Borehole and Filterting System

[Peter Topp]

After Installing 8kw gtrid tied inverter system with 6kw of solar panels I deceided to sink a bore hole because of all the water problems and I have a garden.

This is what I have done.

Sank a 50m bore hole in the middle of my driveway as this was the only place the truck could get in. No water diviner needed.

Casing was fitted to 45m as the ground was soft.

Found a good source of water.

Fitted a .75kw borehole motor and pump.

I had the  water tested and found a large amount of iron and manganese in the water. No other problems.

 

The irrigation system filters, tank system and electrical system was designed and fitted by myself.

Fitted two large high pressure filters to remove iron and manganese. (clinobrite and birm)

The water is now fed to my irrigation system and timer controls my bore hole.

The filtered water can also feed to my 2200L jojo tank after being filtered by a 4 stage filter including a UV light.

The jojo tank feeds a booster pump which feeds the main water supply to the house.

To save on the uv light time as it only lasts 10000hrs (about 1yr continuous use)  and expensive I connected it to the irrigation valve control so that it only switches on when the tank is filling.

The borehole water at present  is only used for irrigation as I do have to show some water use as other services are tied to the quantity of municipal water used.

The booster pump also helps when the municipal water pressure is low. It is connected in parallel with municipal water at present  but can be seperated if water quality is bad and needs to be totaly filtered.

The only thing that is missing is booster pump protection when the jojo tank runs empty for any reason and it has done this twice and have lost one booster pump. 

I have ordered a cheap (less than R100.00) electronic liquid level control on ebay from China and will fit this to protect the booster pump.This will be fitted in the new year.

This sytem will cost in the region of  > R100000.00 complete depending on the depth of the borehole and other filters needed.

Atteched are photos and diagrams of the system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Johandup]

Hi Peter,

Where did you get the Birm from?

Did it solve all the iron problems?

Very neat installations btw.

Regards,

Johan

[Peter Topp]

Hi John,

BIRM can be obtained and delivered from Aquamat at a cost of about R1015 .00 per bag + delivery. I did find other suppliers but they were more expensive.

I use 2 bags in my high pressure filter.

BIRM does work well for me  to remove the iron and manganese.

I  use "CLINOBRITE"  media as a pre-filter which helps to remove mud and other deposits. After these two filters the water is fit to drink. The mesh and plate filter is only for solids not to block my irrigation system.

I will add a photo's of water before and after just those two filters.

Birm has to be backwashed regularly to maintain lifetime of about 5yrs.

It also helps if there is air in water to oxidise the iron.

You can look up other methods of iron removal on the web but for me " BIRM" was my best option.

I originaly used "MADDOX" (green sand) however due to my lack of research I found out it has to be regenerated with potassium permanganate which would be a pain. I waisted about R2000.00. 

There is a beter filter media on the market "FILOX" however I cannot find a South African supplier.

It is too expensive to import because of its weight.

I would be grateful if someone knows a SA supplier and posts it.

Regards,

Peter.

[Peter Topp]

Just for a laugh

After I installed my borehole and before I had my water tested I did not know what to do to clear the water.

The iron in the water had stained my window stills, walls and burglar bars.

I thought I was very clever and thought I had a quick, cheap solution. I was in a hurry to use the system.

I bought a 3 bag swimming pool filter and 3 bags of clinobrite and proceeded to fit it inliline with my borehole pump.

 

This was the result. 

I had left the system overnight for the glue to dry on the pvc pipes.

I tested the system before I went to work at 6am. I had only 1 tap open to test the water quality.

I switched the borehole pump on and after about 10seconds I heard a hissing sound and my swimming pool filter's lid blew off with a almighty huge bang as loud as large caliber gunshot.

My wife and neighbours came running out to find out what was happening and asked if someone was shot.

It was a lesson I will not forget as I could have injured myself or others and I found some pieces of the lid 20m from the filter in my neighbours garden.

I still chuckle at myself how foolish I was.

After that I bought a new lid and fitted a pressure gauge and left enough spinklers open to maintain a pressure of  < 2.5 bar. 

This did not solve my iron problem but the water was clearer.

After the results of the water test I did some research and fitted high pressure filters with the correct media.

 

I had waisted about R3000.00 on a hasty, dangerous solution that did not work.

Swimming pool filters make use of a high flow rate with less pressure hence the large pipes 50mm.

High pressure filters use high pressure, less flow hence the smaller pipes 1".

 

I hope this discourages anyone  who thinks a swimming pool filter is a good idea. (high pressure filters are only marginally more expensive).

