Steam boiler intake water filtering

leaking

I am in Chicago . Semi hard water , no water softener necessary. A 10 yr old Weil McLain 650,000 btu (or so) steam boiler . I read in the literature that no treatment was recommended to use inside the boiler but what about the fresh water makeup , the fill ? I have Takagi tankless for HW , and they have a scale reducing filter I use. They last 1.5 years in a 12 unit . Would using a scale reducing filter help ? Would it damage the boiler ? I believe it alkalines the water . I try to flush down the brown water every day to every week, yearly flushes I don’t remove much mud . I just don’t want to damage the LGB 6/23. But want to do what is best. Thanks all .

Big Ed_4

You really want to maintain steam leakage. If no water is lost , then you don't have to add water .. You can start with good vents ..

Jamie Hall

You flush down the brown water every day? Or at least every week? Oh dear. I hope not. If a steam heating system isn't leaking — and it shouldn't — a boiler flush once a year is more than ample, although if there is a float type low water cutoff it should be blown down a few times a month — but that only involves a gallon or less of water.

You're killing your boiler with that fresh water from the flushing… stop it!

As to water treatment, some folks suggest adding a buffer to bring the pH around 10. Some folks suggest not bothering with that (including Weil-McClain). In any event, if you have no leaks, the small amount of water added is not a problem, even with very hard water.

If you have to add more than a gallon or so of water a month — besides the LWCO water — find the leaks and fix them.

delcrossv

I'm in Chicago as well. I see no need for a DI filter for City water.

8 way at 1/4 the dose on the bottle is helpful.