SEDIMENT IN WATER
When you get your water from a well or surface water source, you may find that there are particles of sand and silt that make their way into your plumbing system. Often, you’ll notice cloudy water, particles floating in your in water or sinking to the bottom, plugged screens and faucets, and damage to appliances and washing machines caused by particles. The cloudiness or haziness is called “turbidity, ” and it’s caused by individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye. All of these pollutants can be removed using special filters for sedimentation water treatment.
HOW DOES SEDIMENT GET INTO WATER?
Typically, you’ll find sand, silt, and sediment in water when you get your water from a well that is in a sandy area or from a surface water source that may contain a great deal of silt. Turbidity can be caused by soil erosion, waste discharge, storm water runoff, eroding stream banks, bottom feeding fish, and algae growth.
ARE SEDIMENT AND SILT DANGEROUS?
Generally speaking, there are likely no real health concerns related to drinking water that contains sand or sediment (other than grit between your teeth). Most people don’t like drinking gritty water, however, and it can cause problems in faucets, showers, and appliances where the sediment collects and causes blockages.
HOW DO I REMOVE SEDIMENT FROM WATER?
The best way to deal with sedimentation in water treatment is to use a physical water filter. These filters are measured in microns, which tells you what size particles the filter can trap. You can find filters with micron ratings as large as 50 microns (about the size of the average human hair) down to 0.35 microns and smaller. US Water Systems offers a range of sediment filters for your home, as well as a wide range of replacement filters for sediment water treatment, including pleated, spun polypropylene, and string wound sediment filters.
When buying a sediment water treatment filter, you often need to choose a filter with a small enough micron range to trap a majority of particles, but not so small that you have to change the filter with too much frequency. If you have large particles in your water, for example, you’d want to start with a 50 or 20 micron filter, which would take care of those larger particles. If you put in a 5 micron filter alone, it would likely clog up very quickly. The truth, however, is that removing sand, silt, sediment, or turbidity is an inexact science – you simply have to try different micron sizes and types of filters in order to remove all of these contaminant efficiently. Call the Certified Water Specialists at US Water Systems to get started with your sediment water treatment.