I will be interested in the responses since we have the same issues. Here's what I know. At one of our old houses, we had an RO system installed just for drinking water (and cooking). I've been told, depending on the system, it can take anywhere from 1-15 gallons of water to make one gallon of RO water. The "waste" water simply goes down the drain (which is really terrible to hear). It also takes a while to make one gallon. Our new house has sulfate and iron problems (we think) - we smell the "rotten egg" smell when we turn on the water. I've been told that in order to diagnose the problem, you have to look at several factors - in addition to testing the water. (is the smell there with both hot and cold water; does it go away after the water runs; are your toilet bowls getting rusty colored; are there stains on your clothes) We have not noticed the two latter problems so I'm going to wait before looking into an iron filter. And, I believe, that is the solution - an iron filter. How it all comes together - which water gets filtered, softened, etc. is a mystery to me. For right now, we are getting five gallon bottles of water delivered for drinking and cooking (to my dismay, I see that this water is created with the RO process - more water wasted!)
We have a water softener and the plumber installed some kind of filter on that - I think it's to keep out sediments, which could be keeping out some iron (?)
There are several publications on the Internet that describe household water treatments. I'm putting one link in below. If you do a google search, limit your results to those in the .edu domain to get publications from university extensions. I find these are more reliable than commercial sites.
HTH
Jan

Here is a link that might be useful: household water treatment

We will be having one installed in our new home

Here is a link that might be useful: GE whole house filtration system

Yep. For about 10 yrs now we've had one by Aqua Pure. AEHF, near Dallas, is one dealer (aehf.com). Lots of them around. It has been such a wonderful thing that we're having one installed in the new house as well. Wouldn't be without it.

Just make sure the system you're considering filters what you want filtered. Check with each manufacturer.

RO is extremely wasteful of water.

We installed a whole house water filter for the first time on this house and I love it. The water has a very good and refreshing taste and it feels great. My skin and hair feel softer than they ever have now that I'm batheing and showering with this filtered water. I've posted a link to the filtration system that we have. One thing I didn't realize is that it purges the water every so often (you set the frequency) and that water is wasted. I wish I would have known that and set up some way to collect that water for watering plants or the lawn. Seems like a bit of a waste. This reminds me that I need to change the frequency of our purge. We have the filtration system installed right next to our hot water heater (in the same closet, along with the steam shower components).

Here is a link that might be useful: whole house water filter

I spent a number of years in the water treatment business. Some basic advice includes:
* There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all water system. Each 'system' needs to be designed specifically for your situation (contaminants, usage, quality needs, flow & pressure, etc.)
* You need to have your water tested to determine its contaminants and their concentration levels before doing anything
* You need to establish goals of what water quality you want for each application (e.g. hot water, kitchen sink, drinking water, outside faucet, etc.)
* enlist the help of a trustworthy water specialist to make recommendations and design your system - this is likely the hardest part as I have found that they are more shady than your prototypical used car salesman.
* be expected to pay for what you want vs. need; it ain't cheap
* don't be so alarmist about RO technology; you may like it in the end
* if you utilize cartridge filters, spend the extra $30-50 per housing and buy the clear ones - nice to see the filter is dirty (in addition to using pressure drop data and longevity expectations)

I have to agree totally with buzzsaw. If you have a well, this can be a really complicated problem that is very individual to the house. In talking to the Culligan man, he rattled off a ton of information including that the problem could be in our lines or in the well. Obviously, you want to protect your plumbing, appliances and clothes from damaging contaminents. However, the real issue for me is drinking and cooking water. It *must* be safe and good tasting. As for the water I use to shower, wash clothes and dishes, I assume it's pretty much ok, even if it's "unsafe" to drink. (we do use a water softner) Perhaps I'm missing something but I don't see the value in filtering all of our water unless it's going to damage our plumbing.

We started out with a system that has salt tank and a tank with little beads in it, plus a sediment filter. That wasn't cutting it, so they added a charcoal tank that back washes every other day. The salt tank/bead tank combo back washes into the french drain every 3 days. The charcoal tank can't be put into the french drain (due to the sediment) so right now it drains into one of the pipes that takes the gutter water away.

All of this was pretty pricey. We are into it for about $5k right now. The installer is a friend of the family, so that is discounted.

I just went though this ordeal myself. The builder brought in Water Boy (see my posts on this forum about him) and he tried to rip me for 8 thousand dollars. I solved the problem myself for 1000.

As mentioned above - get your water professionally tested. You must have very accurate measurements of hardness and iron so that the filtration system can be optimized for your specific situation.

My well water is hard (9 grains per gallon) and the iron is also high (2 parts per million which equals about 8 to 10 grains per gallon). This meant that I had a problem that a small water filter was not going to address.

I found a great source - www.abundantwaterflow.com. Talk to a guy named Mark in sales. He is very knowledgeable and honest.

I ordered a water softener from him for a total of 700 dollars which included shipping. It came with a Fleck 7000 valve which is (as I found from many searches on the Plumbing forum) a high end control valve - very easy to program as I did in about 5 minutes.

I had my plumber (nickname John Wayne - and I swear he looks exaclty like him, except he speaks with a Slavic accent) install the system for 300 dollars. Very simple.

