metals then boiling or distilling only concentrates the metals and makes the situation worse. UV does nothing for it either. But it gets worse because if you have arsenic in your water, that literally CAN KILL YOU. Where I live, arsenic is hit or miss in drinking water sources, but so is radiation from uranium.

As I said, I cannot in good conscious give you a suggestion on what to do with your water because "it is just a guess unless you test".

That being said, I would look into a whole house Reverse Osmosis system and not waste my money on an undersized, under the counter reverse osmosis system. I am still not sure if the situation is anal, for animals, or annual but point-of-use RO is cheap because it is so limiting. Without testing your water, you do not even know if RO will take care of the issue. Typically RO only takes out 12 mg/liter but what if you have more? My water has 37 mg/liter of iron, but I only know that because my water has been tested. That would mean I would need (4) RO systems in series to get my water to allowable levels (here it is .5 mg/liter and I have 37!!)

Again, not enough information here to give any feedback that is meaningful.