comparing water softener quotes

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Theodore

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Hi,

I have received two quotes for a water softener and acid neutralizer package, and would like advice on how to compare.

#1: CSI WF15D 1.5cuft neutralizer; CSI MS24V 0.75cuft 24k grain softener

#2 : CBF200 2cuft neutralizer; CWS150ME Aqua Pure 1.5cuft softener

My water tested at 6.8pH, 18.1GPG, 382PPM of TDS, with no iron

I can understand a modest difference in neutralizer size (0.5cuft difference), but 2x the softener volume is strange. Can anyone provide guidance? Is this really apples-to-apples?

Thanks

Theodore
 

Theodore

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Hello Reach4. Thanks for the link, but unfortunately, the calcs indicate that I should have a 2cuft mininum softener. The sensitivity in the calcs appears to be triggered mostly by criteria of family of 4 using avg 60gpd; otherwise if would have been 1 to 1.5cuft. This is larger than any of the two quotes I received. I apologize for the naive question, but who should I believe? All comments appreciated.
 

Reach4

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If the link I posted says you should have 2 cuft with your hardness, and that was one of the offerings, I would not go smaller. In fact, that calculator did not take into account that you are going to have the neutralizer, and that will add a bit of hardness. 3/4 cubic ft would be clearly under-sized. Glad you checked here.

Here is the rational and where sometime differences may lie. Using less salt per cubic foot of resin will give less capacity than the nominal capacity, but it will give a lot more capacity per pound of salt. So the bigger with 6 or 8 pound of salt per cubic ft will save salt and money in the long run. However 3/4 is just not reasonable.

Since you have no iron, there is a good chance that you are on chlorinated water. In that case, 10% crosslinked resin is often considered to be a worthwhile upgrade.

You might get an opinion if 6.8 pH is acid enough to bother with a calcite tank at the front end. I don't know myself.

Are those the only numbers you have? Are they from the city/water company, or did you get your own test? Click Inbox above.
 

Theodore

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Are those the only numbers you have? Are they from the city/water company, or did you get your own test? Click Inbox above.[/QUOTE]

Sorry, I should have mentioned: I'm on well water. I had it tested by two seemingly reputable labs who gave me a detailed report... not just the paper strips dipped in water.

The softeners recommended were 0.75 and 1.5 cuft. So 2cuft calculation was a shock to me. I've read people's posts that caution against gross oversizing, because it can lead to incomplete resin refreshing during the salt cycle. But sounds like you're saying 2cuft is far from "gross oversizing."

I know I have to deal with the pH of 6.8, because I've seen it eat through alunimum foil trays under a slow drip leak (over the course of a few weeks).
 

Reach4

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The softeners recommended were 0.75 and 1.5 cuft. So 2cuft calculation was a shock to me. I've read people's posts that caution against gross oversizing, because it can lead to incomplete resin refreshing during the salt cycle. But sounds like you're saying 2cuft is far from "gross oversizing."
I have never read such a post, unless there was high iron.

Given that you show no iron, I am very surprised that you are on a well. I am presuming you do not have your own chlorinator.

How are your arsenic and silica levels? Anything over the MCL level?

There are a couple of numbers that take pH and other factors into account to each give a corrosivity index: Langelier Index and Ryznar Index . I think your aluminum foil test is pretty persuasive, so I am betting those show corrosivity. Calcite won't overdo the correction, and does not need much attention -- top up the tank on occasion.
 
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Theodore

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http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2522921/still-more-water-softener-questions
shows this: "Yes, there is a HUGE downside to purchasing an oversized softener. It's actually worse than purchasing a slightly undersized softener. Home softeners have very simplistic water distribution. If your typical flow rate is too low for the softener, the water will trickle through only a small portion of the resin bed (called channeling) and you will have hard water all the time." Hence my concern in oversizing.

I definitely do not have a personal chlorinator.

Here's a combination of two test results, in case it can offer any more insight:

pH=6.71, 6.8
Alkalinity = 74PPM
Hardness = 18.1gpg, 16gpg
Iron = 0.00 ppm, not detected
Manganese = 0.00 ppm, not detected
Tannin = 0 ppm, not detected
Copper = 0.1ppm
TDS = 498 ppm, 382ppm
Turbidity = 0.57NTU

Any advice is greatly appreciated.
 

ditttohead

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You read it online, so it must be true. :)

2 CF is adequate for your application. Systems have a min and max recommended flow rate. A 12" tank will have no problem on any regular size house for low and high water flows. Undersized softeners are very wasteful in both water and salt usage.

In that post, the comment about channeling on a 2.5 CF system is silly. Grossly oversized... sigh. Some people should simply not post on forums, there "knowledge" comes from what they read online, which as stated earlier...
 
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