For years, we have been installing Lakos Sub-K Sand Separators on pumps in all Certified Water Systems. We have invested thousands of dollars in their technology because we believed it would save our clients down time and us money (Certified Water Systems are eligible for a Lifetime Parts and Labor Warranty).
We noticed some wells in Atlanta still continued to produce black sand that would wind up in the cartridge filters we installed at the well head. Here is one such well. As you can see, the material settles really quickly in the sample bottle. It is quite heavy. It should, therefore, be removed by the Lakos Sub-K before it even touches the pump, but it somehow still winds up making its way thru the impellers that the Lakos unit is supposed to protect, and coming out of the well.
Last year, we started building and installing PumpSaver gravel packs for these wells, installing them on the pump end instead of the Sub-K. We have not seen this problem on those water systems.
Gradually, as the Lakos systems fail, we will replace all the SubK units with our own gravel packs. Till then, this is what we have to deal with:
I received a call from a Lakos rep today. He started by thanking me for all the previous business, and then expressed his concern at the amount of material in the sample bottle. He agreed that it looked excessive, and expressed an interest in meeting up with me to look at the affected wells. While we agree that Lakos SubK are not supposed to remove 100% of the sand, and they are clearly not the best solution for every situation, we did start installing them on our Certified Water Systems because they SHOULD extend the life of these pumps. In all too many cases in the Atlanta area, we are seeing sand problems just like the one in the video- sand that should be removed is somehow getting thru in excessive amounts. Whether or not it is a problem with the equipment,, it is clear that we just can’t continue to use a system that is obviously not working for us.
I’m trying to figure out if a Lakos Sub-K is appropriate for my well. Does the particle concentration in the wells you service exceed the Lakos Sub-K maximum of 500 ppm? If not, then I’m even more skeptical of their claims. By the way, how sandy is 500 ppm? I can I tell how many ppm my well produces?