Filtering question

Water
1

Hi all. So I have a 2.5kl tank that serves as a buffer when the water is out. This is at ground level and so has a pump to supply the house.

I put in a filter to protect the pump (OK, I had it put in. I have learned the hard way that when I do my own plumbing I end up with a fool for a client). This is certainly trapping the coarse grit that we get in the municipal supply.

But I did not do my homework and relied on the plumber to decide on the type of filter. He may have satisfied the requirement I gave him. IE to protect the pump. He doesn’t know how many microns the filter is, but he is going to check with his supplier.

So there is another filter that may be necessary. This would be to prevent a buolx up of sludge in the tank.

What grade/gauge/[correct term] of filter do I need for that? How many microns?

2

If sludge is building up in your tank, I assume the water is standing for long periods and not being cycled regularly?

I never had a sludge problem in my tanks, maybe you can try Hth chlorine tablets.

I have a 50 micron disk filter between my tanks and pressure pump to prevent solids from entering the pump. I clean this filter every 2 or 3 months.

3

I have no idea if there’s a sludge build up in the tank. I’ve had it 7 months now. I try to turn it over at least 4 days a week. In any day I won’t go through even half the tank’s capacity. When we have had to rely on the tank (twice now) there’s been no discernible problem with the quality of the water (nor any inexplicable deaths or even mild gyppo guts)

I’m just trying to pre-empt the sludge.

I opened up the filter casing and pulled out the actual filter. It has no markings on it to indicate fineness (or whatever the correct term is). If I hold it up to the light I can’t see through it. I remember being told it’s a disc filter, and on close inspection I see it’s made of many serrated discs which all lock together.

4

OK. GIMF. The discs inside the filter are red. There is a colour code for disc filters (though it doesn’t seem to be mandated) and red would be 130 microns.

5

With 130 microns you’ll be fine, just clean it out regularly. If being unsure really bothers you, take the disk to your closest irrigation shop and buy a new one, then you know what you have in there.

As said, for my 5 kl tanks which is in daily use I never had a sludge problem with my borehole water. To sanatize the water you can try the Hth chlorine tablets or you can even put some Jik in the tank, if I remember the safe ratio for drinking water is a table spoon of Jik per 20l of water.

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