, for me, a detailed post is much better to understand the situation clearly 🙂 ... you forgot to mention the source of your water? is it your own deep well or is it from a deep well for the whole subdivision? i assume it's deep well, as hard water is normally a problem with deep well (we also use a deep well in our home) - it normally happens for deep well when your water source below is in a bedrock formation and not ground soil. from your post (e.g. after 3 days of use), i think the first thing you need to do is to determine how big the problem is ... if you notice a change in the quality of the water after 3 days of use, it could only be 2 things, either the filter you bought is sub-standard (resin) or the amount of minerals (e.g. calcium and magnesium) in the water is too high in your area 🙁 ...

to give you an idea of how big the problem is in your area ... ask your neighbors if they have the same problem and what they have done to solve it. if they are using a personal deep well, also ask how deep did they drilled their deep well. if your home also uses a personal deep well, also ask the builders how deep it is for comparison. in our case, my wife notice the problem (e.g. na ninilaw yun mga puting labada nila 🙂 he he he) from our neighbors and when we build our house last year, i made sure then that our deep well water supply is clean by drilling deeper and not in a bedrock formation - the drillers knows this info based on their experience. re-drilling a deep well, if you have one, is quite expensive and tedious, so this should be your last option - but it's the best solution to the problem in the long term.

as for the filters, we also use a 2-stage filter system (charcoal + resin ; i installed a pre-filter beside the pump) for our drinking water to ensure that it's safe for human consumption. for the resin, to remove the minerals (activated carbon is for removing the odor), the disposable paper type is really not that good as what you have mentioned - especially if it's sub-standard. i use the ceramic type, it's also disposable (the salesman told me to replace it once a year) and a little more expensive (its around 2K at Citi Hardware). the good thing about ceramic, is that you can clean it. in my case, i clean it every 2 months when it color start's to turn dark).
you can try changing one of your filter to a ceramic type and monitor it for 1-2 months and see what happens - and don't forget to talk to your neighbors to get their feedback on the problem :-). don't throw away the old filter as you can still use it as a replacement for the other one while your testing the efficiency of the ceramic type.

hope this info helps ... cheers

Boo!

Hi Boo,

How deep it will be? I have similar situation. I used deep well system but based on my survey to my neighbor , hard water din sila. Baka kasi masayang lang if I will go for another well.

, for me, a detailed post is much better to understand the situation clearly 🙂 ... you forgot to mention the source of your water? is it your own deep well or is it from a deep well for the whole subdivision? i assume it's deep well, as hard water is normally a problem with deep well (we also use a deep well in our home) - it normally happens for deep well when your water source below is in a bedrock formation and not ground soil. from your post (e.g. after 3 days of use), i think the first thing you need to do is to determine how big the problem is ... if you notice a change in the quality of the water after 3 days of use, it could only be 2 things, either the filter you bought is sub-standard (resin) or the amount of minerals (e.g. calcium and magnesium) in the water is too high in your area 🙁 ...

--> Honestly, not quite sure Sir since we are just renting an apartment complex in Mandaue City, Cebu. From what I've heard, non-MCWD (Metro Cebu Water District) sourced water here are usually from deep well, sourced from somewhere as I don't see a deep well near our complex nor any pump that sucks water from underground or something... I've been told that our area is serviced by a different provider apart from MCWD so not sure where they are getting their water source...

I hope it's just sub-standard but I am also thinking it could be a double-whammy...

I used this "Megafresh - FA-RESIN" resin filter from ACE hardware so not sure about the quality of this...

http://www.megafresh.com.tw/detail.php?id=40

to give you an idea of how big the problem is in your area ... ask your neighbors if they have the same problem and what they have done to solve it. if they are using a personal deep well, also ask how deep did they drilled their deep well. if your home also uses a personal deep well, also ask the builders how deep it is for comparison. in our case, my wife notice the problem (e.g. na ninilaw yun mga puting labada nila 🙂 he he he) from our neighbors and when we build our house last year, i made sure then that our deep well water supply is clean by drilling deeper and not in a bedrock formation - the drillers knows this info based on their experience. re-drilling a deep well, if you have one, is quite expensive and tedious, so this should be your last option - but it's the best solution to the problem in the long term.

--> This is my homework, hahaha! We've been here for 9 months now but I haven't really bothered asking my neighbors just yet as I assumed they won't complain anyhow compared to having no water at all, hahaha! It's not like we are being ma-arte or something, but our clothes/laundry are really taking a hit... Parang naging 20 years old bigla mga damit namin, my favorite Uniqlo shirt is now filled with white/chalk-like something stains that I can't remove even re-washing... but I might just have found a way to solve it...

"2 Treat hard water spots with vinegar."

http://www.wikihow.com/Soften-Hard-Water

as for the filters, we also use a 2-stage filter system (charcoal + resin ; i installed a pre-filter beside the pump) for our drinking water to ensure that it's safe for human consumption. for the resin, to remove the minerals (activated carbon is for removing the odor), the disposable paper type is really not that good as what you have mentioned - especially if it's sub-standard. i use the ceramic type, it's also disposable (the salesman told me to replace it once a year) and a little more expensive (its around 2K at Citi Hardware). the good thing about ceramic, is that you can clean it. in my case, i clean it every 2 months when it color start's to turn dark).
you can try changing one of your filter to a ceramic type and monitor it for 1-2 months and see what happens - and don't forget to talk to your neighbors to get their feedback on the problem :-). don't throw away the old filter as you can still use it as a replacement for the other one while your testing the efficiency of the ceramic type.

