correct order set-up for water softener and Carbon filter with backwash

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SergeFlorida

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Just recently moved to Florida and the house I bought uses well water. I had city water all my life and have no in-depth knowledge in this subject. The house came with water boss softener that was connected to hot water line only. Cold water was going directly from well untreated. All showers and toilets in the house covered with layers of rusty stuff and water smells like iron. No sulfer smell. I called to local culligan shop and they sent sales man who did some basic water testing. Below some test results:
Hardness - 20.0
Iron 3.5
ph - 7.5
Sulfur - 0.0
Alkalinity - 306
TDS - 375

The sales guy give me a quote of $2500 for water softener Medalist and $2900 for Gold model. Not sure about price range for this type of equipment but I decided to go with used stuff as I have read that with the proper care the water softener can last for a long time. I found some deal and bought the same model used (3 years old) water softener and it also came with chlorination- dechlorination system. The only thing that was missing is injection pump. The guy who sold me this system gave me all papers including connection diagram and I used it as blue print for my installation. Once everything was ready I tried the system without chlorine and the water become much softer but it did not fix iron problem with toilet stains. Once I installed chlorine pump everything work just fine for the exception of some kind of iron smell or may be similar smell like wet rug. It is much less then before but still annoying. It is stronger in the morning and on the third day before regeneration (it is set to default once in 3 days) . From what I know smell can come from untreated bacteria or chemicals. I did some water testing after mixing tank to see if there is enough chlorine and the test strip color changing system does not show me exactly the amount of chlorine in the water, but it shows none after carbon filter and water softener. To make long story short here are my questions:

Based on the diagram Carbon filter goes before water softener and it is intended to remove chlorine to protect resin in softener from damage. I assume it is correct set-up and I just want to see if there is a different set-ups possibilities. My other question when do I need to change carbon beans and resin beans in water softener? Based on statistic history log there are 350 regenerations cycles processed by softener for the its working life. My final and main question is how to get rid of the smell. Any suggestions?
 
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Mialynette2003

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I would start by placing both the carbon filter & softener on bypass to allow chlorine throughout the entire water piping system in the house as well as any spigots outside. Then do a double backwash (back to back) on the carbon filter. Place carbon filter on bypass and do the same thing to the softener. A little chlorine will not hurt the resin. Long term chlorine will. If the smell goes away great. If not, replace both carbon & resin.
 

Reach4

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I would do a well and plumbing disinfection. I like this procedure: http://www.moravecwaterwells.com/disin_test.htm . I am not a pro.

Personally, I would also inspect and probably change the protective anode in the water heater. This probably would require a 3/4 inch drive impact wrench with a 1-1/16 inch impact socket to remove. Most people never do this. Anyway, I would use a the open anode port to add a little more chlorine bleach into the hot water. Alternatively, you could drain the hot water heater before admitting the chlorinated water into the inside piping. That way the water heater and hot water pipes get undiluted chlorinated water like the rest. Use your test strips to see that the water from the taps including hot water taps is at least 50 ppm . Let it sit for a period.

If you actually plan to pull your anode, there is more detailed info available. I don't think it is likely you will do that.
 

SergeFlorida

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I would start by placing both the carbon filter & softener on bypass to allow chlorine throughout the entire water piping system in the house as well as any spigots outside. Then do a double backwash (back to back) on the carbon filter. Place carbon filter on bypass and do the same thing to the softener. A little chlorine will not hurt the resin. Long term chlorine will. If the smell goes away great. If not, replace both carbon & resin.
Thank you for reply. I will try this procedure to see if there is any improvement.
 

SergeFlorida

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I would do a well and plumbing disinfection. I like this procedure: http://www.moravecwaterwells.com/disin_test.htm . I am not a pro.

Personally, I would also inspect and probably change the protective anode in the water heater. This probably would require a 3/4 inch drive impact wrench with a 1-1/16 inch impact socket to remove. Most people never do this. Anyway, I would use a the open anode port to add a little more chlorine bleach into the hot water. Alternatively, you could drain the hot water heater before admitting the chlorinated water into the inside piping. That way the water heater and hot water pipes get undiluted chlorinated water like the rest. Use your test strips to see that the water from the taps including hot water taps is at least 50 ppm . Let it sit for a period.

If you actually plan to pull your anode, there is more detailed info available. I don't think it is likely you will do that.
I just replaced water heater with new unit, the old unit was 11 years old. I will try this as well if first suggestion does not work.
 

SergeFlorida

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Just realized that I made wrong assumption on the amount of chlorine injection pump solution I used in the system. I calculated my pump capacity based on the information in this link http://www.cleanwaterstore.com/technical/how-to-size-home-well-chlorinator.php and it came up that I need 26 gpd pump. I purchased 30 gpd pump and mistakenly assumed that the scale with the regulator on the side is for GPD but it is capacity of the pump. My mistake but the manual says nothing about it. So instead of using pump at 26 GDP I used 30 gpd pump at 26% capacity and put 4 times less chlorine solution then it is required based on my calculation. I changed settings today and I will check it in the morning to see if there is any improvement in cold line. I have to work on the heater later as I collect more info on how to set it up correctly. I am thinking this installation may be useful, but do not want to do anything if first correction will fix the problem.
http://www.cleanwaterstore.com/technical/water-heater-odors.php
 
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