[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by jrref

It would be really nice if Nova would give a discount to replace an old system that is showing signs of failure.

^THIS^
Regardless of the one year warranty, Nova isn't a $20 item. We're talking about a ~$700 system which clearly has enough issues that multiple people on here are complaining about it.

[ton80]

Originally Posted by Nova Filtration

Not age related we have systems that have been in service over 12 years here in TV

I don't have an exact number of system issues it has been isolated out of 25,000+ installs

Both, more issues with tank systems due to bad expansions tanks on them (not our product)
when we do filter changes our tech's do a quick tap/sound check to tell if it full of water.
They also check for any abnormalities in the system.

The water system in TV is not pressure regulated at each home like other municipalities, they are designed with different size pipes in the street to in theory control pressure.

We have personally seen pressures over 100 =120 psi at times in different villages.

These pressure spikes also effect the rest of the plumbing in your home, the under cabinet water hoses, washing machine etc

We recommend adding a pressure regulating valve on the incoming water pipe.

Replacement policy is 100% first year and and optional 5 year extended plan

1. The plumbing systems for potable water essentially form a closed piping section subject to heating at the water heater. The liquid expansion increases pressure in that enclosed section but the pressure reducing valve does NOTHING to reduce the water pressure in the closed section. The check valve at the water meter prevents any water flow back to the system. The high pressure just makes the pressure regulating valve close more thereby further eliminating liquid volume out to the distribution.
2 Based on extensive work on piping systems, the only relief device required would be a small thermal relief valve. Releasing about 2 quarts of water would reduce the pressure buildup of raising 50 gal of water some 50F degrees ( 70 to 120F for example). This heat up would take several hours so the release is drip, drip. This is what we used in any closed section of piping. If the liquid were hazardous such as gasoline, the TRV would release the gasoline around enough block valves until it was at the inlet of the storage tank and the backpressure was the liquid height in the storage tank.

Rather than speculate what the pressures are for the water systems, I suggest that Nova contact Jacobs Engineering to explore what the current controls are for the systems and what the measured pressures have been. I volunteer to participate if both parties agree. I can explain to both organizations what my experience/expertise has been.

AS to failures, I have had 2 canister failures and a reverse osmosis failure and a leak.

As to Pegasis, I talked to them and politely asked them to leave when they asked for glass of water and poured lemon juice in it (citric acid) and created a foaming mess which they described as bad stuff in the raw water. I told them I passed high school chemistry and all they did was acidify the natural bicarbonate in the water and turned the CO2 free. Reverse antacid.

The failures seem to be pinholes which are manufacturing defects in my estimation. A one year warranty on a water system is inadequate. I bought a new system after 8 years. Hopefully it works for 10 years.

I defended Nova in the past. Hopefully I can do it in the future.

[tophcfa]

Just like a long list of other items, stuff doesn’t do well in the intense heat found in Florida garages for several months each year. Oh well, a small price to pay to have to shovel nothing but sunshine during the winter.

[Bwanajim]

Originally Posted by jrref

I know we spoke about this about a month ago where some Villagers were complaining here on TOTV of the discovery during a filter change that their Nova filter blue canisters were showing signs of cracking and were told to replace them. Recently, I had a neighbor where one of their filter canisters sprung a small leak and was spraying water in the garage.

Well, I'm sorry to report this because I really like Nova filter and the owners but when I checked my Nova filter today, I found one blue canister started to form a crack on the inside and another started to bulge on the bottom. The third canister was fine on a system that was installed in 2021.

So, I'm 100% positive the water pressure in my home never exceeded 80psi. Also, I replaced my hot water heater's expansion tank and pressurized it correctly to the water pressure coming into my home right before I had the Nova filter installed 4 1/2 years ago and I check the expansion tank every 6 months. I still have and am enjoying my Nova water softener which is working just fine.

Because of all the reports recently concerning the problems with these blue canisters from Nova, I decided to install an Express Water three stage water filter system which is basically the same as the Nova only a little more well built and no reports so far, of their blue canisters having an issue. Most of my neighbors have the Express Water filter installed for a couple of years now.

Again, I really like Nova but I guess something is going on with the filter canisters. The issue I have is I can only get the Nova filter canisters from Nova and I don't know if the replacements will fail since Nova, from the reports, is claiming the issue is from high water pressure and is the homeowners problem. On the other hand, the Express Water filter canisters are generic and are readily available from many manufacturers on-line. Again, after doing some research, I couldn't find any significant reports of filter canister failures with the Express Water system unless someone dropped one when replacing the filter by mistake.

