Pentair Pentek Big Blue Filter Housing and Sediment Water Filter Bundle | R50-BB

I bought this as a pre-filter to my Aquasana EQ-1000 whole house filter. I also bought the Pentek 150237 10" Big Blue Filter Housing as a post filter to the entire system (I am using the same review for both since I had the same experience with both). I also bought the brackets for the Big Blue filters found here on Amazon. I live in an area that on a good day might get 50 psi of water pressure so I wanted to keep as much of the pressure as possible. Seeing as I was lucky enough to have a 1" service line on my house, I kept the plumbing 1" up until I got to my utility room. So the filter system would have to be before the utility room on the one inch line.Installation: to connect the housings to the supply lines, I used brass compression fittings. This would allow me to completely remove the individual housings should I even need to perform maintenance. These fittings were tricky to find as I had to go to a plumbing supply store to find them. So they thread into the housing and then compress onto the 1" supply lines. Whatever you use, make sure and use plumbing tape on the threads but not pipe dope. For some reason I was told not to use that. As for the brackets, if you do not get the screws needed to attach the housings to the brackets (and you do need the brackets), they are 5/16 1¼" long lag screws. The housings are not threaded to accept screws which is why you use lag screws. Once the bracket was in place, I set a 5/16" washer on the lag bolt and then used a socket wrench to slowly start tightening the bolt in place. Just be careful and go slow and it will go in straight. Repeat for the other three. To attach the bracket to the wall, you can 3/8" bolts whatever kind suits your method of attaching it to the wall. These have to be attached to the wall with preferably something sturdy either to the studs or a board attached across the studs.Use: once everything was connected, I washed my hands thoroughly and took the O-ring and silicone lubricant that came with the housing. I spread a thin layer of the silicone lubricant in the channel using about half of what came with it. I then seated the O-ring in the channel and pressed down all around. Then I used the rest of the lube on the top of the O-ring. In the future when changing the filters, I plan on reapplying the lubricant. You can find it in your local hardware store for under a buck. I dropped in my filter and screwed in the blue bottom of the housing to the top. Once it was hand tight, I used the filter wrench to give it a little tighten. It didn't turn very much with the wrench but it seated it firmly. Open any shutoff valves to the housing and check for leaks. If there are any, immediately shut off water to the housing and tighten up areas with leaks. Once you are leak-free, be careful with the red pressure relief button on the top! It doesn't take much relieve the pressure and water will start shooting out.With my entire system in place, I did not notice any loss in pressure so this worked exactly as expected!

It's been a while, but I needed a Big Blue housing for a project. I didn't even know if they were still available, but a quick scan and up pops this Pentek - It's gotta be Pen Pure - right? Wow they're still selling them! Price is right, ordered one right up, couple days later, another Amazon box....When I saw "Pentair" on the label, I took a deep breath. Not made any better by the "Made in China" that followed. Oh-oh - this could be bad! Hmm.. looks pretty decent, No!, it's good!(Pentair is a huge industrial corporation, highly respected)I was in the commercial water treatment/RO business back in years ago, and the Pen Pure brand was well respected, as was their version of the standard Big Blue 4.5" (in 10 or 20") housing, often used as a prefilter for smaller commercial RO systems with a depth filter and a CBC to prep for a TFC membrane. That's what this is being used for, and I'm very happy to say, the quality is as good as they were back 20+ yrs ago. You can't say that about too many things that have aged that long and had their manufacture moved to China. I wish it was made in the US, but if it had, I doubt it would be sold at this price point. (We used to get a case of 4 for $99, and once in a while the wholesaler would throw in elements if you bought a few boxes) Small things tell you about quality, and how much a manufacturer cares about it. As always, I grabbed my silicone grease to lube the o-ring, and I also grease the threads lightly too to ease removal and prevent "plastic stick" which can be annoying on this size housing. Anyway, I opened it up and there was the o-ring (not in the groove, in the bowl - a good thing, so it doesn't take a set) and it was already lightly lubed up. A manufacturer that cares enough to do that cares about their product. Always, and still a Penn-Pure/Pentek/Pentair Big Blue customer. 5 stars across the board! Even "Flavor" - I assume they mean the water? That would depend more on the element than the housing, and raw water.One negative - No L bracket and screws with the housing. They used to come gratis, heck I had dozens of them floating around I didn't need, now think I can find one? Still giving five stars on "Ease of install" even though I should take one back, I figure these are available in 1" and 3/4" which saved me some grief. If you're listening, Amazon and Pentair, at least mark "bracket not included" and link one. They're not the same as a standard 10" x 2.5 one. The bolt pattern on a Big Blue is 3" x 3" with 4" to center to the bend - hope that helps someone out. (love that they kept the Imperial pattern) You can drill and tap 1/4npt for a gauge, and the original brackets are notched both sides to clear the bleeder and gauge (and allow 'flipping' if necessary)Bottom Line:These are a high quality housing at a fair price, and I highly recommend them.

I use this for a pre-filter and for recharging the water softener on my RV. Need the clear one to see when the salt is done for recharges. Very sturdy. Has plastic threads for in/out, but with them being 1", you just screw in a brass fitting and they are very secure. Really love the build quality of Pentair housings. Had normal big blues before and they were extremely durable. I do use a pressure regulator keeping the pressure at 50 psi or below, so I can't speak to whether the clear housing will take higher pressures...but these are pretty hefty and well built. Just don't leave the clear housing out in the sun...they are not UV resistant (per Pentair).