Fluid from a well, well and water supply is almost never ideal: there is a large amount of salts, suspensions, which can sometimes be harmful to health. To make drinking water clean, tasty and safe, you will need to install a purification system.
Types of cleaning systems
- Rough. Coarse suspended solids are removed by means of mesh or filling filter elements.
- Chemical. Compounds of iron, manganese, heavy metals and hydrogen sulfide are filtered, water softening. For this, ion exchange devices, aeration columns and deferrization units are used.
- Bacterial. When treated with ultraviolet light or ozone, fragments of organic matter and microorganisms are removed.
- Thin. Maximum cleaning takes place using sorbent columns and membrane units.
The last two steps can be combined using environmentally friendly ultrafine reverse osmosis devices.
Reagent and non-reagent
Water treatment systems are reagent and non-reagent. In the first, oxidizing agents are used that react with pollutants, in particular with ferrous compounds. Treatment plants of such a plan are not too expensive, however, to maintain productivity, they need cash injections during operation.
Filters are able to clarify the liquid so that it becomes suitable for household use. But drinking purified water in its raw form is not recommended.
Reagent-free devices are expensive, in addition, they require the installation of an air compressor device and aeration column. Purification systems are more cost-effective than reagent systems, since there is no need to spend money on consumables. The devices can dispense purified water suitable for use in household needs, for drinking and cooking.
Dimensions and arrangement of filtration equipment
For summer cottages with seasonal living, it is possible to use the following filtering elements:
- The filter jug is a plastic cleaning dish with a cartridge installed inside. It is inexpensive. The cleaning level is medium, a good option with little water consumption. It will not protect against all impurities, but will retain chlorine and iron compounds, fine grains of sand and organic particles. When choosing a cartridge device, you will need to take into account the composition of the water. The jug boxes indicate which contaminants the filter can trap.
- Attachment on the crane. It is a small plastic element with a filter medium. It takes up little space and is very cheap. Install it on the mixer, fasten it with clamps or screw it onto the thread. The filter element of such a plan helps to clean the liquid from lime, chlorine and rust, softens the water. But it slows down the water flow, which can lead to damage to the pumping equipment.
- Sink filter. Cleans from various impurities, but requires regular replacement of the activated carbon cartridge.
For a small house, it is enough to install a coarse filtration mesh membrane on the pump and supply a cartridge-type flow-through filter element.The mesh will retain large pollutants, and the filter with a cartridge will retain small impurities and suspensions, chloride and ferrous compounds.
For a typical country cottage, a complex device consisting of filtering units is suitable:
- mud filter for cleaning from large impurities;
- aeration column, which oxidizes ferrous and hydrogen sulfide impurities;
- iron remover for trapping compounds of iron, manganese and heavy metals;
- softener that makes the liquid less hard.
If necessary, such a complex can be supplemented with a fine filtering device, as well as disinfecting equipment.
Criterias of choice
To choose the equipment that suits you, you need to consider the following indicators:
- Water quality. You will need to take a sample for laboratory testing. If the water contains a significant amount of coarse impurities, a 400 micron coarse mesh filter is required. The use of thinner filter elements is impractical due to their instant failure.
- The amount of water consumed. A person needs 2.5 liters of drinking fluid per day. To calculate the required volume, the figure is multiplied by the total number of residents in the house.
- Equipment dimensions. The indicator is directly related to the productivity of the device. This aspect should be taken into account already at the stage of creating a house project in order to find a site for the device. There are miniature cabinet-type water purification stations, compact block installations, modular and block-modular kits. The latest water treatment devices are large and suitable for cottages with large areas.
- The degree of automation. The stations can be operated in standard mode and under conditions of regeneration of the filtration load. Switching of the installation is required from time to time. It is carried out manually or using automation. The first method is inexpensive, but laborious. In the second version, the system is equipped with a control valve, which greatly simplifies the maintenance and repair of equipment.
- The costs of the device, its installation and consumable components.
After passing through the filtration unit, the water loses not only harmful, but also useful properties. For such cases, devices have been developed that saturate liquids with the necessary substances.
Installation steps
Arrangement of an independent treatment plant begins with the selection of a room. For non-stop year-round operation of the system, it must be installed in a heated room. In cases where people live in a country house only in the warm season, you can put water filters, which provide for conservation for the winter.
There is no need to cleanse all liquid entering the house. Perfectly clean water is required for drinking and cooking.
The cleaning devices are connected to a separate kitchen tap. To provide additional protection of the device from the ingress of contaminants, several coarse filtration devices can be installed at the inlet of the water main.
The installation of the water treatment system is carried out according to the following scheme:
- Installation and fixing of the elements of the water purification kit. They are connected in series with each other by means of a liner and fittings.
- Connection to communication networks - electricity supply, sewerage, as well as to the water supply network of the house. A shut-off valve must be installed at the connection to the pipeline. Electrical work must be carried out by a licensed electrician.
- System testing. An indispensable condition for its correct and smooth functioning. At the test stage, it is determined under what pressure the liquid moves in the system, the actual throughput of the filter elements is checked and it is determined whether it is in accordance with the planned indicator.
All work on the installation and connection of the purification system can be completed in about five hours.
You can order them from specialized organizations on a turnkey basis. This means delivery of equipment, assembly, loading of filtration materials, test run and adjustment of all parts of the structure, analysis of purified water.
Entrust the execution of start-up and commissioning work to professionals, especially when it comes to complex cleaning devices. It is quite possible to put a small filter on your own.
Operation and maintenance
Regardless of the type of filtration device, it is necessary to systematically inspect the system for the appearance of structural defects, loss of tightness and other malfunctions. Consumables and components require regular replacement.
Consumable filter elements are replaced every three months on average.
If water used in the country for irrigation and irrigation passes through the filters, you will need to thoroughly rinse the inner surfaces of the equipment itself. The same applies to downhole filtration units operating continuously with contaminated fluid.
The cost of water treatment systems for a country house
The price of the simplest devices for a one-time purification of a small amount of water is about 1,500 rubles. The cost of an integrated water treatment system in a private house starts at 20,000 rubles. The upper price limit is RUB 600,000.
The cost is influenced not so much by the functionality and design features of the treatment units as by the level of their automation.
Also, the price depends on the manufacturer. For example, Russian devices "Aquaphor" with complete cleaning and aeration deferrization cost about 130,000 rubles. Domestic installation "Yolka" - about 170,000 rubles. A similar version of the American brand EcoWater Systems - about 200,000 rubles.