Just wanted to share my experience and in no way am I trying to discredit Nova since I know they are are a very reputable company providing a good service, the owners are Villagers and they have always treated me well. Hopefully they can find out what the problem is for those having an issue. The decision to replace my system with the Express Water filter was based on my personal situation and for transparancy, I didn't reach out to Nova to replace my canisters. But I know Nova will replace any canisters or fix any other problems when requested and they always support the products they sell.

Is there a company that sells & installs express water filters or are you just taking thorough brand canisters and putting it on your nova unit? Thanks

[ladydi9060]

Is the Express Water System a brand of water filtration system like Nova, Pegasus, etc.? We plan on having a system installed soon.

[Nova Filtration]

We're having an issue with our verizon phone system


please use this tel# 352.399.1695

or email novafilterstv@gmail.com

Thanks

[jrref]

Originally Posted by Bwanajim

Is there a company that sells & installs express water filters or are you just taking thorough brand canisters and putting it on your nova unit? Thanks

The Big Blue filter housings that you can purchase On-line are not compatible with the old Nova filter manifold. If you want to keep your old system you need to purchase new filter housings from Nova.

Express Water is an On-line company that makes a three stage whole house water filter like Nova supplies. There are a couple of other On-line companies that also make the same basic system and they all basically work the same as Nova only you have a choice of the type of filters installed depending on the type of water you have. Here in the Villages we have good "city" vs well water so the basic sediment and carbon filters is all that's needed.

With Express Water you have to install it yourself or find a "handyman" type person to install it for you. Also, you can have a new filter set sent to your home and do the filter changes yourself each year. I know of one Villager who was installing these but I have to see if he's doing it any longer. The nice thing about Express water is it is a very sturdy system, they are very easy to deal with and have the best price and quality filter On-line. You can get pretty much any type of filter set you want. I have the 5 micron Sediment, Carbon, and Carbon Block set.

With Nova, they come to your home and install it and can also come and change the filters for your each year. If you have a problem, again they are local and can come right away. Nova is a little more expensive than the Express Water system but you are getting the convenience of a local company to come and do all the work for you. You can also buy all the components including the yearly filters directly from Nova and do the install and yearly changes yourself. Nova gives you a 10 micron Sediment, 5 micron Sediment and Carbon Block filter set. You can get a Sediment, and 2 Carbon filters if requested at an additional cost. They claim their filters are specially made for them and they probably are but I don't think they are any different from the Express Water or any other good quality filter. Nova has a long history with water treatment so I know their filter set works well. From my experience Nova is a reputable company and easy to work with but it's going to be a little more expensive than dealing with an On-line company. Now that they have upgraded their 3-stage whole house filter system with something similar to the quality of the Express Water system, if you are not able or not interested in DIY, then call Nova.

As far as Pegasus is concerned, my opinion based on what I know about their product is, for the whole house water filter system, they are incredibly over priced and no more effective than the 3-stage system from Nova or Express Water. In fact, the Nova and Express Water may be better since you can easily change all three filters whenever you want where with the Pegasus it's more involved. Contrary to what the sales people will tell you, there is no mystery or some "secret proprietary" system to filter water. The basic principal is the same depending on the type of water you have.

There are companies like Pegasus that combine water filtering with water softening and those systems are OK but I prefer for maintenance reasons to have two separate systems.

I'm glad I created this thread on TOTV since we now know basically what happened and what Nova did to correct the issue. There is still the open question on how to manage the pressure coming into your home since all these filter systems have filter housings with an 80 psi max running pressure. I agree, we need to contact and discuss the pressure issue with the Villages water department. Also, I know Nova is a small company with a 1 year warranty on these filter systems just like everyone else but clearly, some of the original systems were failing for whatever reason in a way that shouldn't happen. Whether it was the filter housing leaking at the manifold or the filter housing springing a small leak or the filter housing showing signs of stress cracking, or a complete failure of the filter housing, none of these events should happen on a large scale in a residential installation. Given this, and the fact that the basic plumbing is already there and all Nova has to do is remove the old filter system and install the new one which in my case replacing the Nova with the Express Water took less than an hour, they should give some discount to the effected systems when discovered.

If you have an older Nova filter system, just keep and eye on it, since it may never have a problem. If you can afford it and don't want to take any chances or have yet another concern to worry about, then call Nova for a replacement system or get an Express Water and change it out. I didn't want to take any chances so I changed my system out.