 

Btw my grandson is not "Rocket Boy".

 

[freetoadventure]

Wow Peter, 

Congratulations! That is an amazing system, thank you for sharing.

[___]

19 hours ago, Peter Topp said:

It also helps if there is air in water to oxidise the iron.

Just fitting a Venturi inline will make it suck in air. In my own little system I use an ozone generator to feed my venturi. This is fairly effective in oxidising not just the iron, but also the dissolved carbon (which is a much bigger problem for me). I do find that my water quality varies. Some days there is a lot of iron in it, and you literally end up with a red cloudy paste in the bottom of the tank. Other days there's much less of it.

[Peter Topp]

Hi Plonkster

I want to install a venturi to oxidise the iron however I was not able to find a supplier.

I would be grateful if you can let me know where you got it from.

For myself I know to to use ozone is the best oxidiser without changing the water in any way, however I do not think it removes manganese so I would have to have a duel system.

Thanks

Peter

[Peter Topp]

Just to add to my post.

There are many methods to oxidise iron in the water, however once the iron has been oxidised the oxidised iron still has to be removed by filtration.

To test if there is any iron in water a small amount of chlorine or bleach can be added to the water.

This will oxidise the iron and will now be visible as brown or reddish particles.

I found inexpensive 1" venturi on ebay to add inline to oxidise the iron.

[___]

On 12/27/2017 at 8:47 PM, Peter Topp said:

I want to install a venturi to oxidise the iron however I was not able to find a supplier.

Bought mine from the guys I got the ozone generator from. It wasn't cheap! It is made of a special kind of plastic in order to withstand the oxidising effects of the ozone. The venturi is straight from China, comes in a small box with mostly mandarin written on it. I'm sure you can get the same thing cheaper from ebay, I just didn't want to wait so I bought it locally. It's also somewhat of an odd size, supposedly 20mm but I had to wrap almost a whole roll of pipe thread seal tape around it to get it tight, so maybe it was 3/4" (aka 19mm). But it works fine.

Technically just using chlorine or alum would have been fine for my application, I'm not using this particular source for drinking water, mostly for toilets and washing, but I was in the mood to learn new stuff and ozone sounded amazing :-)

 

On 12/27/2017 at 8:47 PM, Peter Topp said:

I do not think it removes manganese

Yes, I think you're right.

[Luqmaan]

Very nice setup Peter! I am also looking at setting up a similar system. I have a few questions if you don't mind answering:

1) What size filters do you have for the clinobrite and birm? 

2) I've heard birm media doesn't go well with sulphur, what could be used as an alternative? 

3) What micron filters are you using for the last stage filters? 

4) How much does the clinobrite and birm filters cost (the filter housings, not media)? where can I get them for the best price? 

5) where did you get the plate and mesh filter and what was the cost? 

 

Thanks

[Peter Topp]

Hi Luqmaan

Thanks for the compliment.

First of all I am a newbie at this and all my knowlege is from research done on the internet and from above.

1. The high pressure filters are FRP 13"x54" (75L).They take 2 bags of birm or clinobrite.

2. The method to remove hydrogen sulfide is similar to removing iron and manganese. I cannot tell you what method to use as you will have to know the concentration by means of a water test to chosoe the best method of removal. If the amounts of iron are very large the FRP filters will be foulded up and even back washing will not help and you will have to use alternative methods.  One alternative is chlorine injection to oxidise  with filters. Another is Ozone injection with filters (very expensive).

3. The last stage filters are 5 Micron Sediment Filter, Activated Carbon Block, 1 Micron Sediment Filter  and uv light.

4. I live in the East Rand so the price will depend on the suppliers that are near you. I got my filters housing from "Watericon" in Modderfontein. They are considerably cheaper than any other supplier I enquired at.

5. The mesh and disk filters I got from my local irrigation shop.

Below is the best advice I can give you.

The problem is that you sometimes need some expert advice and if the expert is going to help you it would be advisable to use their system of filtration with your input  at a higher cost because it will cost you a lot more not only money but also frustration and disappointment exsperimenting if you have to redo the filtering system if it fails. You can start by having your water tested as nobody can give the right advice without quantifing the problem.

[Chris Hobson]

A friend of mine who installs solar pumps got  rid of high iron levels on a borehole by running the water down a small  dry stream bed for about 1km before extracting the water for a second time and then pressurising it for a centre pivot. The oxidation of the water running over rocks and small falls was enough to precipitate the iron. 

[freetoadventure]

Wow Peter, 

Congratulations! That is an amazing system, thank you for sharing.

