Well Water Treatment

36 water treatment products from Sterling Water Treatment (24), Resideo (5), NorthStar (3), Environmental Water Systems (2) and Flexcon (2) — sediment and carbon filtration, housings, softeners and well pressure tanks.

Test the water before buying any of it. Well water problems are specific and so are the fixes: hardness takes a softener, suspended grit takes a sediment filter, taste and odour take carbon, and iron takes its own treatment. A softener will not clear sediment and a carbon block will not touch hardness. Buying the wrong box leaves the problem in place and the money spent, which is why a water test is the first purchase on a well, not the last.

Sediment cartridges here run 5, 10 and 20 micron. The lower the number the finer the particle caught — and the faster it loads up. On a well the usual arrangement is coarse ahead of fine: a 20 micron in front of a 5 micron does most of the work and makes the 5 micron last several times longer than it would on its own. Stocked in 2-1/2" x 10", 2-1/2" x 20", 4-1/2" x 10" and 4-1/2" x 20", in grooved poly-bonded and washable pleated polyester.

The housing decides the cartridge. The 2-1/2" standard and 4-1/2" large-diameter formats take different cartridge diameters, and 10" and 20" lengths do not interchange — measure the sump before ordering replacements. Sterling housings are stocked with 1/4", 1" and 1-1/2" ports, in white and clear sumps. A clear sump is worth the small premium on a well: you can see how loaded the cartridge is without shutting the water down and opening it, which is how the real change interval gets learned instead of guessed.

Carbon comes two ways. Carbon block handles taste, odour and chlorine at a fine micron rating; granular activated carbon passes more water for less pressure drop, and the 4" x 20" unit here is rated 8 gpm. Inline carbon filters in 1/4" and 3/8", FIP or quick-change, are the ones that feed a refrigerator, an ice maker or an under-sink reverse osmosis system.

NorthStar softeners run 31,300 and 42,000 grain, plus a 2-in-1 cabinet that softens and filters the whole house and reports over Wi-Fi. Grain capacity is sized against measured hardness and household demand, not against the number of bathrooms: a unit with headroom regenerates less often and uses less salt per gallon treated. Two of the three also reduce clear-water ferrous iron, rated 8 ppm and 11 ppm.

The Resideo F76S works differently again — a reusable screen that backwashes instead of taking a cartridge, with the MV876B control to automate the flush. Replacement inserts are stocked for 1/2", 3/4", 1" and 1-1/4".

Flexcon well pressure tanks are stocked at 35 and 80 gallon with 1" and 1-1/4" FIP. The tank is what keeps the pump from short-cycling: undersize it and the pump starts and stops on every fixture, and that cycling is what shortens pump life more than run hours ever do.

Related: water filters, water softeners, Sterling Water Treatment, NorthStar, yard hydrants and pumps.