It wasn't that long ago that we used to see 2-3/4 inch x 10 inch filters on the incoming water line of a house. We don't see that very often anymore because people realize that a small filter on the inlet line to a house will result in significant drops in pressure and volume, to say nothing of the fact that you have to change the filters all the time. People got wise and used 2-3/4 inch x 20 inch filters which were twice as good, but they got even smarter when they switched to 4-1/2 inch x 20 inch BIG BLUE type filters which had much greater flow rates and required filter changes at much lower intervals.

Still, a void exists. There are homes that are much bigger which need even higher flow rates and there is water that has extremely high amounts of sand, silt and sediment that requires more robust filtration. Happily, there is now a cost effective solution - a solution that provides a high flow rate (up to 150 gpm) and a huge dirt-carrying capacity. In case you haven't been paying attention, it is an absolute fact that a pleated filter is by far and away the best way to filter water containing elevated levels of sediment, sand or silt. A pleated filter has vastly more surface area than a depth-type or surface filter. When you are filtering sand, silt and sediment, the depth filter is simply a poor choice because it may have as little as 10% of the dirt-carrying capacity of a pleated filter. With that in mind, we are happy to introduce what we call the Big Honkin Filter. As soon as we saw it, we realized that was its' name, because it is a Big Honkin Filter! It is available in configurations of 1 inch or 1-1/4 inch flows (up to 30 gpm) or 2 inch flows (up to 150 gpm) for commercial applications. For silt, sand and sediment, the Big Honkin Filter with dual layers of pleated media offers the greatest dirt-carrying capacity and highest flow rate of any whole house water filter that is not made of stainless steel. The construction of the Big Honkin Filter is the same as any water softener tank or backwashing filter tank. It is a composite material that is wrapped with filament-wound fiberglass for strength, so that it is actually stronger than stainless steel. It will not rust and is made to last a lifetime. The dual layer filters have two layers of pleated sediment filters with the outer layer trapping the larger particles and the inner layer trapping the smaller filters. The dual media filters are available in the following sizes:

• 50 micron outer layer/20 micron inner layer
• 20 micron outer layer/10 micron inner layer
• 10 micron outer layer/ 5 micron inner layer

In extreme cases, two or even three filters can be manifolded together in series (for step-down filtration) or parallel (for double or triple the flow rates). The Big Honkin Filter is approximately one-third the cost of a stainless steel filter housing. The only other large filter in this category is the Watts Big Bubba Filter, which we wised to handle. Once you look at the price and the features of the Big Honkin Filter, you will know why we have dis-continues the Big Bubba Filter.