Best way to test for hardness level

[Jsmallberries]

Just gathering information for type and size of water treatment.

I'm in west central Florida, residential municipal water supply. I've read we are normally between 8-17 GPG in this area, depending on the time of the season.

Recently purchased a test strip kit online, these are showing 1.5 GPG, so apparently useless.

Can I just go off the commonly known levels in my area,or better to be more specific for my home. If more detail info is needed, what can you recommend for a more accurate test?

 

[Reach4]

Hach 5-b (5b).

Everybody agrees for home use.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jsmallberries]

Thanks for the info,
So get specific hardness to assess type and size is best?

 

[Reach4]

Hach 5-b (5b).

Everybody agrees for home use.

To select a softener, you want the hardness, and the usage. Typically a house uses about 60 gpd of softened water per person. Your softener will need 10% crosslinked resin.

The kit is useful after the softener is installed to read the residual hardness.

 

[ditttohead]

Are you on a municipal supply or your own private well?:

 

[Jsmallberries]

I'm in west central Florida, residential municipal water supply.

Found this rule of thumb online
"most common formula used is amount of people in the home x 75 x {hardness in GPG +( Iron x 3) } = Grains per day removed. once you have the results of this formula divide the system grain capacities by this result. The number you want to end up with will be the days it will go between regenerations, you want to get around 8 days"

So 3 person HH 3x75 x 8 + 1,800. For this softener
Fleck 5600SXT 48,000 Grain Water 4,800/1,800 2.66 days between regenerations? What am I missing

Trying to limit the amount of salt needed.

 

[Bannerman]

Municipal water will be chlorinated so there will be no iron for the softener to remove.

Hardness will need to be measured at your location. Municipal water is typically obtained from multiple sources so it is advisable to add ~ 3 gpg to your actual test result so as to anticipate occasions when hardness will be higher than average.

You mention 48,000 grains so I anticipate you are considering a softener containing 1.5 cubic feet of resin. To regenerate 48K grain will require 30 lbs salt which is an excessive and inefficient amount of salt each regeneration cycle. (48,000 grains / 30 lbs = 1,600 grains/lb hardness removal efficiency)

The usual recommended salt amount for 1.5 ft3 softener is 12 lbs which will regenerate 36,000 grains capacity. (36,000 grains / 12 lbs = 3,000 grains/lb hardness removal efficiency).

Using a hardness setting of 14 grains per gallon (11 gpg actual + 3 gpg).

3 people X 75 gallons per day X 14 gpg = 3,150 grains per day anticipated softening load
36,000 gr capacity / 3,150 = 11.4 (11) days estimated between regen cycles.

 

[Jsmallberries]

Thanks all,

Hey, any way to correct the post heading, I see I put harness by mistake

As far as the 48,000 I just picked that arbitrarily. So if I have 3 person @ 75 gallons per day, HH, hardness 8gpg, +3gpg for variables, what is the best size GR capacity and resin amount to get?

Not sure I understand the size listed, 48,000 versus 36,000 and how that relates to amount of salt used, but I'm getting closer

Also if a I drop to 2 person HH, what adjustments to make

 

[Reach4]

As far as the 48,000 I just picked that arbitrarily. So if I have 3 person @ 75 gallons per day, HH, hardness 8gpg, +3gpg for variables, what is the best size GR capacity and resin amount to get?

If you have the space, the 10x54 inch tank with 1.5 cubic ft of resin would be a good choice for city water with 11 gpg up to about 400 gallons per day.

A smaller system could make sense if there was a space limitation, or where you are on a well dealing with iron using the softener.

Not sure I understand the size listed, 48,000 versus 36,000 and how that relates to amount of salt used, but I'm getting closer

That is a frequent topic. It is best to think of "48000" as a marketing code for 1.5 cubic ft of resin. Trying to actually get that much softening from 1.5 cubic ft of resin takes a lot more salt than you want to use.

Also if a I drop to 2 person HH, what adjustments to make

What are you getting at? At 17 gpg, after high hardness compensation, a 1.5 cubic ft system would be good for about 170 gallons/day. Usually people today estimate 60 gallons of softened water per person. Toilets today take a lot less water than they used to.

If you are in it for the education, http://media.wattswater.com/F-WQ-EngineeringGuide.pdf has a lot of depth to it.

 

[Bannerman]

48,000 versus 36,000 and how that relates to amount of salt used

48,000 grains is the total capacity of 1.5 ft3 resin will contain. For salt efficiency, you will program a lesser amount of usable Capacity which when consumed, will cause regeneration to occur. This will be similar to taking a long trip in your vehicle and deciding you will fill-up fuel when 1/4 tank is remaining. A common Capacity setting for 1.5 ft3 of resin is 36,000 grains which will require only 12 lbs salt to regenerate.

