I live in central Florida (by Orlando) and I have well water. The sediment filter is before the softener and after the pressure tank. I've lived in this house for a year and replaced the filter about once every 2-3 months. A couple days ago, I replaced it, but today I noticed a significant drop in pressure. I realized that if two faucets were open (i.e. try to wash hands while toilet is refilling) then there would be very little pressure/flow. I checked the filter and saw it was completely clogged, as if we hadn't changed it in like 9 months. It was an orange/beige and clay-ish. I know we have a problem with iron, but this almost looked more like sand. There's been construction in the area (the county built a new sidewalk and new driveway), recent heavy rains, and also a drought. We've also had the famous "rotten-egg" smell for a while that seems to have gone away, not sure if this is related.
What is the cause of this problem, and what should we do to fix it? We use this filter by GE, so replacing it every two days would be expensive.
Update: I called the company who installed the pump and pressure tank. The only information they had was that it's a submersible pump and was installed in like 2006.
Best Answer
According to the company that installed my well pump and pressure tank, they say that this thing happens. Apparently some bacteria and iron are producing stuff that is getting caught in the filter, and occasionally there is a large amount of this. Some people may have to replace their filter every week normally. As long as there's nothing that looks like sand and shells in the filter, everything should be ok.