Sandy Bottom
Shortly after moving into Chez Melendy, I noticed that our water pressure was dropping. It was especially noticeable in the washing machine where the cold water just trickled into the basket and the clothes weren't getting properly washed because the lack of pressure had somehow confused the cycles.
Since I was the one who had done all the plumbing, my first thought was that I had messed something up. I had left out some crucial aspect of plumbing a house that was the secret of licensed plumbers and now I was going to suffer for it.
It wasn't that bad.
When I checked the little screen at the kitchen sink tap, I noticed there was a fair amount of silt inhibiting the flow and this was even more pronounced at the little filter screen for the washing machine. I thought, oh, it's probably because I didn't properly flush out the system after having put it together. But a week or so later, same thing.
Now I was convinced that my well was running dry and the pump was sucking up sand off the bottom. (I'm great at "worst case scenario thinking.") After calming down some, though, I decided that even if it was the case that the well was running low, it might be better to try installing a whole house filter myself before calling the well company. Even if a filter didn't solve the problem, it wouldn't be money wasted because the filter would simply improve the quality of whatever water was going to come into the house.
I bought a SmartWater filter from GE figuring that the brand would probably make it easier to find replacement filters going forward. Unfortunately, the model I chose, didn't come with its companion installation kit. The local supplier didn't stock the kit, and when I tried to order it from the manufacturer's website, it wasn't available. This was a little bit of a hassle because it meant that I had to figure out which fittings I would need to complete the task. If you've ever stood in the plumbing supply isle of your nearby big box home-improvement store, you know of the head-spinning possibilities.
The installation instructions listed the necessary parts, but all in plumbers-speak. I knew what a 1/2" compression fitting was but I didn't know there were so many different varieties. Once I finally figured out which fittings were right for the job, I was ready to shut off the water and start cutting the pipes.
One important thing I learned when soldering copper pipes (besides of course being very careful wielding a torch around wood that's over a hundred years old) is that you're best to get all the water out of the pipes before starting. I've tried to rush the job more than once only to be frustrated by not being able to get the pipes hot enough to melt the solder. When there's even a little water in the pipes, it serves to dissipate the heat and keeps the pipes from getting hot enough.
Once the filter was installed, I had to decide what level of filtering I wanted. The GE SmartWater system uses a standard size that can accept all kinds of cartridges from very course filtering to very fine. I decided on one in the middle that claims to reduce sand, soil, silt, sediment, and rust. (I hadn't really thought much before of the difference between sand, soil, and silt.) Another filter I tried later only claims to reduce, sand, soil, sediment, and rust, thus letting the silt through. I can't say I noticed the difference between the two other than that the one that reduces silt got clogged quicker than the other.
Both of them work fine, and no longer do I have sand and soil (and sometimes silt) clogging up my spigots and washing machine. The SmartWater filter also has a little remote blinking light that you can stick on your refrigerator to remind you when it's time to change the filter.
After seeing what gets filtered out my drinking water, I don't think I'll ever go back to non-filtered. I suppose that's one of the plumber's secrets I did find out in the process.
p.s. Check out the following How-To associated with this post: Soldering Copper Pipes
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