For larger homes up to 20 GPM. The PelicanTM Carbon Series PC600 Whole House Water Filter is simply the best on the market. No where will you find a whole house water filter that is more affordable or addresses as many contaminates as the Pelican PC600. With its multi-stage filtration process and high performance media you get sparkling clean water from every tap. Imagine, spring like water through every faucet of your home. Your skin and hair will feel softer from the very first shower. No more dry itchy skin or unpleasant odors from the chemicals in your water. The NaturSoftTM System represents the superior alternative with respect to dealing with the symptoms of water hardness without resorting to ion exchange (salt) based systems. The amount of wasted water and release of salt into the environment has increasingly become unacceptable. When deployed in a system, this unique technology induces the formation of microscopic calcium crystals which effectively eliminate the side effects of hard water. The NaturSoftTM media does not require any regular maintenance. NaturSoftTM media does not participate in any reactions it merely promotes them. Therefore, the material is not sacrificial and it does not get consumed resulting in its exceptional long life.
- No Backwashing Means No Drain To Install, No Maintenance , No Electricity
- Saves on costly repairs of damaged plumbing
- Better Tasting coffee, tea, lemonade or anything prepared with filtered water
- Increased Efficiency of Hot Water Tanks
- Leaves In Beneficial Minerals
2010-04-26
By D. Matheny (Austin, TX)
Well, this is one of those purchases that I agonized over for a while - mostly because of the 'softener'/descaler unit. There really isn't enough information out there to prove these work; but, in my case, I couldn't fit the whole house filter into my available space without trading my existing softener for this descaling unit at the same time. I also like the idea of not adding salt if the descaler really does work.Before installing this combination system we had a traditional salt water softener for the whole house and a reverse-osmosis filter at the kitchen sink. Both were installed when the house was built 7 1/2 years ago; so we don't have any scaling issues. Our water hardness is around 16 gpg and we are on a city water supply that is pretty good except we are at the high end of the safe range for chlorine. A couple of years ago I replaced our 2 water heaters with a single tankless unit - so we don't have much water hanging around in the plumbing and we were able to see results from the filter almost immediately.At this point, I'm going to review this Pelican system based on what I've seen so far and then I'll add to the review over time. There is a lot to say already, so I'll try to keep it brief - if you still have questions, then ask and I'll answer the best I can.
*** Water Taste and Quality ***
This is a hands-down win for the Pelican system. There is no question that the water out of this system tastes great, and we love being able to drink water from the fridge and cook with water from the faucet without dealing with the bad taste in our local water. Before this system, we would get ice from the ice maker and then fill a glass with water from the RO system. That tasted great until the glass sat there for a while and the ice started to melt - at which point I just got in the habbit of throwing the ice away and starting over (I drink a lot of water...). Now, even the ice tastes great!My wife has also commented several times that she feels like she doesn't need lotion after taking a shower anymore. I suspect that is a result of the reduced chlorine, but I guess it could be something else.
*** Water Test Results ***
As an engineering type, I decided to do a water test with the incoming water vs the water coming out of the filter and 'softener' units. The biggest difference is the chlorine is now absent - and I think this is probably the biggest difference we are tasting in the water too. I was also a bit surprised to see that the hardness dropped a couple of grains after coming through the Pelican system - and I wasn't expecting that at all.Our incoming water supply isn't that bad; but at least I know everything is being pulled out that should be.
*** 'Softener'/Descaler Unit ***
This is the biggest area of uncertainty for me. Is it voodoo or is it really doing something? I will keep this review updated if we start to have hard water issues or run into other problems with this descaler unit.What I do know is you shouldn't expect your water hardness to decrease with this installed. It is supposed to eliminate or reduce scale build-up and I hope it lives up to the advertising claims. Personally, I've never had a problem with the slick feeling of salt-softened water; but, if you do, you will be happy to know that this 'softener' doesn't have that problem at all. After the install, I could tell immediately when taking a shower that the water was no longer being softened, and it's funny how much more soap is needed with hard water.At this point, we haven't noticed any additional water spotting on the dishes or in the shower - so I guess that's a good sign (although it has only been a couple of weeks). As I said before, I'll keep the review updated if we start to have issues and I'll adjust the overall rating accordingly.
*** Installation ***
The installation was fairly easy. I'm a huge fan of SharkBite connectors for stuff like this and I also used 1" PEX flexible pipe (although copper would have worked just as well). Aside from the required fills and flushes, I probably spent around 4 hours total getting this installed. The biggest time sink is having to fill the filter and letting it sit for 48 hours before beginning. After that, there are several steps where you have to run water through backwards, fill the 'softener' for about an hour, etc...The red air-release button on the sediment filter did leak a bit, but the directions mention that and also say how to fix it - which was really simple. Just be sure to throw a rag/towel over that button before pressing it:).After getting it installed, we did get some black carbon that came through the pipes for about a day. This was most evident in the toilet tanks, which I ended up cleaning out so we wouldn't have to deal with black bits in the toilets for weeks on end. If you have a water heater, this black stuff will probably be metered out of the hot water tank and into your pipes for a few weeks.One great thing about this combo is that the filter + 'softener' actually use a bit less space than my old Sears softener - and I'm always happy to get more space in the garage!