I attached my old Nova and new Express Water system so you can see they are basically similar systems.

Hope this all helps.

[retiredguy123]

I don't have a water softener or a filter system. But, personally, I would be uncomfortable connecting anything to my potable water system that is designed to operate at a maximum of only 80 to 90 psi of pressure. It seems to me that these systems should at least have a safety shutoff device on them to prevent a water leak.

A tank type water heater can withstand pressures of at least 150 psi or higher. It also has a pressure relief valve and an overflow pipe to carry water leakage to the exterior of the house. These are required by the plumbing code.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I don't have a water softener or a filter system. But, personally, I would be uncomfortable connecting anything to my potable water system that is designed to operate at a maximum of only 80 to 90 psi of pressure. It seems to me that these systems should at least have a safety shutoff device on them to prevent a water leak.

A tank type water heater can withstand pressures of at least 150 psi or higher. It also has a pressure relief valve and an overflow pipe to carry water leakage to the exterior of the house. These are required by the plumbing code.

You are right but they are rated to "run" at max 80psi and from doing some research it's actually 100psi. Manufacturers are saying 80psi as a safe limit since the water pressure in your home should never get that high. The failure psi is higher and I haven't been able to find that value. Fortunately, these filters are located in the garage so if something does happen it shouldn't cause any significant damage but as you say, we as consumers should not have to worry about this stuff. There should be some failsafe from the water department to prevent dangerious water pressures coming in from the street.

[azcindy]

Nova came out to install their system on a house I just purchased. For $75 extra, I had them install a pressure regulator that will keep the pressure going to the cannisters from going over 65psi. There are two pressure gauges on their system so I can verify the pressure. I can adjust the pressure regulator myself (or a handyman), but that is what they recommended. I feel fairly confident I won't have problems with the cannisters due to pressure.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by jrref

You are right but they are rated to "run" at max 80psi and from doing some research it's actually 100psi. Manufacturers are saying 80psi as a safe limit since the water pressure in your home should never get that high. The failure psi is higher and I haven't been able to find that value. Fortunately, these filters are located in the garage so if something does happen it shouldn't cause any significant damage but as you say, we as consumers should not have to worry about this stuff. There should be some failsafe from the water department to prevent dangerious water pressures coming in from the street.

Preventing a pressure increase from the street is not enough. You also need to prevent a pressure increase caused by a defective expansion tank, and some houses don't even have an expansion tank.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by azcindy

Nova came out to install their system on a house I just purchased. For $75 extra, I had them install a pressure regulator that will keep the pressure going to the cannisters from going over 65psi. There are two pressure gauges on their system so I can verify the pressure. I can adjust the pressure regulator myself (or a handyman), but that is what they recommended. I feel fairly confident I won't have problems with the cannisters due to pressure.

If the pressure regulator is located on the water supply pipe that supplies water from the street to the canisters, it will not prevent a pressure increase caused inside your house by a defective expansion tank on your water heater. Yes, you can read the pressure gauges, but if the pressure increases suddenly, you won't know about it until you have a leak or a damaged canister.

Read Post No. 39, and ask Nova if your filter system is protected from a defective expansion tank that causes thermal expansion and a huge increase in water pressure inside your house.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by azcindy

Nova came out to install their system on a house I just purchased. For $75 extra, I had them install a pressure regulator that will keep the pressure going to the cannisters from going over 65psi. There are two pressure gauges on their system so I can verify the pressure. I can adjust the pressure regulator myself (or a handyman), but that is what they recommended. I feel fairly confident I won't have problems with the cannisters due to pressure.

Can you take picture and post it of the pressure gauge installation? Also what the model number is. Curious what they installed.

[Mrprez]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

If the pressure regulator is located on the water supply pipe that supplies water from the street to the canisters, it will not prevent a pressure increase caused inside your house by a defective expansion tank on your water heater. Yes, you can read the pressure gauges, but if the pressure increases suddenly, you won't know about it until you have a leak or a damaged canister.

Read Post No. 39, and ask Nova if your filter system is protected from a defective expansion tank that causes thermal expansion and a huge increase in water pressure inside your house.

She has a tankless water heater, no expansion tank.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Mrprez

She has a tankless water heater, no expansion tank.

Thank you. If that is the case, then her filter system is probably safe from excessive water pressure created inside the house. Most thermal expansion problems occur when a tank type water heater is being heated with a tank full of cold water.