Water Filter for Sink?

[Woodbrews]

I'm thinking about installing an in-line water filter on my sink to improve my brewing and drinking water. Standing at the refrigerator filling 5 gallons of water gets old fast.

Even after some web research, I'm having a hard time getting answers to certain questions. For example, does an inexpensive filter, like the 3M Filtrete 3US-PS01, remove chloramines? The product description says it removes "chlorine odor and taste," but says nothing about chloramines. Second, I keep reading mixed reviews on whether a system that connects to your cold water line will significantly reduce your flow rate.

Has anyone had experience with an in-line system for a sink faucet?

Or do folks recommend installing a dedicated faucet for filtered water (which would require giving up one of my soap dispensers)?

Thanks!

 

[biertourist]

General rule: If the filter doesn't SAY that it doesn't treat chloramine, it doesn't and it will pass ammonia into your water.

If you're treating chlorine you will need to run at a very slow flow rate (0.5 - 2 GPM max) depending upon your filter setup and 0.5-1.0 GPM is probably the recommended max on most systems so don't worry about input and output size because the flow rate has to be slow for the activated carbon to work on the chlorine.

You'll want a cheap sediment filter (or two) in line before your expensive Chloramine treating Carbon Block Filter to prevent it from clogging up.

-Go with a 5 micron sediment filter followed by a 1 micron sediment filter, then a 2-6 micron carbon block filter.


This is a really good setup but I'd email Brandon and ask if he can swap out the 5 micron sediment filter for a 1 micron and tell him that you want the 1 micron carbon block filter to be the chloramine reducing kind. (Probably cost $100-$110 and you'll have a great option.) http://www.homebrewfilters.com/index.php/brew-water-filters/3-stage-water-filter.html
-Or just buy it as is and then swap the 5 micron for a 1 micron in a year and buy a replacement 1 micron chloramine carbon block filter.

Ideally store the filters dry; and replace all 3 once a year.


Adam

 

[nebulous]

^exactly what he said. i have a whole house ion exchange filter and a three stage filter. depending on what i am doing (and what i have on hand) i use ion exchange water or i use my city water filtered through a 3-stage filter because the local water profile is good for clean finishing IPAs and pale ales.

 

[Wynne-R]

I use the matrikx CTO Plus. It’s not rated for chloramine but it works. My utility uses 3 ppm chloramine and at .5 gal/min the test paper won't indicate, below .1 ppm.

My previous cartridge was the KX PB-1 and after seven years it didn’t show any chloramine either. I question the need for a pre-filter. The flow had slowed a little but it was still useable. I guess it depends on your water.
They say to replace the filters annually, but I just pull mine apart and clean it.

I still use a little Campden but sometimes I forget and it doesn’t seem to matter.

There are filters specially made to remove chloramine but they’re a little more expensive and don’t seem to last as long.
http://www.purewaterproducts.com/cartridges/size1
The prices include shipping.

 

[TheZer]

To treat chloramines, I use the following three filter stages before my water gets to the reverse osmosis membrane.

1. 5 micron sediment filter
2. Catalytic Carbon filter
3. Pentek ChlorPlus 10 filter

Multiple RO retailers (Bulk Reef, Air Water Ice) advise using catalytic carbon as the second stage filter, as it does an excellent job at breaking down chloramine into chlorine and ammonium.

 

[Woodbrews]

Thanks for all of the helpful information. HBT really is a goldmine.

Here are the numbers from Arlington County, VA's 2012 water report. Admittedly, I have not yet read Palmer's book on water, but are these numbers anything to be concerned about in terms of imparting off-flavors in beers?

Even so, given the amount of water we consume as a family (soda water in lieu of soft drinks, water for baby formula, coffee making, beer, etc.), I'd like it to be as clean as possible.

Average Hardness 125 mg/L or 7.3 grains/gal
Average pH 7.9
Average Chloramines Residual 2.9 ppm
Average Fluoride 0.7 ppm
Average Sodium* 20 ppm
Average Nickel 2.0 ppb

Should I also be thinking about a whole-house filtration system?
Thanks!

 

[biertourist]

I use the matrikx CTO Plus. It’s not rated for chloramine but it works. My utility uses 3 ppm chloramine and at .5 gal/min the test paper won't indicate, below .1 ppm.

My previous cartridge was the KX PB-1 and after seven years it didn’t show any chloramine either. I question the need for a pre-filter. The flow had slowed a little but it was still useable.

Your test methodology is invalid; chloramine treating filters don't do what you think that they do. -Its not completely your fault, though; the terms are rather confusing.

Regular activated carbon by itself DOES remove chlorine AND breaks the bond between the chlorine and ammonia molecule (Chloramine is chlorine+ammonia) so of course if you test for chloramine out the other side you should get a negative result; but that's not actually what a chloramine treating filter does. --The chloramine filters actually focus on preventing the ammonia from passing into your water; if your water is treated with chloramine and you pass it through a normal activated carbon filter you end up with ammonia in your water -if you pass it through a "chloramine treating" carbon block filter both the chlorine and the ammonia will be filtered out.(That's actually what a "chloramine treating" filter is supposed to do.)

So if you want to see if a chloramine filter is "necessary" or not, you would pass your chloramine treated water through a regular activated carbon filter and check for the presence of AMMONIA (not chloramine) and then do the same with the chloramine treating filter.



