Rusco 1-1/2" Spin Down Separator Sand/ Sediment Water Filter 50 Gpm - Pwfss15

Warning: this review is part biographic, could be considered self indulgent, and is about the size of a small book. I was looking for a solution to my sandy well. Over the course of the past 10 years (since I've installed my own well) I've learned quite a few things about sinking wells, well pumps, et al. The longest lesson, or rather, the hardest lesson for me to learn was that when you drive (or sink) a well point in sandy soil, at some point you are most likely going to pull up sand, the galvanized pipe may slowly chip/scale, and minerals may deposit and then come lose. I have a really good well pump (Goulds)... However, once every 3 years or so, the impeller (and related parts) would slowly start to wear out and performance would slowly decline, culminating in the impeller seizing... Lucky, Goulds has thermo protection and it shuts itself off if any abnormal stresses occur... So, in short, I'd have to replace all of the internal components about every 3 years, at about $100 a pop. I'd notice a little grit here and there, but didn't really think about it, because well pumps are supposed to deal with a little bit of that stuff. I just figured that my situation was normal and chalked it up to that. This spring however, I finally learned my lesson... While my well mostly provides water for my sprinkler system, it also provides (non-drinking) water to my brew shed (I'm an avid brewer). This spring, I started up my well for the season like I always do. Usually some of the sprinkler heads would be a bit clogged and I will clean them out and re-install them like I always do... but my epiphany came when I went to check my sheds utility sink... the faucet was barely pouring any water... why? I just installed a new faucet on the sink last year... The o-rings are all good, the handles work properly... The thought flashed into my head... "is it clogged?" I started by removing the mouth of faucet... it came off... it was loaded with sand and scale. My pump was pumping sand and scale in the water to the point that it clogged my faucet. Ouch. I realized everything at that moment. That's why many of my sprinkler heads were clogging every year... It wasn't normal wear and tare... It wasn't dirt sneaking into the heads or the lines... it was coming from the well itself! My pump kept seizing because sand/scale was getting caught in the impeller. Crap. I had to do something. Just not now. I procrastinated. A couple months later we had our house siding powerwashed, sanded, and restained. They noticed my well supply and asked if they could use it for the powerwasher (knowing that there'd be a higher volume of water compared to our house faucets)... "sure, go ahead, it's a great well, high volume!"... "cool", they said. It took them a couple of days to powerwash. On the second day one of them comes to me and asks, "do you think it's possible that your well is running dry?"... I looked at him. "No, it's over 30 feet deep, that's deep for around here"... "huh, it's slowing down". The other guys said it was probably their powerwasher... they continued on and finished the job. Two days later my sprinkler computer was set to water the lawn in the morning... I woke up, came outside with the dogs... It wasn't wet anywhere. The dogs looked at me... I looked at the dogs. Crap. I knew what happened instantly. My dogs looked at me and said, "you're a lazy, procrastinating dope." Sigh. What was I going to do? I couldn't keep replacing the parts of the pump every few years... That's stupid. There had to be a way to prevent the sand, silt, scale, etc. from getting to my pump without hindering the volume and/or pressure... there had to be. I looked around the web for forums and the like... I found that sand/scaly wells were relatively common... Okay, I wasn't alone. That's good. What I was surprised to find, or not find, however, were people that said they prefiltered their wells. I looked for commercial well filters and found "desanders" which cost a fortune, and I found well filters that were way to big for what I needed. Then, almost ready to give up, I came to my old standby... Amazon. I started to search different terms and quickly found the Rusco Spin Down filter... I asked a few questions on the listing, and a few amazon customers responded... most said that you shouldn't install filters before the pump, rather they should be installed AFTER the pump. One guy said that I could, but, when I go to clean/purge the filter of debris, I will obviously loose prime and I'd have to reprime the well every time I want to clean the filter out. This man gave me hope... I didn't look at his comment as negative, rather it was a possibility! I went for it and ordered the 1 1/2" 50GPM filter... It was a little pricey, considering that I wasn't positive that it would work for my application, I use 1 1/4" pvc piping (so I'd have to ramp this down with bushings)... and I was concerned that it came with a default filter that was 100 mesh (which the manufacturer says is for interior home use... and they suggest 20 to 40 mesh for sprinkler systems). I mapped out the plumping in my head. I was going to install the filter outdoors, in line, before the pump. How was I going to be able to purge the filter (flush it backwards) without losing prime? First, I knew I'd have to install an inline ball valve between the filter and the well itself. Did that. Then, all I had to do was provide a way for water to go backwards, through the filter. I looked at the pipe going from where the filter would be, going into my garage... There was a 90degree elbow leading the piping to the wall of the garage.. All I had to do was replace that elbow with a T... two openings would function as the elbow and then, on the other opening, I would install a faucet! With the faucet I could hook up a hose from either the well pump itself or one of the outdoor house faucets... this water could flush the pump, the ball valve would prevent the well from losing prime and I'm set! I installed all the piping and gave it a whirl... IT WORKED! I'm free from sandy well oppression!!! It's been running for a good two months now and the sprinkler system is running as good as it ever has... there's no pressure or volume loss! The 100 mesh filter that I was concerned with doesn't slow down the system in the slightest. There's been a slow development of sand/scale in the bottom of the filter... not a lot, but just enough to snafu my pump over time... now I can just blow that stuff out once or twice a year and be sand free for years to come! I'll try to post a pic of the installation later. The end

Easy install. Works as expected. I covered the whole unit with a reflective fabric to ward off algae in the filter.

Filters well, actually too well for my irrigation water. I have to purge these every day and I need to take the filter out and clean it with a soft brush at least once a week. Being clear plastic the filter will get lots of algae unless you protect it from the sunlight. I'm going to buy some relacement filters that are not so tight woven.

Excellent Sand Filter ! Easy in install and excellent Quality.

Attempted to clean and repair in place unit- without success- ordered this and 3 minutes later pump up and running- easy to install

I wanted a clear housing grit filter and could not find it anywhere. Amazon to the rescue. While I would have preferred the inlet and outlets to have been smaller, I bushed them down to 3/4 and the unit works great. Just what i needed, when i needed it and priced right. I have had it for two years now and it easily solved the grit problems I was having. If valved properly on the install, cleaning the screen is a snap. My faucet cartridges and fill valves have needed NO attention at all since this install. I flush it every month or so and clean the screen quarterly. I put some "O" ring lube before I re-assemble and only hand tight.

Product is ok, had some extra parts we didn’t need and took much longer than stated originally to arrive.

Exact match! Worked well