Filter for fresh water system

[TheOffice]

I added a whole house type filter to my fresh water system. The problem is the little Jabsco pump does not have enough power to push the water through the element and give decent water pressure.
Any recommendations on a different filter and/or pump?

[svHyLyte]

Household canister filter assemblies are commonly designed to work with water pressures in the range or 40 to 60 psi, much greater than what most fresh-water pumps can deliver. On our boat we use three filter systems: a household canister type that we connect to shore side water for filling our tanks; a smaller--10 in--Pentek canister type between the tanks and our pump and, finally, a under counter General Ecology Seagull filter for drinking water in the galley. Prefiltering shore-side water before it is introduced to ones tanks can eliminate a lot of issues that arise with dock-side water supplies. Although the water is supposedly potable, sometimes the amount of debris that the filters collect is pretty stunning. The second filter, between the tanks and the pump, with an activated charcoal filter element, collects whatever sediment may have escaped the first filter and collected in the tanks as well as the smell of chlorine purifying agent. The final, drinking water filter, gets whatever the second filter misses which isn't much but isn't nothing either. With the foregoing arrangement our system provides satisfactory water pressure, flow rate and water quality.

FWIW...

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by TheOffice

I added a whole house type filter to my fresh water system. The problem is the little Jabsco pump does not have enough power to push the water through the element and give decent water pressure.
Any recommendations on a different filter and/or pump?

Not enough information.

• What pump? The flow and pressure rating, if you have it.
• Do you have an expansion tank?
• What filter?
• What are you trying to remove with the filter?

[TheOffice]

Jabsco 2.5 gpm pump, no accumulator tank. (put in a bigger hot water heater, so probably can't fit a tank) Trying to remove sediment and organisms so we can drink the water.

[Cheechako]

How fine is the filter? 10 micron should be good. 5 micron OK. 1 micron not so good. (regarding flow)

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by TheOffice

Jabsco 2.5 gpm pump, no accumulator tank. (put in a bigger hot water heater, so probably can't fit a tank) Trying to remove sediment and organisms so we can drink the water.

You absolutely NEED and accumulator with a hot water tank. This is in the building code. The reason is that water expands, it cannot go back through the pump (check valve) or out a closed faucet, so the tank ruptures or water squirts out the relief valve. I hope it works out for you, but this is bad design. Perhaps if the pump is low pressure, it is OK. Google it. It is not needed in homes, because the water can expand out the main.

That pump comes in versions running from 25-50 PSI max. The 40-50 PSI versions would be fine, the 25 PSI version (on at 10 off that 25) might be weak.

Removing sediment is done by pre-filtering the water and cleaning the tank annually. I have a fast 1 micron filter I like.

https://www.practical-sailor.com/iss...r_11660-1.html

You do not want to remove dirt with the same fine filter that will remove organisms (it will clog very quickly because it must be sub-micron). Organisms (except for cysts) can be removed with chlorine. The chlorine is then removed with any in-line carbon filter. Cysts are most often removed with a 0.5 micron NSF 53 rated filter, and these can flow a little slow, depending onthe model.

You did not tell us the filter type.

[sailingunity]

Our boat used to have the filter set up the same as yours, just after the pump, but the previous owner bypassed it for the same reasons. I relocated the filters to under the sink, with a separate faucet for drinking water. A 20 micron, then a charcoal filter. Never had any issues with taste after that. We also filter the water on the way into the boat.

[steve77]

Originally Posted by thinwater

You absolutely NEED and accumulator with a hot water tank. This is in the building code.

May I ask what "building code" you are referring to?

Steve

[RickG]

We are very happy with out Seagull IV filter. It fits easily under our kitchen sink and the filters are easy to change. We pre-filter when filling our tanks with an in-line hose Camco filter. We drink water from our tank every day. The specs say the Seagull IV filter is 0.4 micron, but we get fine water pressure through it; in fact, you need to turn it on slowly or else it will splash up a good bit. Nothing fancy with our plumbing - Jabsco water pump and a small Jabsco accumulator.

Cheers, RickG

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by steve77

May I ask what "building code" you are referring to?

Steve

You will find this in shore-based plumbing codes. I do not know if it is in ABYC. Curiously, the marine codes miss a few things with plumbing, trying to keep it simple. For example, screens on potable water tanks to keep bugs out are not required on boats but they are on land.

I've used a 0.5 micron carbon filter without trouble, but they do vary in flow rate. I suspect the OP either has a low pressure marine pump (there are 2 ranges) or the filter is clogged. If it is a whole-house filter, it should be large enough.

[CarinaPDX]

Many filter elements have a pressure-drop spec. The solid carbon filter elements have too large a drop to be useful for us; better to buy the charcoal-impregnated pleated filters which usually work very well. The ceramic filters for pathogens typically have a large pressure drop. Trying to drive water through 3 elements in series is going to result in too high a pressure requirement. Better to stick with the single impregnated one. If you are worried about pathogens then use a ceramic filter at the dock, before your hose, to fill the tank - you should have plenty of water pressure. If you only use an RO watermaker at sea, as recommended, you won't have a need for the pathogen filter for that.

You should be replacing the elements at least every 6 months, maybe sooner, and the quantity of water you will pump in that time is tiny compared to a home. So that is another reason to avoid the more expensive filter elements - their higher lifetime capacity (also a spec that should be available) isn't needed.

FWIW I use a Whale foot pump to draw water from the tank then through the filter to the faucet. High pressure/volume isn't needed for the right single element.

Greg

[Akapeterc]

Hi I will filter the water before I fill the tanks using just a filter with hose connections on both ends I attach it to the tap and then straight into the water tanks I was using a carbon .1micron but after awhile the flow became too small so I’ve change back to just a 20micron filter cartrage.

[CarlF]

I have this Pentek Flo-Plus filter. It's designed to minimize flow restrictions (2 PSI drop at 1 gpm) - and I see almost no flow difference with the filter in or out of the filter housing (3GPM pump). It's also a very high quality filter meeting the newest ANSI/NSF standard 53 (as good as the Seagull but lasts much longer and much cheaper)

https://www.amazon.com/Pentek-FloPlu.../dp/B003ZVZ79U

But there's very little reason to filter the whole boat and most 10" carbon filters won't work as well if you exceed 1gpm. So why not put in a little drinking water spigot at the galley sink?