Advised to get New Water Softener

[cjw5110]

Hi all,

Looking for some advice here. My plumber recently advised me that the softener I have - the GE GXSF30v - is insufficient for the well water quality in Chester County, PA. I have no reason not to trust his opinion, but I would like others' thoughts. If I still have hard water, even with a softener, is it because the softener I have is not capable of handling the hardness of the water in my area, or is it because I have inappropriate settings on my softener?

He has advised me to replace the softener system, which he estimates to cost between $2,000-$3,000 (parts + labor). For reference, I live in a single story home with two bathrooms.

Thanks in advance for all opinions.

 

[JRC3]

Just curious what brand and model water softener he plans to install for $2-3K...A larger GE, Whirlpool, or Kenmore?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[cjw5110]

Just curious what brand and model water softener he plans to install for $2-3K...A larger GE, Whirlpool, or Kenmore?

Thanks for the question - he only gave me a back-of-the-napkin estimate. He did not propose a specific model yet, so I'm not sure what he had in mind; I'm expecting a detailed quote within the next day or so. For what it's worth, he made a comment that the model I have is better suited for city water than well water.

 

[Bannerman]

Settings programmed?
Post the water analysis results.

 

[JRC3]

Yeah, basically you need to at least know your water hardness and iron content...Then you program the softener for that. Others will ask specific questions about you water and water demand...You current soften may be fine, it may just be set up wrong. At worst it may need to regenerate more frequently if it is a bit small.




My thought is, for $2-3K, is he just replacing it with a larger big box store GE, or is he installing something with a good controller and maybe also an additional iron filter? If he's charging that much for a $400 GE, Whirpool, or Kenmore then he is way to high unless he is doing more than just replacing a softener.

 

[cjw5110]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the thoughts and sorry for the delay. The existing softener is programmed to 10 GPG with a daily refresh at 10PM. I picked up a hardness testing kit from Home Depot, which indicated that the water had hardness of 15 GPG, and that is softened water. To that end, I increased my settings to reflect 30 GPG (the free test didn't include an iron test, but I assume there is at least some iron in our water). Please let me know if this is a poor choice!

I have been trying to work with my original plumber, but he seems to be excessively busy due to some turnover in his business. I have another plumber set to give an estimate on Tuesday. In terms of full test results, I still have not heard back but will update this thread with the results once they are made available to me.

 

[cjw5110]

Update... I got a second opinion and some additional detail. It appears that my non-softened water's hardness is in the 'Extreme' range (~25-30), and it also has a pH of 6, so I would be looking at a neutralizer/softener combo unit. In terms of iron content, that is basically negligible, and the dissolved solids content is in the 550 range (I assume 550 is ppm?). The combo system my second plumber suggested is around $3,200, custom-built, and he estimated that replacing the pipes would be $1,000.

I was able to confirm that my softener will work if I manually force regeneration (at settings of 25 GPG, it reduced hardness to 2)... naturally, I don't want to have to force it as a long term work-around, so I'll definitely be looking into a new system, no matter what.

 

[Reach4]

I would get an independent lab water test too. Free tests can be expensive. I like kit 90 from http://www.karlabs.com/watertestkit/

Your plumber's suggestion does not seem out of line to me.