Off-Grid water filtration system

Hi
I have a situation that I am not able to finds reasonable solution for. I live Off-Grid both water and PV electricity. My current water source is from a river pumped though three stage filters (50 micron, 10 micron and 5 micron) I also have a large carbon filter that I haven't connected yet. The water look clean but we are not using it from drinking or cooking instead we use bottled water for that.
I am thinking what would be the cost effective way to treat the water for domestic use including drinking. Before I invest heavily into any system, I figured I would ask fellow Off-Griders.
One option I am thinking of is to use UV filter to sterilized the water just after the pressure tank. Another option is to invest in reverse osmosis system. Another option is to dig a well and pump from there instead of the river. The only problem with the well is the water is hard even along the river back so that will also require desalination.
Any suggestion is welcome.
If this has already been discussed on this platform, please direct me there and disregard this thread.
Thank you all.
I have a situation that I am not able to finds reasonable solution for. I live Off-Grid both water and PV electricity. My current water source is from a river pumped though three stage filters (50 micron, 10 micron and 5 micron) I also have a large carbon filter that I haven't connected yet. The water look clean but we are not using it from drinking or cooking instead we use bottled water for that.
I am thinking what would be the cost effective way to treat the water for domestic use including drinking. Before I invest heavily into any system, I figured I would ask fellow Off-Griders.
One option I am thinking of is to use UV filter to sterilized the water just after the pressure tank. Another option is to invest in reverse osmosis system. Another option is to dig a well and pump from there instead of the river. The only problem with the well is the water is hard even along the river back so that will also require desalination.
Any suggestion is welcome.
If this has already been discussed on this platform, please direct me there and disregard this thread.
Thank you all.
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Comments
I know the UN uses simple ceramic filters in 3rd world countries to filter out most contaminates, I use a ceramic filter for water I drink and cook with even though I'm on county water system.
Ceramic Filtration | The Safe Water System | CDC
Some ceramic filters work down to the virus level of filtration, silver impregnated also add a level of security, an addition UV exposure would be added security.
Berkey has tested down to virus levels and claims it removes 99.999% of material in that range, and calls their Berkey black filters water purifiers. (I think California doesn't like this claim, fwiw.)
Does Berkey Remove Viruses? (berkeyfilters.com)
I would be comfortable showering with your level of filtration, and think you are on the right track. If Thermal Nuclear War breaks out tonight. I'll live with filtering rain water through 2 ceramic filters...
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Acuva makes a range of sizes from van camping / boat sized to sizes for larger cabins. We are very pleased with ours. We have a 20 micron filter upstream to get the coarse sediment out. The UV units come with a silver impregnated carbon post filter to remove chlorine and other objectionable tastes from your water.
https://www.acuvatech.com/our-products/
They have significant advantages over the old fluorescent tube UV lamps. The new UV LEDs have sufficient joules/cm2 to disinfect, much lower power draw and longer life. Most importantly they incorporate a flow sensor and are instant on so there is no warmup time requiring flow lockout solenoids and complex controls. As a result of the flow sensors their standby load is vanishingly small.
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Graham, I love the LED UV filter. Power efficiency longer service life is key.
The ceramic filter sounds good. That would be a good stopgap while I figure out all the pieces.
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This sound like a possible solution for me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_sand_filter
no chemical usage, properly strain the gunk out of the water before going into the filter. It takes a month to develop the organic digesting " Schmutzdecke ".
Since it's a low flow, continuous flow ( mine is sized for 7GPH ) filter you need a holding tank. I have a 1,500 gal holding tank that uses a
Ozone generator and a airstone to give the water a final polish and keep it fresh while sitting. ( 50 watts for UV tube & air pump, 24/7 )
Either system properly installed, gives 99% pure water, stacked in tandem, it's pretty reliable.
Maintenance consists of at least weekly inspection that things are flowing right, and nothing clogged.
All tanks are gravity fed from raw, to roughing filter, sand filter, holding O3 tank, and then gravity feed to the house at 70psi
Raw water is pumped from pond in daylight hours, to raw water storage, about 180' above the house, on a hillside.
inside the 1,500 gal storage tank:
Flow regulating meter for slow sand filter: ( 0 -25GPH via Grainger )
failed electrostatic ozone generator:
While the electrostatic / silica /solid state O3 generators work, they require DRY air ( I eventually tried stacking 3 silica air driers, but they would only last a couple days before they were depleted and needed regeneration in the oven.) Barely passable in summer at 20% RH, but unworkable in winter with 60% RH. So I have gone back to the 8W UV light, to generate the ozone, using a deepwater aquarium pump to drive the system. The UV tube has a phosphor port on the side that glows while the tube is working.
Been using this over 12 years, and just keeping the parts clean is the only work, new UV tube every 18 months, and a new $60 aquarium pump every 2 years ( the rebuild kits only have the check valves, no diaphragms. ) I use washable aquarium filters instead of a $20 cartridge every week.
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