I also thought that I would need an iron filter - and if you read on the Plumbing forum (see aliceinwonderland posts) - the Pyrolox filter is recommended for iron. Mark convinced me to NOT buy the iron filter yet - to install the softener first since it will remove some iron. That is why I like Abundantwaterflow - they could have easily made another 1000 dollars since I was ready to buy that too. But they gave me an honest opinion and a lower cost solution that can be expanded if required.

I had the plumber set the system up so that I can add in the iron filter myself if that becomes necessary. I am waiting on the results of a recent test to see if I really need that type of filter or the softener will do the job for both hardness and iron.

The softener was delivered to my house in 4 boxes. The tank is fiberglass and is very light, the resin filter material is heavy - one box about 45 pounds the other box around 25 pounds), and finally the brine tank and otjer parts which is light and looks like a small garbage can. I assembled it myself - the hardest part by far was getting the resin into the tank. The stuff is like caviar - small beads - and was a little difficult to pour in because I was dumb. I hoisted the 50 pound bag up and poured directly into the tank. DON"T do this - use a small pail and dump some resin into the pail - then pour that small amount of resin into the tank. It will take a little longer but is much easier and safer. It took me about 1 hour to assemble all the parts and connect up everything except the main water input and the flex line drains - which John Wayne did for me.

I hope this helps. One thing i found out is that there are a lot of people who will throw a lot of mumbo jumbo at you on the complexities of doing this yourself. It is not that hard - just do your research.

The question becomes, why do you want a whole house water filtration system? Do you water your lawn, does this water need to be treated to the same level? Does your toilet flush water need to be treated to the same level? Do you wash your car, does this water need to be treated to the same level?

What problems do you have with your existing water supply, and for what uses is the water ineffective?

Thanks for all the replies.

sniffdog: Who professionally tested your water?

It is city water. I don't want the outside faucets to be filtered only the water going inside. I want the iron and hardness taken out before it enters my house. Yes the toilets too. I hate scrubbing the iron ring in the toilet. It is more of a hardness/iron issue.

Only the "inside" water is filtered on our system. So, the outside faucets, water sprinkler, and faucet in detached garage are not filtered.

We had a Water Right Impression filter installed. We were having a problem with our well water (iron, manganeze and a nasty sulfur smell. This filtration system took care of most of the problem without installing an additional water softener. DH did not want the water softener we were advised to purchase also.
This system flushes automatically every few days and will need filter replacement in a few years.
After adding the filter system we discovered the sulfur smell was still coming through the hot water only. Plan B.....We had the original anode rod in our hot water heater replaced with a rod suitable to hard water (possibly zinc). Works like a charm... We now have great water that does not stain our fixtures and no smell.

Here is a link that might be useful: Water Right

If it is city water, save yourself the money on testing the water and ask the city for their analysis. They have to perform this analysis regularly, so you might ask them for the last year or so back. In my area, the water changes seasonally, so having a bit more data would indicate this seasonal trend.

It is well water. The first tester was Water Boy. The second was a mail in service that I found. I also used a test kit at Lowe's (they sell 2 types) and that is pretty good for general indications of the water quality.

If you are scrubbing toilets - then you probably need an iron filter. Search for Pyrolox in the Plubing forum.

You can have the outside hose bibs excluded from the filtration - but that will cost more in plumbing. It might not be too bad - a lot depends on hwo your house was plumbed.

What I did (since it cost less) was to leave eveything filtered. However, I added my own bypass valves so that if I want hard water, I can turn off the supply & return to and from the filter and just take water straight from the well pressure tank. The softerner valve (Fleck 7000) has a bypass valve built in - but I wanted an ability to completely cut-off the supply and return to the filter system so that if I need to work on it (or add an iron filter), I can disconnect it without turning off the water to the rest of the house. Itw as very cheap to do this.

Instead of using salt in the brine tank, I am using potassium (KCL) - recommended by abundantwaterflow. That should be easier on the plants. I was able to purchase KCL pellets at Southern States.

Well, there's something I never thought of.

We are from the North, and have the sweetest, clearest well water imagineable there. We are building in the South, though.

Now that I think of it, we will probably need a water filter here.

This site is incredible!

piasano

The sooner you can get to your well or city water and have it tested - the more time you will have to plan the filtration system.

I got a big surprise about 30 days prior to having the house done - and I felt like I was being robbed at gun point. Luckily - the Plumbing forum had piles of info and within 2 or 3 days I had worked up a cost effective solution. The plumbers were still at the house doing final hookups - so the cost to me was just a little more labor and the way they had plumbed the house - it was a snap to add in the filter. I got lucky.

If you know early that you need a filter system then you can have the house plumbed to accomodate one. That would also allow you to bypass hose bibs too - which some people like to do since hard water is good for washing cars and the salt (if you use that) isn't good for delicate plants.

This site is great - saved us many times during our build.

"Do you water your lawn, does this water need to be treated to the same level?"

If you have sediment and an irrigation system them the sediment needs to be removed or you will have clogged heads. Our system was set up so the outdoor water is only treated for sediment and not the other treatments

"Does your toilet flush water need to be treated to the same level?"
In our case, yes. The toilet tanks were full of sediment and the toilets were turning orange/pink. And the water stunk.

"Do you wash your car, does this water need to be treated to the same level?"
Same answer as for other outside water. Treated for sediment only.

If someone has iron they might want the outside water treated for that as well. Have you ever seen rust stained sidewalks and houses?