10% Cross Link Resin

[Bannerman]

Our water supply is our town's municipal supply which is currently obtained from 4 deep wells. The water has a total peak hardness of approx. 22 gpg and as it is from a municipal supply, it is chlorinated with a distribution residual of 0.70-1.58 mg/L.

As we typically have red, non-slimy deposits in our toilet tanks and anywhere water collects for any length of time (ie: shower curtain), iron appears to be also an issue. The town states they add 'WaterWorx' 28% (previously 'Calciquest' 28%) as an iron sequestering agent and I understand the presence of chlorine should also eliminate/reduce any negative effects of iron.

Our 30K softener (circ. 1997) has recently developed a reduced flow issue as well as reduced capacity. As the softener is otherwise in good condition, I thought I'd investigate replacing the resin and piston/seal/spacers versus replacing the entire softener. I have periodically ran Iron Out or Res-Care type products through the unit to clear-out any possible build-up of iron.

Today I contacted a local water treatment supplier who offer softener resin for a very reasonable cost, including to the general public. As they typically stock only one main resin type (Ion Plus CA-10) which is 8%, I inquired into obtaining 10% cross link resin due to the chlorine. The agent replied that Ion Plus CA-12 could be specially ordered at only $5.00 more per cu/ft bag.

Are there any drawbacks to 10% cross link resin? I ask this as there is such a small price difference between the 8% and 10%, is there any reason the supplier couldn't/shouldn't stock and supply 10% cross link resin instead of 8% as a matter of routine? Perhaps with an increased volume of 10% resin purchased, their cost would become equal to their cost for 8%.

Thank you!

 

[NHmaster3015]

There are no drawbacks

 

[Sponsor]

 

[ditttohead]

It is a long and technical discussion... yes 8% has some very minor and purely technical advantages over 10% in capacity. These higher capacities are rarely even calculated in a systems set-up. 10% is simply overkill for many applications. Also, manufacturing costs are much higher for 10% vs. 8%. We stock and sell equal amounts of both, most of our mass market customers use 8%, most of our small dealers use 10%. In your application, your resin lasted over a decade... is that bad? The cost of manufacturing 10% is higher. There are many cheap resins that have far lower than 8% crosslinking, most of the times, these resins do just fine, but in heavier use application, or higher chlorine levels, the resin crosslinking can fail causing low flow issues as you are currently experiencing.

The cost would not be equal, the manufacturing costs are higher, therefore the end product cost is higher.

 

[Mikey]

But he's dealing with chlorinated water (albeit not excessive), and it sounds like a bargain at only $5/cu ft more for the 10%.

 

[Bannerman]

Thanks nhmaster, dittohead & Mikey for your replies.

I have proceeded to order 1 cu/ft of 10% for our unit but I wasn't sure why my supplier wouldn't stock and regularly offer 10% over the 8% as they indicate only a $5.00 cu/ft cost premium. I've seen online suppliers offering 10% with a substantially higher cost premium over 8%, seemingly in support of dittohead's statement. In my case, the cost premium is negligible.

Mikey, you mention the chlorine residual not being excessive. What would be considered excessive? The town's latest water quality report indicates they measure between 0.2 - 3.0 mg/L chlorine in the treated water when tested at each pump house. The quantity stated yesterday is the residual amount the town measures throughout the distribution system.

Would anyone have any theories as to why we continue to have red discoloration in the toilet tank, shower curtain, etc when the town adds an iron sequestering agent plus chlorine and we have been operating our softener virtually continuously since 1997?

 

[Reach4]

Would anyone have any theories as to why we continue to have red discoloration in the toilet tank, shower curtain, etc when the town adds an iron sequestering agent plus chlorine and we have been operating our softener virtually continuously since 1997?

Not a pro, but I am guessing that the iron is coming in as ferric (rust). The chlorine, if I understand correctly, converts ferrous iron (invisible) to ferric iron, which can be filtered.

The cheaper solution I would try is a 20*4.5 inch Big Blue filter housing with initially maybe a 5 or 1 micron filter to filter the whole house's water except for the outside faucets. That filter would need changing at an interval based on how much material got captured. The more expensive solution would be to use a backwashing filter which could filter particles, but could do much more, such as also remove chlorine or iron. I may be wrong.

 

[Mikey]

Mikey, you mention the chlorine residual not being excessive. What would be considered excessive?

From: www.chemaqua.com/downloads/cases/CATB4-014.pdf

"Chlorine and Softened Resin Life
Standard softener resin is considered moderately resistant to oxidation by chlorine and can last up to 10 years
when softening water with a free chlorine level up to 1.0 ppm. However, a chlorine level of about 1.0 ppm will cut
the resin life in half. The effects of chloramines are not as drastic as chlorine. It is estimated the oxidative effect is
only above half that of free chlorine.

Chlorine Removal
Depending on the circumstances, it may be cost effective to dechlorinate the water prior to entering a softener.
This can be accomplished by passing the water going into the softener through a bed of activated carbon or by the
introduction of chemicals, such as sodium sulfite or sodium bisulfite. Chemical addition has not been very effective
in the removal of chloramines. You may want to consider chlorine removal ahead of a softener whenever the free
chlorine residual routinely exceeds 1.0 ppm."

 

[Mikey]

Would anyone have any theories as to why we continue to have red discoloration in the toilet tank, shower curtain, etc when the town adds an iron sequestering agent plus chlorine and we have been operating our softener virtually continuously since 1997?

Does the red stuff in the toilet tank feel slimy, or hard like rust?

 

[Charlie1]

Our water supply is our town's municipal supply which is currently obtained from 4 deep wells. The water has a total peak hardness of approx. 22 gpg and as it is from a municipal supply, it is chlorinated with a distribution residual of 0.70-1.58 mg/L.

As we typically have red, non-slimy deposits in our toilet tanks and anywhere water collects for any length of time (ie: shower curtain), iron appears to be also an issue. The town states they add 'WaterWorx' 28% (previously 'Calciquest' 28%) as an iron sequestering agent and I understand the presence of chlorine should also eliminate/reduce any negative effects of iron.

Our 30K softener (circ. 1997) has recently developed a reduced flow issue as well as reduced capacity. As the softener is otherwise in good condition, I thought I'd investigate replacing the resin and piston/seal/spacers versus replacing the entire softener. I have periodically ran Iron Out or Res-Care type products through the unit to clear-out any possible build-up of iron.

Today I contacted a local water treatment supplier who offer softener resin for a very reasonable cost, including to the general public. As they typically stock only one main resin type (Ion Plus CA-10) which is 8%, I inquired into obtaining 10% cross link resin due to the chlorine. The agent replied that Ion Plus CA-12 could be specially ordered at only $5.00 more per cu/ft bag.

Are there any drawbacks to 10% cross link resin? I ask this as there is such a small price difference between the 8% and 10%, is there any reason the supplier couldn't/shouldn't stock and supply 10% cross link resin instead of 8% as a matter of routine? Perhaps with an increased volume of 10% resin purchased, their cost would become equal to their cost for 8%.

Thank you!

 

[Charlie1]

I would consider a synthetic zeolite media with water that has a chlorine residual. The resin beads are going to shrink with chlorine exposure and eventually they will pass through the lower diffuser and end up in your household plumbing fixtures. Water Right CR100 would probably be best for your application, if the ph was above 8 you can use CR200

 

[Bannerman]

Charlie, Not sure why you would revive an almost 5-year-old thread. My resin was replaced within 2 days of my starting this thread.