*** Quality Control ***
Since I don't have enough info yet on the 'softener', I would give the combo 5 stars if it weren't for a couple of quality control issues. First, the installation kit was missing the hose adapter so I ended up buying one at Lowe's for doing the initial carbon soak and flush on the filter. Secondly, the cover for the 'softener' was cracked and it looks like it probably shipped that way since there wasn't any damage to the packaging at all. I called their support people who sent out a new lid, but I have to take the top of the unit apart to replace it - so I just super-glued it to avoid the hassle. For this price, I shouldn't have had either of these problems.
*** Conclusion ***
I would recommend the whole-house filter with no reservations; but it's easy to see how & why it's working and we can taste the immediate results. Pelican has a great product here.The 'softener', on the other hand, is a bit harder to recommend since I haven't had it long enough to have complete confidence that it is really keeping any scale from building up in my pipes, appliances, or tankless water heater. Everything I read seems to indicate that it should work, but I'll have a better idea in a couple of months. My plan is to disconnect the pipes from the tankless heater and take a look inside to see if there is any additional scale build-up in two months and then again in a year. I won't be able to see all the way through it, but I'm hoping to get a good idea of what's going on.
*** UPDATE 5/19/2010 ***
Here are some additional observations now that this has been installed for over a month:
1) Juice cans sink. I'm not sure why; but, when we would throw a can of juice into a sink full of water to defrost, it would float when the old softener was installed. With the Pelican system the juice cans sink instead of floating. I'd love to know why that is if anyone has any theories.
2) The showers get dirtier quicker than they did due to water spotting from the hard water. If you have a salt softener currently installed, you will notice this difference.
3) We still haven't noticed any difference in the laundry or dishwasher. We are using the same amount of soap and everything is still coming out clean. The dishes don't seem to have the same problem with hard water spots as we see in the shower - maybe it's the rinse-aid at work.
Another note is that the replacement lid I mentioned in the 'Quality Control' section never arrived - so it looks like that is a knock against the reliability and support. (EDIT: Pelican was monitoring this forum and I did receive the replacement lid a couple of days after posting this note.)
*** UPDATE 6/23/2010 ***
This morning I spent some time detaching pipes around my tankless water heater to take a look. After a bit more than 2 months of use, the pipes still look completely clean - which seems to support the theory that the descaler is doing its job. I'll continue to check periodically; but I'm starting to be converted.
Here are some other updates:
1) We've started using a squeegee on the glass shower door when we finish and that has pretty much resolved the dirty shower issue. My wife commented that she has to clean the showers more often, but she's happy to trade that for the benefits of the whole-house filter.
2) My daughter went to her barber (hair stylist?) and the lady asked what she had changed because my daughter's hair looked healthier than she had ever seen it. I suspect this is once again due to the lack of chlorine in the water - but, with my permanent buzz in place, I'm probably not the guy to ask about healthy hair:).
*** UPDATE 8/31/2010 ***
This morning we had a load of dishes that just wouldn't get clean after multiple washes. I decided to take the dishwasher apart to see if something was clogged; and, it turned out that a cookie cutter was keeping the center sprayer from spinning. Anyway, since everything was taken apart, I was also able to inspect the interior parts for signs of hard water build-up. Fortunately, I found all the dishwasher internals to be completely clean.It seems like this is one more data point that the descaler seems to be doing its job.
2010-02-10
By Manivannan Shanmugavel (Minneapolis, MN)
The water hardness in my house is medium. Still, bad enough for the water to stain everywhere. It's been 1.5 weeks since install and there's not a significant difference. Water still stains and tastes the same. Per their website, it could take upto 4 weeks to wash out the existing hardness buildup. So, I'm just going to wait and see. (Not that there's much of a choice).For the price of the equipment and labor, I was expecting the water quality to change dramatically. Still am.
2009-10-29
By Bobby H. Starling (Charlotte, NC)
This system works well, but beware the vent for the sediment filter leaks. You have to tighten the spring inside of the filter before inserting the filter media. This is not covered in the literature and that is why this system gets a 4 star verses a 5 star rating. With a system this expensive this manufacturing defect should be fixed or at least mentioned in the installatioin instructions.
2009-10-20
By M. Bishop (Parkland, FL USA)
I have had the system installed for a little less than a week, but my wife has already commented that it has made a difference to her hair, and our towels definitely feel softer. There is also no "slimy" feel to the water that we used to have with our old salt-based system, and that neither of us liked - it never really felt like you were getting all the soap off your skin or hair. I will say that at the moment it is not softening as much as that older system did, but that is not an issue for me.Pelican has been great at responding to my questions before and after my purchase. I also thought that the price was reasonable, especially compared with what competitors wanted to charge me for salt-based systems.It is a little early to give 5 stars as I do not know how the system will hold up over time, but I would recommend this to others based on what I have seen so far.
2009-02-24
By C. Dowty (Manassas, VA)
We had this system installed in Dec 2008. I absolutely LOVE it! We normally go through winter having very dry skin with cracked fingers (even with a humidifier on the furnace) and we have had NONE of that this year. I am a stay-at-home mom so my hands are constantly in and out of water and this is one of the best purchases we have ever made. VERY HAPPY!!!