Adam

 

[Wynne-R]

http://www.lamotte.com/en/food-beverage/test-strips/2979.html

The test strips I use are for total chlorine, so it measures both chloramine and free chlorine.

Carbon filters are good at removing chlorine and less good at removing chloramine. Having busted up the chloramine, wouldn’t the filter adsorb the chlorine?

Also I don’t imagine you’d find ammonia in solution. Wouldn’t it be ammonium? Household ammonia is actually ammonium hydroxide.

 

[biertourist]

http://www.lamotte.com/en/food-beverage/test-strips/2979.html

The test strips I use are for total chlorine, so it measures both chloramine and free chlorine.

Carbon filters are good at removing chlorine and less good at removing chloramine. Having busted up the chloramine, wouldn’t the filter adsorb the chlorine?

Yes, it will absorb the chlorine. It won't absorb the ammonia.

Adam

 

[bootney]

I just received the filter that you suggested below and there's a noticeable difference between our filtered and non filtered water. Now I only bought this to filter my brewing water, and it'll only be used maybe once or twice a month. What is recommended storage for the filters?

Thanks in advance.

General rule: If the filter doesn't SAY that it doesn't treat chloramine, it doesn't and it will pass ammonia into your water. If you're treating chlorine you will need to run at a very slow flow rate (0.5 - 2 GPM max) depending upon your filter setup and 0.5-1.0 GPM is probably the recommended max on most systems so don't worry about input and output size because the flow rate has to be slow for the activated carbon to work on the chlorine. You'll want a cheap sediment filter (or two) in line before your expensive Chloramine treating Carbon Block Filter to prevent it from clogging up. -Go with a 5 micron sediment filter followed by a 1 micron sediment filter, then a 2-6 micron carbon block filter. This is a really good setup but I'd email Brandon and ask if he can swap out the 5 micron sediment filter for a 1 micron and tell him that you want the 1 micron carbon block filter to be the chloramine reducing kind. (Probably cost $100-$110 and you'll have a great option.) http://www.homebrewfilters.com/index.php/brew-water-filters/3-stage-water-filter.html -Or just buy it as is and then swap the 5 micron for a 1 micron in a year and buy a replacement 1 micron chloramine carbon block filter. Ideally store the filters dry; and replace all 3 once a year. Adam

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

To treat chloramines, I use the following three filter stages before my water gets to the reverse osmosis membrane.

1. 5 micron sediment filter
2. Catalytic Carbon filter
3. Pentek ChlorPlus 10 filter

Multiple RO retailers (Bulk Reef, Air Water Ice) advise using catalytic carbon as the second stage filter, as it does an excellent job at breaking down chloramine into chlorine and ammonium.

Wow, I thought I was doing a good job by getting the Pentek ChlorPlus10. From doing some research it seemed like it was pretty good at getting most everything out. You guys are taking it to the extreme.

I noticed that the Pentek says it removes Chloramine TASTES AND ODORS. Does this mean it removes it, or just part of it?

 

[jflongo]

I'm thinking about installing an in-line water filter on my sink to improve my brewing and drinking water. Standing at the refrigerator filling 5 gallons of water gets old fast.

Even after some web research, I'm having a hard time getting answers to certain questions. For example, does an inexpensive filter, like the 3M Filtrete 3US-PS01, remove chloramines? The product description says it removes "chlorine odor and taste," but says nothing about chloramines. Second, I keep reading mixed reviews on whether a system that connects to your cold water line will significantly reduce your flow rate.

Has anyone had experience with an in-line system for a sink faucet?

Or do folks recommend installing a dedicated faucet for filtered water (which would require giving up one of my soap dispensers)?

Thanks!

I removed our soap dispenser and installed a 2 filter inline system under my sink. The flow rate still is not real fast, and would take quite some time to fill 5 gallons.

 

[TheZer]

Wow, I thought I was doing a good job by getting the Pentek ChlorPlus10. From doing some research it seemed like it was pretty good at getting most everything out. You guys are taking it to the extreme.

I noticed that the Pentek says it removes Chloramine TASTES AND ODORS. Does this mean it removes it, or just part of it?

The 1 micron Pentek ($20) alone does pretty well, and will remove most if not all (@<1 gpm) of the chlorine and chloramine, but will not last very long without a prefilter. It will clog up with >>>1 micron particles/sediments. If you're only using to brew, then no big deal.

That's why the cheap 5 micron prefilter ($3) first. It gets most of the crap out, which saves the catalytic C ($10) and the 1 micron Pentek for the chloramines. With an RO system, any chlorine or chloramines that get through will destroy the RO membrane ($40) quickly. The RO membrane gets most of whats left (metals, bacteria, hydrocarbons, etc).

This is all very standard for any RO drinking water system.

 

[jcaudill]

If you want higher flow rates you just go up to 20x4.5" - but the cost goes way up as well. In 10" filters you'll have to run around 0.5gpm, max of 1gpm but the catalytic carbon filter life will be cut in half (to roughly 1000 gallons). In 20" you'll pay up to 4 times as much, but the flow rates go up to 2-4gpm and you can get about 5-7 times as much filtration from a single cartridge. Housings cost a lot more too but that is just a one time expense.