I thought I would share some a video on my rainwater harvesting system, we don't offer this as a service, just for reference with links to where to purchase...

 

[Luqmaan]

On 1/19/2018 at 9:47 AM, Peter Topp said:

Hi Luqmaan

Thanks for the compliment.

First of all I am a newbie at this and all my knowlege is from research done on the internet and from above.

1. The high pressure filters are FRP 13"x54" (75L).They take 2 bags of birm or clinobrite.

2. The method to remove hydrogen sulfide is similar to removing iron and manganese. I cannot tell you what method to use as you will have to know the concentration by means of a water test to chosoe the best method of removal. If the amounts of iron are very large the FRP filters will be foulded up and even back washing will not help and you will have to use alternative methods.  One alternative is chlorine injection to oxidise  with filters. Another is Ozone injection with filters (very expensive).

3. The last stage filters are 5 Micron Sediment Filter, Activated Carbon Block, 1 Micron Sediment Filter  and uv light.

4. I live in the East Rand so the price will depend on the suppliers that are near you. I got my filters housing from "Watericon" in Modderfontein. They are considerably cheaper than any other supplier I enquired at.

5. The mesh and disk filters I got from my local irrigation shop.

Below is the best advice I can give you.

The problem is that you sometimes need some expert advice and if the expert is going to help you it would be advisable to use their system of filtration with your input  at a higher cost because it will cost you a lot more not only money but also frustration and disappointment exsperimenting if you have to redo the filtering system if it fails. You can start by having your water tested as nobody can give the right advice without quantifing the problem.

Thanks Peter! I think the best would be for me to get my water tested first and then take it from there. Anyone in Cape Town know where  I can test borehole water at a good price? 

[___]

59 minutes ago, Luqmaan said:

Anyone in Cape Town know where  I can test borehole water at a good price?

What constitutes "a good price"? :-)

REID-Line in Table View will cost you around R1200. Bemlab in Strand is a little cheaper I'm told. That's the only two I know about, but there must be others. The guys at the local irrigation place tells me the REID test is more thorough. They use WHO standards rather than SABS/SANS.

[PeterE]

Has anyone tried DMI-65 filter media in FRP vessel to remove iron from BH water?

[Energy-Jason]

On 12/25/2017 at 12:09 AM, Peter Topp said:

After Installing 8kw gtrid tied inverter system with 6kw of solar panels I deceided to sink a bore hole because of all the water problems and I have a garden.

This is what I have done.

Sank a 50m bore hole in the middle of my driveway as this was the only place the truck could get in. No water diviner needed.

Casing was fitted to 45m as the ground was soft.

Found a good source of water.

Fitted a .75kw borehole motor and pump.

I had the  water tested and found a large amount of iron and manganese in the water. No other problems.

 

The irrigation system filters, tank system and electrical system was designed and fitted by myself.

Fitted two large high pressure filters to remove iron and manganese. (clinobrite and birm)

The water is now fed to my irrigation system and timer controls my bore hole.

The filtered water can also feed to my 2200L jojo tank after being filtered by a 4 stage filter including a UV light.

The jojo tank feeds a booster pump which feeds the main water supply to the house.

To save on the uv light time as it only lasts 10000hrs (about 1yr continuous use)  and expensive I connected it to the irrigation valve control so that it only switches on when the tank is filling.

The borehole water at present  is only used for irrigation as I do have to show some water use as other services are tied to the quantity of municipal water used.

The booster pump also helps when the municipal water pressure is low. It is connected in parallel with municipal water at present  but can be seperated if water quality is bad and needs to be totaly filtered.

The only thing that is missing is booster pump protection when the jojo tank runs empty for any reason and it has done this twice and have lost one booster pump. 

I have ordered a cheap (less than R100.00) electronic liquid level control on ebay from China and will fit this to protect the booster pump.This will be fitted in the new year.

This sytem will cost in the region of  > R100000.00 complete depending on the depth of the borehole and other filters needed.

Atteched are photos and diagrams of the system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WOW!

[Zaheer]

Hi Peter,

Pretty impressive.I see you only have a single tank. I’m thinking of pumping directly from the borehole via a 13x54 DMI 65 vessel into a Jojo tank. There after the booster pump will feed the irrigation.

 

do you think this set up will work?

 

regards

Zaheet

[Peter Topp]

Hi Zaheer

The setup will work, however you will use twice the amount of power (borehole pump and booster pump).

I irrigate 30min daily during the week and this would push up my power consumption.

