# Placement of whole house filter



## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

Before or after water softner?


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## rocksteady (Oct 8, 2008)

Before.







Paul


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## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

Wwjd?


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

walk on water? i don't know?


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## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

i would install it before , 

but what do I know...


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## bhawk4747 (Mar 1, 2012)

After


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## JK949 (Mar 18, 2009)

Before, softener piped on cold entering heater.

Be prepared to check anode rods on heaters with softened water.


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

bhawk4747 said:


> After


Curious why you mention this...you've been the only one to say after the softner.


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

JK949 said:


> Before, softener piped on cold entering heater.
> 
> Be prepared to check anode rods on heaters with softened water.


Soft water destroys anode rods?


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## bhawk4747 (Mar 1, 2012)

gear junkie said:


> Curious why you mention this...you've been the only one to say after the softner.


Usually whole house filter is paper filter for removing carbon, softner is like a big filter that cleans itself. So let softner do the work and filter can remove small particles, unless its some great whole house filter


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

Carbon top the softener and throw that ****ty ass cartridge filter away- it's a maintainence issue- no matainance with coconut carbon.

sent from my iPhone 10.5


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

filter then water softener. Change the mag rod out of the heater. The water softener and mag rod will fight one another and the rod will always lose out. Use alum. rod.otherwise the customer will eventually get a rotten egg smell in their hot water.


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## JK949 (Mar 18, 2009)

gear junkie said:


> Soft water destroys anode rods?


Yes, they do, I do not understand all the chemistry involved. It has to do with the conductivity of the water reacting to the metals. Bradford mentions this in their manual. Alloy rods may last longer but still need to be checked yearly. 

I have installed alloy rods in brand new heaters, they failed within 2 years. When I removed the rod, there wasn't even the inner core wire left.

The company I'm with now actively promotes water heater maintenance. Time and time again we find anode rods in heater fed with softened water with accelerated wear.


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## HSI (Jun 3, 2011)

Canature has a two tank set up with the first tank being a carbon or shell filter that is tied into the resin tank for the second tank. 
Hopefully soon I will be able to give you a performance report. Working on the supply house to cut me a deal for my house.


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## jc-htownplumber (Feb 29, 2012)

We install this monster we don't sell it just install it. IMO it's way over kill but I would try to tell the home owner to return the softener they are a waste of water


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

A water softener removes magnesium. When the water enters the heater it draws the magnesium from the rod back into the water negating the purpose of the rod.


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

jc-htownplumber said:


> We install this monster we don't sell it just install it. IMO it's way over kill but I would try to tell the home owner to return the softener they are a waste of water


That whole setup is pointless- what a maintainence PITA. A carbon topped water softener is a lot better then that.

sent from my iPhone 10.5


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

Mississippiplum said:


> That whole setup is pointless- what a maintainence PITA. A carbon topped water softener is a lot better then that.
> 
> sent from my iPhone 10.5


Is there a brand you would recommend? Any links?


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

Richard Hilliard said:


> A water softener removes magnesium. When the water enters the heater it draws the magnesium from the rod back into the water negating the purpose of the rod.


Does it depend on the location? I know are water here is really hard but I don't know what minerals are present. I know we have a softner and we do get the egg smell you mentioned. The water also fizzes when you first open the faucet. Does this sound like an anode rod issue?


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

gear junkie said:


> Is there a brand you would recommend? Any links?


Clack is what we use. clack head on a clack mineral tank with Dow resin and a coconut carbon top. Watts mineral tanks are ok also.

sent from my iPhone 10.5


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

gear junkie said:


> Does it depend on the location? I know are water here is really hard but I don't know what minerals are present. I know we have a softner and we do get the egg smell you mentioned. The water also fizzes when you first open the faucet. Does this sound like an anode rod issue?


U got a well?

sent from my iPhone 10.5


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

City. Everyone here suffers from hard water.


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

gear junkie said:


> City. Everyone here suffers from hard water.


You get the smell on the cold side also? If not then its the anode

sent from my iPhone 10.5


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## JK949 (Mar 18, 2009)

Rotten egg smell I thought is from bacteria? Would inadequate chlorination be a cause?


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

gear junkie said:


> Is there a brand you would recommend? Any links?


 Water Right.... Water Right.... Water Right... from Wisc.. their plant is built right atop of the worst water in the area and perfect for the water testing, etc.. they have a santizner unit that remove the hardness, iron ( both bacterica and soild) as well shupler(sp) in one pass within one unit... without having to pipe any more extra units,tanks etc etc


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

JK949 said:


> Rotten egg smell I thought is from bacteria? Would inadequate chlorination be a cause?


Most of the time it's from H2S gas trapped within the water, it can also be caused by sulfur reducing bacteria. Anode reactions with the water can produce a rotten egg smell as well

sent from my iPhone 10.5


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## UN1TED-WE-PLUMB (Oct 3, 2012)

Mississippiplum said:


> Most of the time it's from H2S gas trapped within the water, it can also be caused by sulfur reducing bacteria. Anode reactions with the water can produce a rotten egg smell as well
> 
> sent from my iPhone 10.5


So how would one diagnose the issue to determine the cause? Where would the H2S come from if that was the issue?


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

gear junkie said:


> Does it depend on the location? I know are water here is really hard but I don't know what minerals are present. I know we have a softner and we do get the egg smell you mentioned. The water also fizzes when you first open the faucet. Does this sound like an anode rod issue?


 
No location will not matter.eventually the anode rod will be affected sooner than later. I have witnessed it happen in less than 30 days to a few years.

Take a look at H2O cooncepts and their filtration.
http://www.h2oconcepts.com/

Have been using these unit for 5 years and thery do work. I was a skeptic at first. It is one of the best filter if not the best on the market,expensive, and well worth it.


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## Richard Hilliard (Apr 10, 2010)

around here the majority of times it is the anode rod that creates the rotten egg smell. Take the rod out and check it. Hydrogen sulfide can be an issue and can also be only on the hot side.


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## AWWGH (May 2, 2011)

Generally I put a standard whole house filter before a softener or any type of backwashing filter, but thats not always the case.

You have to treat every household accordingly, you can't just be dead set and say "so and so is the best system out there."

Thats like saying a motorcycle is a better piece of equipment than a dirtbike. Sometimes you ride the road, but sometimes you braappp through the woods. It all depends on what you're working with

What I'm trying to say is, test water and make an educated decision. Don't just make a decision because that is what you "always use."


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

UN1TED-WE-PLUMB said:


> So how would one diagnose the issue to determine the cause? Where would the H2S come from if that was the issue?


H2S gas comes from decaying organic matter and the gas gets trapped in the Aquifer system and dissolved into the water.

sent from my iPhone 10.5


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## JK949 (Mar 18, 2009)

Richard Hilliard said:


> No location will not matter.eventually the anode rod will be affected sooner than later. I have witnessed it happen in less than 30 days to a few years.
> 
> Take a look at H2O cooncepts and their filtration.
> http://www.h2oconcepts.com/
> ...


No Richard, we just recommend snake oil and should be ashamed of ourselves.


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