The following link is to a chart which shows common capacity amounts as related to the amount of salt used. For a 1.5 ft3 softener, follow the left column down to 1.5 ft3, then scan right to see the capacity amounts. The salt amount is indicated at the top of each column which is indicated as #lbs salt per ft3 of resin.

For example, for a 36,000-grains Capacity setting, the indicated salt amount is 8 lbs per ft3 which is 12 lbs total salt for a softener containing 1.5 ft3 resin.
https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?attachments/resin-chart-jpg.53316/

Also if a I drop to 2 person HH, what adjustments to make

The only possible setting change may be reducing the 'Reserve' setting, but that will not change the softener size you choose. The Reserve setting is determined when programming the softener so you are not at the point yet for that to be a concern.

 

[Jsmallberries]

So based on the Hach 5B, we have 12 GPG, so add 3 for variables? So 15 GPG, still recommend the same softener?

Doesn't GPG fluctuate depending on season, here in FL

Should have gone with the health metric test kit, then I wouldn't need a softener

 

[Reach4]

So based on the Hach 5B, we have 12 GPG, so add 3 for variables? So 15 GPG, still recommend the same softener?

Doesn't GPG fluctuate depending on season, here in FL

Usually you would set for the highest hardness expected, unless you want to adjust things frequently.

Should have gone with the health metric test kit, then I wouldn't need a softener

 

[Jsmallberries]

"Reach4 said
"If you have the space, the 10x54 inch tank with 1.5 cubic ft of resin would be a good choice for city water with 11 gpg up to about 400 gallons per day."

So still recommended with a 12-15 gpg reading, municipal water??

Any specific brand, type or other things to look for , such as a system that regenerates based on need, not a timed schedule, etc...

I will be self installing, as usual......almost there

 

[Jsmallberries]

Fleck 5600SXT, 1.5 resin(48,000) Before test 13 GPG hardness,now the water turns blue with just the granulated reagent. No drops added
1) So how do I determine if the water is now too soft?
2) Is it better to have some hardness, leaving some manganese and calcium for health reasons?
3) Lower capacity and Brine fill time?

Settings used with member Reachouts help.
Fleck 5600SXT Settings: DF = Gal ; Units VT = dF1b ; Downflw/, Single Backwash, black cam CT = Fd ; Meter Delayed regen trigger NT = 1 ; Number of tanks
C = 33.9 ; capacity in 1000 grains H = 14 ; Hardness-- compensate if needed
RS = rc ; rc says use gallons vs percent RC = 195 ; Reserve capacity gallons
DO = 30 ; Day Override (28 to 30 if no iron)
RT = 2:00 ; Regen time (default 2 AM)
BW = 5 ; Backwash (minutes)
Bd = 60 ; Brine draw minutes
RR = 5 ; Rapid Rinse minutes
BF = 7 ; Brine fill minutes
FM = P0.7 ; since you have paddlewheel

 

[Reach4]

Before test 13 GPG hardness,now the water turns blue with just the granulated reagent. No drops added

Normal with new fresh resin, even if you were using a leaner salt setting. Feel free to back off to a less-salt setting, using the figures ror 5 or 6 lb/cuft. It's not like you are stuck with the setting forever. Changing to 6 now would not even affect the amount of salt used for the next regen, because you have already put the higher amount into the brine tank. The water to make brine is put in at the end of the regeneration.

You need a few cycles under your belt.

Also, I don't know how hard the water needs to be to make the water start blue. Will 0.5 grains of hardness do that? 0.2? I don't know. They have a similar test that measures to 0.1 grain granularity for those who want or need to distinguish small amounts of residual hardness.

1) So how do I determine if the water is now too soft?

You will need time to reach a steady state. I think that longer term, 7 will appeal to you.

2) Is it better to have some hardness, leaving some manganese and calcium for health reasons?

The amounts of Ca and Mg are small in water. You get those in food. But if you want to max those out, don't drink the softened water. Do not use softened water to water your plants.

3) Lower capacity and Brine fill time?

That saves salt per gallon. Try this for a month or two. Many prefer 8 lb/cuft. Many prefer 6 lb/cuft to use less salt and give an acceptable level of residual hardness. Right now you are at 7.

 

[Bannerman]

Any softener purchased today, should be metered so as to regenerate when the capacity programmed has been consumed. While time clock based softeners were common in the past, they are simply not efficient as regeneration will occur on the days programmed even when no capacity has been consumed since the previous regeneration.

Softeners are designed to remove hardness by exchanging calcium and Magnesium ions with sodium ions. As the quantity of calcium and Magnesium obtained from water will vary depending on the water source and also the amount of water a person actually consumes, water should not be relied upon to provide minerals for health. If you are concerned with ensuring your family ingest sufficient minerals, suggest consider the minerals and vitamins provided from the foods consumed which may be further enhanced with a daily mineral and vitamin supplement.