The day before closing on our new house, the builder called to say that our water didn't pass bacterial testing. Since they obviously still wanted to close, we had a ton of leverage and had them install, at their expense, about $10,000 worth of purification equipment. As we are on a well, some of this would have been necessary anyway (for iron and hardness). Additionally, the county water guy said the bacteria was nonzero but very low, and that actual contamination was orders of magnitude higher than what we showed. Thus it's from a miscalculation during shock chlorination, and not a nearby farm or septic field. Great.
Of course, there are added expenses. The salt is one, and the UV lamp is another. The lamp is supposed to last at least two years (and it does) but they're about $200 for OEM and half that for a generic. Not too bad, but not free. However, the UV system has the equivalent of a bunch of check engine lights that really only irritate me. There is a control unit that provides power and tells you whether there is adequate UV dose (based on water clarity) and flow rate. The system is designed to have water flow around a quartz sleeve with the UV light inside of it. Cloudy water (turbidity) and mineral buildup on the sleeve would both prevent adequate dose, and very high flow would also limit the efficacy of the UV treatment. That's all well and good, but now I have two additional sensors - the UV dosimeter, which is a lens, and the flow meter, which is a paddle wheel. These, of course, are $300-$400 parts with a one-year warranty and are apparently prone to failure. If anything is out of spec (or the sensors fail) there is an audible alarm.
The flow meter is useless. The unit can treat 10 GPM, and max flow in the house under ideal conditions is half that (or less). I think actual peak is around a third. Thus, there really are no circumstances where the flow would be too high. Hell, the max with air in the lines (no downstream resistance) is only about 7 GPM. There are four separate filters preceding the UV system and 1/2" pipe at every outlet - it just doesn't have anywhere to go.
The UV dosimeter is also mostly useless. With a softener, you should not have mineral buildup, and if you have cloudy water, you will be aware of this at the tap. I feel like it would make infinitely more sense to just tell people to check the sleeve when you change the bulb.
Right now, one (or both) of those sensors have failed, and tech support can't even figure out which one. So while I know the bulb is on and the sleeve is crystal clear, I can't operate the system without a really annoying constant beeping which is telling me not that something is wrong with the water, but a sensor. Or at least that was the case until I desoldered the speaker from the PC board. It was basically the equivalent of a check engine light that was stuck on even though everything was fine.
Too many ID-10T lights these days. I feel like it's just a scam set up to get more support dollars out of consumers.
Of course, there are added expenses. The salt is one, and the UV lamp is another. The lamp is supposed to last at least two years (and it does) but they're about $200 for OEM and half that for a generic. Not too bad, but not free. However, the UV system has the equivalent of a bunch of check engine lights that really only irritate me. There is a control unit that provides power and tells you whether there is adequate UV dose (based on water clarity) and flow rate. The system is designed to have water flow around a quartz sleeve with the UV light inside of it. Cloudy water (turbidity) and mineral buildup on the sleeve would both prevent adequate dose, and very high flow would also limit the efficacy of the UV treatment. That's all well and good, but now I have two additional sensors - the UV dosimeter, which is a lens, and the flow meter, which is a paddle wheel. These, of course, are $300-$400 parts with a one-year warranty and are apparently prone to failure. If anything is out of spec (or the sensors fail) there is an audible alarm.
The flow meter is useless. The unit can treat 10 GPM, and max flow in the house under ideal conditions is half that (or less). I think actual peak is around a third. Thus, there really are no circumstances where the flow would be too high. Hell, the max with air in the lines (no downstream resistance) is only about 7 GPM. There are four separate filters preceding the UV system and 1/2" pipe at every outlet - it just doesn't have anywhere to go.
The UV dosimeter is also mostly useless. With a softener, you should not have mineral buildup, and if you have cloudy water, you will be aware of this at the tap. I feel like it would make infinitely more sense to just tell people to check the sleeve when you change the bulb.
Right now, one (or both) of those sensors have failed, and tech support can't even figure out which one. So while I know the bulb is on and the sleeve is crystal clear, I can't operate the system without a really annoying constant beeping which is telling me not that something is wrong with the water, but a sensor. Or at least that was the case until I desoldered the speaker from the PC board. It was basically the equivalent of a check engine light that was stuck on even though everything was fine.
Too many ID-10T lights these days. I feel like it's just a scam set up to get more support dollars out of consumers.
