Typical Water Softener Thread

[Texas Wellman]

OK so many of you guys know that I'm a licensed well driller pump installer (here in TX) but I really don't know as much about water conditioning as what I should.

That being said I'm trying to help a friend install a softener.

Here's what I got from the Hach Test kit:
about 4 grains hardness per gallon
we measured zero iron and zero manganese.

This is a well for a family of 5, no special extra water needs (fancy showers etc). Just a normal 2 bathroom house.

 

[Texas Wellman]

Since I can get Water Right at dealer (wholesale) cost and I *think* it comes with the clack valve I'm leaning in that direction. Any feedback on the brand?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[ditttohead]

Good system, no real problems. You don't need much for capacity, how many bathrooms?

 

[_John_]

Iirc one our company installed from water right a few years ago had a fleck 7000 valve. I would bet they sell systems with both, but I haven't run through one of their catalogs in a few years.

Either way, good softener. I personally like the Clack valve a little better, but it's a chocolate/vanilla type thing.

 

[Reach4]

At 4 grains of hardness, and no iron, I would not do anything other than a sediment filter.

 

[Texas Wellman]

Good system, no real problems. You don't need much for capacity, how many bathrooms?

2 bathrooms for 5 people. Nothing unusual about water usage (fancy showers etc).

From my research looks like I'm looking for something in the 20,000-30,000 area like the IM- 1044? This is their 1.0 cu ft size.

 

[_John_]

2 bathrooms for 5 people. Nothing unusual about water usage (fancy showers etc).

From my research looks like I'm looking for something in the 20,000-30,000 area like the IM 10-44? This is their 1.0 cu ft size.

30k/1 cu ft is probably fine, but I'd put at least a 45k/1.5 cu ft system if it were my house.

 

[Texas Wellman]

We are planning to put a pre-filter on as well, but I was told that 4 gpg was slightly to moderately hard water.

2 bathrooms for 5 people. Nothing unusual about water usage (fancy showers etc).

From my research looks like I'm looking for something in the 20,000-30,000 area like the IM 10-44? This is their 1.0 cu ft size.

At 4 grains of hardness, and no iron, I would not do anything other than a sediment filter.

 

[Texas Wellman]

From my research wouldn't this be too long between regenerations?

30k/1 cu ft is probably fine, but I'd put at least a 45k/1.5 cu ft system if it were my house.

 

[_John_]

Even if the time between regens were to be an issue, you could just use a lower capacity/lower salt level on the programming to have it regenerate more often.

4 gpg is not really demanding on a softener, I'd just want to know I had both showers going, my dishwasher, and washing machine all going at once covered in my service flow. Part of my personal reasoning is that I have a slate tile shower that is a bugger to clean if it gets deposits.

I'm a little further inland than you in southeast tx and I have 1.5 ppm iron and 18 gpg hardness from our well.

 

[Reach4]

I am not saying that a softener would be a waste. Zero grains is better than 4. Your salt use would be low. But 4 grains is pretty close to soft. There are different opinions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grains_per_gallon calls 0 to 3.5 grains as soft.

 

[Texas Wellman]

This is the reason I like posting these questions.
Lots of different advice and opinions and viewpoint. Keep em coming.

Even if the time between regens were to be an issue, you could just use a lower capacity/lower salt level on the programming to have it regenerate more often.

4 gpg is not really demanding on a softener, I'd just want to know I had both showers going, my dishwasher, and washing machine all going at once covered in my service flow. Part of my personal reasoning is that I have a slate tile shower that is a bugger to clean if it gets deposits.

I'm a little further inland than you in southeast tx and I have 1.5 ppm iron and 18 gpg hardness from our well.

 

[ditttohead]

The 1.5 CF is ideal for most applications. Set it to a low salt dose and it should regenerate every 20 days. While there is some debate as to regeneration frequency, once a month is acceptable and does not create any problems. Consider the million or so 5600 Econominders that are out there regenerating without any automated day over-rides and that only regenerate every few months. Most modern electronic valves have programmable Day over-rides so they can be forced to regenerate monthly if they do not use their entire capacity.

 

[Texas Wellman]

Water lab test came back at 9 gpg hardness and .1 ppm iron.

Kinda surprised that the lab found 2x as what we did using the field kit.

 

[Reach4]

Water lab test came back at 9 gpg hardness and .1 ppm iron.

Kinda surprised that the lab found 2x as what we did using the field kit.

I am too. I would expect the Hach 5-B to do better than that. You rinsed the containers with the same water that you are testing. You used the test tube to measure water into the test bottle, right? You used the little spoon leveled off to measure out the solid reagent. Then you dripped the liquid reagent drops into the bottle slowly, and you saw the color change from pink to blue through the bottle rather than just momentarily as you dropped drops. If the color does not get uniform, you can give the bottle a gentle side-to-side shake or swirl.

Anyway, that hardness makes it a clear choice to get softener.

You mentioned an iron test. Did you get that from Hach as part of a combo kit?

 

[ditttohead]

Water hardness can vary day to day. We have a well just up the street that ranges from 50 GPG to over 120 GPG, the well fluctuates wildly and on a regular basis. Personally, I trust the Hach 5B over any other test kit I have used.