If you look at my updated post (a lot of changes) you will see that I irrigate and fill the jojo tank automatically.

The jojo tank and booster pump is only for household use as the bore hole water needs more filtering  to reduce the iron content for consumption.

I also parallel the municipal water so that I have some municipal consumption as well as keeping the water pressure constant.

The other question is if know what you are filtering with the 1354 DMI 65 and if your water has been tested?

DMI 65 cannot be used on ts own and you need to inject chlorine into the water before the 1354 and filter out the excess chlorine with actiivated carbon  after the 1354. It is also Ph sensiitive (>5.8).

You can look this up on the web.

I use a venuri to airate or ozonate the water to oxidize the iron (updated post )and then remove the oxidiized iron with Clinobrite a less expensiive solutiion if only airation is needed.

I recently had my water tested and with my upgrades my water is now 100% fit for consumption.

 

 

 

[DeepBass9]

Off topic, but you should rather irrigate every 3 or more days to prevent fungal diseases..

[Peregrine]

Great Article Peter. Very informative. I was looking for information on driving an irrigation system directly from the borehole and not having a gravity tank. I have been told that I will burn out the pump by doing this. My logic tells me that adding sprinklers in line just adds head to the pump and if that is still in range for the pump it should not be an issue. I sort of got my answer from your project but any additional info would be appreciated. BTW I am in a neighboring suburb. Thanks again.

[Peter Topp]

Thanks Peregrine. I do not know why you were told you would burn out your pump. I can only think of a few things that would do this. If the pump ran dry if you pumped too long and the protection failed. Blockages in the line and protection failed. No pump protection fitted. No non return valve fitted.The most common cause I think would be if the pump had to switch on and off frequently and this would not be the case for irrigation. This will happen if you use the pump directly for a household and do not have a holding tank and do not use a pressure tank to minimise the amount of times the pump switches.

I have run irrigation  directly from the pump from 2017 and have had no problems. I do run 3 large sprinklers and 12 risers simultaneously for irrigation which is good enough to irrigate most of my front and side garden. In summer I irrigate 3 times a week for 45min at a time and in winter I irrigate 2  times a week for 30 min at a time. I also have  a backwash cycle for 25 min a week for each of my 5 frp vessels. The pump also switches on at least once a day to fill my jojo tank for about 15min.

There is a caution I suggest that you should filter at least with a 130 micron or smaller mesh screen or plate filter that would stop larger particles from blocking your irrigation system.

I am sure that a gravity tank would work well however it would not look good in a urban setting and would need to be quite high if you need for good irrigation pressure and flow. If you fill a jojo tank without gravity feed you will still need a booster pump and jojo tank with the capacity required for irrigation. The jojo tank would have to be at least 2500l and you would have to pay for 2 pumps electricity. I measure about 2400 litres an hr when irrigating, so I pump about 1775 litres in 45 min for irrigation.

I hope this will help you. I am no expert on boreholes or irrigation so the information given is only from the knowledge I have gained from my own experiences and knowledge gained from research.

[DeepBass9]

On 2019/10/05 at 9:32 AM, Peregrine said:

Great Article Peter. Very informative. I was looking for information on driving an irrigation system directly from the borehole and not having a gravity tank. I have been told that I will burn out the pump by doing this. My logic tells me that adding sprinklers in line just adds head to the pump and if that is st

Adding sprinklers will reduce the effective head.. 

[David1]

Hi Peter

Coming late to this conversation.

You mention using a venturi with a 1354.

I'm using a similar system.  Water from borehole with a venturi (with a partial flow bypass) drawing ozone in and then a 1354 with DMI65.
The problem is I don't get enough pressure differential across the venturi to make it draw ozone. To solve this I have another pump in the venturi line to boost the pressure.

It feels like the 1354 creates too much "back pressure" for the venturi to work hence adding the extra pump.

I'm also off grid for electricity so need to minimise power and would love to ditch the extra pump.

 

Any thoughts, am I missing something obvious?

 

David

[Peter Topp]

Hi 

I had a similar problem. The venturi needs a lot of flow to work.  I have used 3/4" venturi (this is the pipe fitting) in and out from a 1" line directly from the borehole into the 1354 which works when I do irrigation. When I need to fill my jojo tank the flow is reduced because I have more filters inline. I have a second  1/2"venturi in line after my first two 1354 filters.  The partial bypass will definitely stop the venturi from working . I did try the bypass when I started.  Just one thing to be careful of is the venturi leaking back as I have lost a ozone generator due to this.

I hope this info will help.

Edited October 13, 2020 by Peter Topp