FILTERSORB SP Q&A

How does FILTERSORB SP function?

SP is a catalyst with molecular patterns on its surface on which, depending upon the calcium and magnesium carbonate content of the water, calcite crystals grow. When the crystals reach a size in the range of nano-meters they detach and are carried away by the water flow. These calcite crystals are heat resistant and can no longer cause lime deposits. The treated water coming out of the SP Unit is also able to remove existing scale. Depending on the thickness of the existing scale it will take some weeks to remove it 100 %. But after this the pipe system and the heat exchanger surfaces will be absolutely clean.

What is the main difference to softening with ion exchanger units?

Ion exchange resins remove Ca and Mg ions from water and replace these with sodium ions. Because of this complete replacement the water is usually blended and set at 8° dH. Softening units require water for backwashing and common salt for regeneration (as an example: in order to regenerate 100 liters of softening resin, up to 25 kg of salt per regeneration cycle is required). The increased sodium content of the water is a concern to more and more government regulators. There are questionable perceived health concerns. This is a negative aspect for the consumer and the consumer perceives health risks for their cardiovascular system. When there is a septic tank system the warranties are often voided when sodium is discharged into the septic system. Water for backwashing and the salt ($200 to $400 per year to purchase salt) are expensive. Control heads, as required for ion exchange units, must be maintained which is an additional ongoing maintenance cost.

Within the Scale Prevention Unit (the SP Catalyst being at its core) the water hardness is transformed into firm lime crystals and not removed. The crystals are transformed out of solution. The crystal can not attach to pipes or appliances. There is no need for regeneration of the bed because the SP system works like a catalyst (the media is not used up in the process).

The CWG Scale Prevention Unit does not use salt and therefore does not add sodium to the water. It requires no control heads (a simple in-out valve is all that is required), no water for backwashing and no common salt for regeneration. This means you have no costs for service, no costs for water, no cost for regeneration material.

Is the water filtered by the SP system, is it a down-flow system?

No, the SP is not a traditional filter. It does not trap the hardness nor does it exchange anything for the hardness like a traditional water softener. The SP water conditioning system works like a catalyst media in that it causes crystallization of ions. The inlet water flow in a SP water conditioning system is always in UPWARD motion from the bottom up in the filter housing. The media in the SP system always stays in a suspended state when the water is flowing. The media is in constant motion and the flows are from the bottom to the top so the media cannot filter the water. All the hardness that enters the SP system is pulled out of solution and forms crystals as they pass by the SP media. They attach to the media for a short time until they grow to sub micron size and break free from the media and pass along with the water flow. The crystals can not attach to any surfaces and you get the same benefits of softener only without the slippery feeling of soft water.

Can I replace a traditional water softener system with a SP water conditioner and what difference in performance should I see between the two systems?

Yes, you can remove a traditional softener and replace with a SP conditioner system. There will be a difference with the new SP system in that the customer will not feel the unpleasant slippery feeling that he had with the traditional softener. This is because the hardness was not removed but was crystallized. The additional advantage is that he will not have sodium in his service water. IMPORTANT! The customer may experience a salty taste or slight odor in the water for a short period of time AFTER HE REMOVES THE OLD SOFTENER. This happens because the new SP water conditioner will clean the pipes that may have a sodium and/or calcium build up and residue in the pipes in the house from the old softener. However, this lasts only for a short time until the pipes are clean. The customer can be assured that the will never again have a sodium or calcium build up in the pipes, water heater, and appliances.

Do microorganisms accumulate in the catalyst unit and must the material regularly be disinfected?

No. Because the material does not demonstrate filtration effects, remember the media is always suspended in the water when in service and microorganisms are repressed. Disinfecting the SP granulate in most cases is therefore not required.

Is a central control valve necessary or does the system function without backwashing?

Because the SP granulate is continually in motion in the counter-current up flow and no particles are held up in the media a backwashing process is not required. You might say the media is always in backwash during service because it is always suspended in the water. A central control valve is therefore not used in a SP water conditioning system. There is no need for backwash.

Why does the Filtersorb SP media not need to be backwashed? What keeps the media bed from getting fouled?

It is important to point out that we have no filtration effect with our SP media. Remember we are in a continuous up flow backwash situation and therefore we do not filter out anything from the water. So we have no accumulation of anything in the suspended bed of SP media. The SP media works as a catalyst only, not as a filtration media.

What happens at night time when there is no water flow?

The filter bed is not suspended when there is no water flow. The filter bed will rest. For top performance it is recommended that the filter media rests 8 hours per day. This is never a problem in a residential installation. In commercial application running 24 hours a day you will need to design and alternate a two filter system that will allow one of the filters to rest while one of the filters is in service.

