whole house water filtration

Welcome, what is pantryparatus? Thats okay I will google it to find out. If you live long enough you realize not much is new. The ideas all come around in a circle and when it comes full circle we give it a new name. Trying to fit the new name with the old ideas gets difficult at times. Way back when things like permi-techniques would have been call living off the land and "making a silk pouch out of a sows ear" Maybe with one of them book your given away I can make the pieces fit to understand the new words for doing things the old way, (that I forgot how to do). Now if you understood all that you are probably an old cumudgeon like me.
I have the Rocket Mass Heater Book but as much as I want to put one in I am going to have to find a workshop to attend. I just can't make the pieces fit by just reading the book. The problem is not the author it is the reader.
Okay the question?
Is there a way to set up a whole house water filtration without using water softener units. In the old days they must have set up a filtration system to remove minerals and hard water from the water. My water is good, have had several extensive tests done on it. The well is into an artesian lake at 198 ft. I don't use a pump and have lots of pressure. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Mary,

I don't know how I overlooked your question, so sorry! Our business name, "Pantry Paratus"--"Paratus" is latin for "ready" or "prepared". Our goal is to see everyone become more self-sufficient in their kitchens and less reliant on the middle aisles of the grocery store, dripping with corn syrup.


I couldn't agree more about old things by new names and the confusion therein. In my former life I worked in psychology. Someone asked me (just last week) what I used to do for a living. When I told them, they wrinkled their nose and corrected my entire title and job description, replacing all of my words with the new ones. I'm out of vogue, it seems. Carla's Book has been updated, it's the final copy before her death. However, she did things the old fashioned way by nature and she used good old fashioned terminology to describe things. No fluff there.


How wonderful that you have an artesian well! If you KNOW that your water is basically "pure" and it's just hard minerals, then you should be okay, according to Carla Emery who said in "The Encyclopedia of Country Living" that the heavier minerals are basically harmless. I've read some modern literature that would strongly disagree, but not just because of modern pollution. Mother Nature can be less than clean, too--take arsenic for instance. If you live in a mountainous region, that can be a problem. There are other types of natural contamination besides arsenic, as you know. Keep in mind that minerals are not water soluble like vitamins are. You have so much room in your body for them, if you fill it up with iron, you won't have space for the others you need. Your body metabolizes them differently. It's why, for instance, people who ingest colloidal silver on a daily basis turn blue.

Hydrologists usually agree that water must pass through 10 feet of earth in its' natural environment to be filtered. Do you know the depth and path of your well?

I consulted "The Home Water Supply", a book by Stu Campbell (we just got it in but I don't have it on our website yet). The best way to handle your question is to find out what particularly you might need to filter. For instance, if you have turbidity (silt, dirt, organic matter) in your water, you can set up a sediment trap, which holds the water for 24 hours or more. The junk obviously rests at the bottom. There's also something called a "diatom filter" that does something similar (a term for you to google if that's the problem you have). There is also something called a "pasteurizing unit" that holds the water temperature above 140 degrees and it will kill pathogenic organisms. It would be costly to install after-the-fact, because it comes before the pressurization tank. Although I like this book, I thought the author was a bit "chlorine-happy". If you get past his penchant for chlorine, he does make some other filtering suggestions based on the problem.

Chaya Foedus wrote:
Mother Nature can be less than clean, too--take arsenic for instance. If you live in a mountainous region, that can be a problem. There are other types of natural contamination besides arsenic, as you know.

My husband has an uncle who found out recently that they have arsenic issues with their well, is there a way to filter that out?

Speaking to the subject of the thread, whole house systems are one way to do it.

However, do I really want the same filtration requirements for the water in the shower or what fills the holding tank for the toilet as what I pour out of the tap into a glass to drink? If so, then the answer becomes very expensive. If you are willing to wash your clothes with unfiltered water, then a Berkey would be a good consideration for your consumption needs.

http://pantryparatus.com/berkey.html

Katrin,

There is a way to filter arsenic out. There is an accessory for the Berkey filter (gravity fed counter top unit) called a "PF-2"that will filter out Arsenic and even small particles like Fluoride. It looks like this: http://pantryparatus.com/berkey/berkey-replacement-filters/berkey-pf-2-fluoride-and-arsenic-reduction-elements-2-in-package.html

Wilson Foedus wrote:
Katrin,

There is a way to filter arsenic out. There is an accessory for the Berkey filter (gravity fed counter top unit) called a "PF-2"that will filter out Arsenic and even small particles like Fluoride. It looks like this: http://pantryparatus.com/berkey/berkey-replacement-filters/berkey-pf-2-fluoride-and-arsenic-reduction-elements-2-in-package.html

Way cool, I have tagged the page and as soon as I can get a hold of my hubbies Aunt and Uncle I will be passing the info on to them! Thank you so much for the link.

Wilson Foedus wrote:Speaking to the subject of the thread, whole house systems are one way to do it.

However, do I really want the same filtration requirements for the water in the shower or what fills the holding tank for the toilet as what I pour out of the tap into a glass to drink? If so, then the answer becomes very expensive. If you are willing to wash your clothes with unfiltered water, then a Berkey would be a good consideration for your consumption needs.

http://pantryparatus.com/berkey.html

I just checked out Pantry Paratus my self, I think I might be adding most of the store to my "Wish List". So much good info, books, and stuff!

chaya Foedus, You mention Stu Campbell's book. As you know he wrote many, some on skiing.
We knew him as a fine person and skier. We taught skiing with him as department head. He and Carol, his wife, would ski together like some people could dance. His passing is a great loss.

First came across this discussion when i searched about flouride. Notice issue has been brought up in a few more recent ones as well.

Think i'm finally going to invest in one of the berkeys. http://www.berkeywaterfilterseurope.com/

Don't exactly know what's inside these filters or where the toxins go, but don't see a better option.

Ye guys have any regrets or apprehensions?

Only thing is to make sure you prime and install the filters correctly and TEST them. Many discussions lately of people having leaks because they didn't.

These are the results from the regular sampling the county lab makes for my local supply. Will be interesting to compare if i get water tested after filtering.

Hard for me to make these results out. Fluoride is'nt on list, but it's typically 0.7 going by list that gives results only by area codes.

Anyway, thanks for that R Scott.