--> Sorry, so I should look for a ceramic-type resin filter tama po ba Sir or ceramic-type is for the pre-filter? Anyway, for this "Megafresh - FA-RESIN" cartridge, how long should this typically last? It says replace 3-6 months kasi depending on usage, meron din nakalagay na "Service Life: 1000/ gallons (but I am not exactly sure if it meant 1000 gallons or 1000 per gallons - if it even makes sense at all)...

hope this info helps ... cheers

Boo!

Thank you so much Sir for your feedback! Finally, I have someone very nice and professional to talk to... 🙂 sa ibang forums, panay angasan lang ang alam... 😀

Anyway, I have entered my answers above in bold...

Again, thank you so much Sir! Very much appreciated....

it really depends on your geographical location. normally, the good local well drillers in your area will have a good idea based on their experience. in our case, most of our neighbors uses 2 (12m) 1-1/4" GI pipe for their well. i used a 2" pipe (makes for a bigger water reserve underground) and our well consumed 3 pipes but when they were manually drilling the well, i have 5 pipes for the job - returned the 2 unused pipes sa supplier ko 🙂 he he he. just a note, if your well is going to be deep, you may have to install a foot valve at the end of the pipe. from my experience, with 3 pipes, no need to put a install a foot valve - i just installed a pre-filter at the side of the deep well before the water pump ...

when i was doing some research on our house location, there is one govt agency that makes a land survey of areas/location in PH. one of the info in those survey is an estimate of how deep is the underground water table in a location. you can check them out to see if they have made a survey of your location. this info is mostly use by developers who are planning on drilling deep wells for their subdivision. i just forgot the name of that PH agency (e.g. DPWH, BMG, or DENR) 🙂 he he he. just google it, the reports are in PDF format which you can download 🙂 ... hope this info helps ... cheers

Boo!

, you need to buy the ceramic type filter - para siyang bato (dirty white in color) compared to the paper filter in the website ... your right, it's not about being ma-arte. my wife is very meticulous when it comes to our house which is why i was mandated by my commander to ensure that our water supply is at par to what she has been used too before 🙂 ha ha ha ... calcuim is basically an alkaline which is why anything acidic (e.g. vinegar) will work to counteract it's effect 🙂 ... your right about some local forums here in PH, karamihan puro angasan lang 🙂 ha ha ha ... to me, PHM is still the best DIY site to share ones knowledge gained through experience and also learn a lot of things from the experiences of other DIYers :-). same with you, i also stumbled (e.g. everytime i googled about DIY matters, this local site always appears high in the list 🙂 he he he) on this website last year when i was doing research and costing on the house that we were constructing ... cheers

Boo!

Thanks for the response...

Anyway, just to clarify Sir, I should buy a ceramic type filter to be used as a pre-filter? Or I should look for a ceramic type resin filter?

Sorry, just want to be sure I understood it correctly... 🙂

you should buy the ceramic type resin filter. in your setup you have 2 paper type resin filter. just buy one for now and replace one of your existing filter and monitor the result ... cheers

Boo!

Ok, thanks Sir! Will look for that one comes weekend... 😉

just a note for clarity. the pre-filter i mentioned is also a type of filter. it's main purpose is to filter out large objects (e.g. sand, small gravel, dirt, etc) in the water from the deep well or any source for that matter so that it won't damage the water pump of your water supply system. so basically, you put this filter between the water source and the water pump that pumps water into the pressure tank. it's made of a hard plastic casing, cylindrical in shape with a strong nylon fine mesh around it to prevent the particles from going through. below is a photo of the filter ...

if you don't want to buy, you can always make a cheaper DIY solution - i did this before in my parents house a long time ago 🙂 ... buy the normal aquarium nylon filter sheet (normally white in color). cut the length to the size of your filter casing. roll the filter until you have a cylinder shape that is a little smaller than the diameter of your filter casing. place the DIY filter in the casing and wha lah, you now have a DIY pre-filter 🙂 he he he ... you can also use the nylon fiber aquarium filter, just stuff it into the filter casing until all the area is filled with the fiber. downside of using nylon fiber is it's hard to clean 🙂 ... cheers

Boo!

I just installed a whole house - water sediment filter. It is installed between deep well pump discharge and elevated tank. It is working effectively but not in hardness removal. The cost is filter+ element=1,500; pvc piping+valves+ fittings=1,000; labor=diy. It is a 2.5"dia x 20" long, 20 micron hydrosep brand filter. Next project will be water softener system supplying kitchen & shower so it will be on separate piping network. Naghahanap na ako ng store/ supplier selling the frp tank, brine tank, manual softener valve. Anyone has idea where can I bought cheaper aside from olx?

, looking forward for you to share your setup (once it's done) for softening the water. my wife's auntie has this problem right now with their water supply and i'm sure that my wife will be asking me to help them in finding a solution to this problem ... cheers

Boo!

Based on recently purchased instrument:
Our deep well-water supply has a TDS reading of 500 ppm.
Distilled water = 0
Drinking water (delivery from water refilling station) = 11
Neighbor (600 mts away) = 361
Neighbor (1200 mts away near river) =257 ppm

pre, i was reading about TDS (total dissolved solids) this morning as it's new to me and noted that 500 ppm is already the max limit of EPA for a safe drinking water. just to be on the safe side, better advice everyone not use the water directly from the deep well for drinking - the 'acceptable' level is from 0-140 ppm (lower is better) ... cheers

Boo!

received quotation from AQUASTAR WATER TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS, INC.
Softener:
frp tank 10" x 54" Php2,600
softener manual valve Php2,000
resin Php 2,600 (needs 2 bags)
brine tank 80 lts Php2,500
gravel Php300 per bag