What if the bed gets contaminated with bacteria?

This should not be a problem. The continuous back wash is the best action to keep the media clean. The media nevertheless can be treated with chlorine (up to 2-3 ppm) to kill bacteria and to remove organic matter.

What is the maximum operating temperature of the SP media?

The SP media will tolerate 120° C (248° F) Please consider that all the other equipment is much more limited regarding the water temperature.

What is the minimum operating temperature of the SP media?

The SP can go down to 38° F. Please consider that all the other equipment is much more limited regarding the water temperature.

What is the pH range of the media? What is the low and high pH range?

It works in the range of 6 to 9 pH, but we also found that it works at pH 5.5 as well. ( Below 6 pH we always recommend that you do a pilot) What you can always do is stay in the range of the pH range allowed for drinking water in your market area.

What is the life time of the media?

We know of systems running for 3 years without any problem, but we recommend checking the media after 2 years of operation. Changing the media is very easy.

Can I destroy the media or can it get fouled? What special precautions should I take?

The same precautions you would take with softening resin. Hydrogen sulfide and oil in the water can foul the media. The media is strong and has at least 3 years of life time with normal usage.

How do I keep the media from washing out of the unit when I start it up for the first time and put it into service?

We always recommend that you soak the media for 15 minutes before start up. This assures that the media is saturated with water and will not accumulate at the top of the housing when filled with water. You also have an upper basket that will keep the media from going out the drain.

When ordering a filter housing what type of internal basket should be used on the top and bottom.

Always use a horizontal slotted basket. We have found that we get the best performance with this design.

Why do you use garnet on the bottom of the filter housing?

It is important that you have an even up flow of water through the media. You do not want channeling of the water and have water bypass the media. By putting the garnet in the base two inches above the basket you will get an even up flow of the water and keep the media evenly fluidized in high or low water flows. Remember: it is important to keep the media fluidized to get the proper catalytic reaction to pull the hardness out of solution.

Can I use a flow restrictor after the SP water conditioning system to assure I am getting the proper flows?

Yes, this is a good idea. Be sure to size the flow restrictor to the proper tank and water flow. I have provided a chart for you in another question on sizing systems. You want enough water flow for the proper sized system but you do not want too much water flow that would go over the 9 second contact time.

Do I need to clean the media?

The media does not need to be cleaned before installation in the filter. (Remember we do recommend that you soak the media with water for 15 minutes before installation) However it is important that you run the water through the system before installation for 5 minutes to be sure you have cleaned out any dust that may be in the filter media. You can then put the filter into service

How can I test the media? Can I use a conductivity meter? What results tell me that the system is working?

Depending on the flow rate (and the contact time) the pH is going down 0.5 units and the TDS value (µS/cm) is reduced significantly. We had a TDS reduction between 10 to 20% depending on the contact time and depending on the original TDS value. What is happening is that the hardness is falling out of solution into a hard crystal form and that is why you get the lower readings.

For a home owner the best and most convincing results is using two sauce pans (old fashioned but really good). You put two sauce pans on a heater. One filled with the untreated water and the other with water treated by the SP water conditioner. As the water boils down the untreated water will build a hard scum on the side of the sauce pan. The sauce pan with treated water will have no hardness scum on the side and you will see a circulation of hardness crystals on the bottom of the pan just before the water is boiled out. They are easily wiped out just as the water is boiled out of the pan.

The other method will be to observe heating equipment and appliances already covered with scale. After installing SP water conditioning system in a few days you can observe that the white scale starts to disappear step by step and then no new scale appears. Our customers observed their coffee machines and appliances start to clean up from years of scale build up. They immediately can use 50% less soap and get a better wash. Their hair feels cleaner and feels softer.

Will the pH be different before and after the system? What should I expect

See my answer above. The pH will go down. (Remember the PH will have a slight drop of 0.2)

What do you mean by “the media needs to rest”?

Every 8 hours the media needs to rest to stay at top performance. This is never a problem in residential applications because you have at least 8 hours when the water is not flowing the media is resting. The problem is when you have a 24 hour commercial applications where you have a continuous water flow to service. When you have this type of application you will need to design a two tank system. One tank flows for 8 hours and than stops and the other tank kicks in and the first tank rests for 8 hours. You than change the flow back and forth every 8 hours between the two tanks and get great performance 24 hours a day.

Will the SP media replace Polyphosphates in controlling scale build up?

Yes, the SP media is a much better choice than traditional Polyphosphates. Polyphosphates only temporarily coat the hardness and keep it from coming out of solution and are used up quite quickly and continually need to be replaced at a high operating cost. Filtersorb SP media will not be used up and has a lifetime of about 5 years.