Just fixed my outdoor water filter today - DIY. Normal FRP935 with 5 layers filtration. For ordinary household usage you do not need all those expensive filters. For indoor I have a 1st stage pensonic filter followed by a national filter. The water is very clean and I sometimes drink without boiling. I make ice straight from the filter. I do not think all those expensive brands will make the water any cleaner than my present setup. To set your mind at peace just boil the filtered water. My outdoor filter cost RM399. DIY RM25.

Mainly there are 3 types of water filters in Malaysia. Sand, Membrane and Cloth. Most customer like Membrane or 3M due to the compact size, you should compare the end result (after installation) I think sand looks nicer. As per photo below


1)UF MEMBRANE
Brands like Hydro1, OKO, NESH, RUBINE, OSMO, GENAIR, PERFECT STEEL and many more. Regardless of the brands, filtration is 0.01 micon with UF Membrane filtration. You might think that with 0.01 micron, you can save $$ and do not need an indoor filter, this is wrong. Copied this from a website,

“EVEN reverse osmosis (0.0001 micron) is effective for removing a variety of contaminants in water, the reverse osmosis membrane alone does NOT remove volatile organic chemical (VOCs), chlorine and chloramines, pharmaceuticals, and a host of other synthetic chemicals found in municipal water”

This type of filter is the cleanest for outdoor system but the cons outweigh the pros.

Reduce in water pressure
We discussed about indoor drinking filter, we have Amway Espring (0.2 micron), 3M (0.2 micron), Aquaphor (0.1 micron). So, do we need 0.01 micron for outdoor filter while indoor is only 0.2 or 0.1 micron? As we know, indoor drinking filter will reduce water pressure with the small micron filtration, wouldnt 0.01 micron reduce even more?

As per video tested
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGQOnLpyUdc


Clogging Issue
Due to the small and compact design of this filter but with 0.01 micron, wont it get clogged fast? Most of them will recommend installing an automatic flushing timer to flush 2 times per day. The timer runs on batttery and according to feedback, battery could last 10 months - 1 year. As we always rely on the automatic function, we wont check on the battery. If battery runs out and does not flush, membrane will spoil and cost approximately RM 700 to replace. Sometimes, customers dont even notice the membrane is faulty unless incoming water supply is so dirty and obvious yellowish. When membrane is faulty, you will notice flushing (similar backwash) water is not as dirty as when it is brand new = some of the dirt is entering your house without you noticing it.

Not Durable
From research most membrane filters could only withstand 3 - 3.5bar pressure. Most catalogs written 6 - 8 bars, if you ask the sales person in the detail, 6-8 bars is actually for the stainless steel casing durability test not the membrane. So, if you incoming water pressure is too strong, installer will recommend to install a pressure reducing valve to reduce water pressure, water enters the filter, pressure drop again...

High Maintenance Cost
UF Membrane could not perform BACKWASH but can only do flushing which is not as effective as backwash. That is why it is recommended to do chemical cleaning once a year and replace membrane 3 years once.

2)Sand
Brands like Waterco, Bacfree, Perfect Steel, Genair, Puregen, alphamax and many more.
Regardless of the brands, filtration is around 5 - 20 micron. This type of filter has the lowest maintenance cost (replacement of media averagely 4 years)and durable. Different brand will have different type of sand, some have 2 layers while some have upto 6 layers. Most 5 - 6 layers will consist of 2 - 3 layers of gravel stone, so when you have more layers, the amount of sand will be lesser and capcity will be lower. Some media claim that they got mineral, remove bacteria and etc but are these real and are they necessary? Generally, an outdoor filter is mainly to remove sediments and rust to protect our internal piping from clogging or damage our taps & fittings and to ensure water is not yellowish for cleaning. So, to me the most important thing is the outdoor filter has to be sufficient clean, durable and least maintenance, why pay more for gimmicks that we dont need or not proven to work. Chemical, heavy metal, bacteria all those leave it for the indoor filters to do the job.

There are a few disadvantages of sand,
a)If you forgot to backwash and pressure is strong, dirt will eventually get into our house
b)Without proper maintenance, a little sand could enter our pipeline.
c) Inconsistent filtration, when it is brand new could b 5 micron but after few years with backwash, different layers of sand and dirt will get mixed up, filtration could go upto 20 micron. 1 micron = 0.001mm. So 20 micron for an outdoor filter still acceptable for me

3)Cloth
Brand like Perfect Steel, Diamond and 3M. Average filtration 5 - 15 micron. For Perfect Steel and Diamound, you will need to get their technician to clean the filter quarterly and it is kinda costly, everytime you clean the cloth, there is a little chance of damaging it which will affect the filtration performance. For 3M, you dont have to clean, replace the cartridge annually but that is really costly. After sometime, when the cloth gets thinner and if the water is too dirty + high pressure, it is possible that dirt could force through the cloth.

I do sell Genair, Perfect Steel and Rubine Membrane filter, Genair and Perfect Steel Sand filter and 3M AP902 cloth filter. However, I mainly promote Perfect Steel Sand (for landed) and 3M AP902 (for condo) as we used to sell UF membrane but receive several complaints from customers, so we decided not to sell.

you can install a basic transparent filter after the sand filter to prevent sand going in. Just remember to backwash regularly and 3 - 4 years call up to change the sand and service the filter. Used 3m AP902 then change to Perfect Steel sand filter bcoz of the maintenance cost

I used 3M AP902 for approximately 2 years then switch to Perfect Steel bcoz the maintenance cost for 3M is too high for us as we use quite a lot water