Help identifying water softener

[WinstonXL]

Good morning, recently purchased a home that came with a water softener. I don’t believe it is actually doing any, I can hear what sounds to be a small gear turning in the top of the unit. Other then that nothing, in the 2 months I’ve been hear we have never seen or heard water moving thru it. I also don’t know what the white plastic barrel is for either. It has these white ice cube looking things in it but no water. Going to try to attach some pics. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Reach4]

That may be an Autotrol 155/440. Top tank may have held something like calcite to raise pH. Lid on the upper right would have let you add media. The bottom tank would hold softener resin.

You should get your raw water tested, and that test should include pH, hardness, iron, and more. Note that a coliform test may give a false positive if you don't use special sampling procedures.

Tell us about your pump. Down the well where you cannot see it? In that case, there are wires going down the well.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[WinstonXL]

Here is a copy of the water report. There is no pump in our basement so I assume it’s submerged. They treated for the bacteria and then retested and it was fine.

 

[Reach4]

4.9 is pretty low. If you repipe, opt for PEX and not copper.

https://envirotestkits.com/product/safe-home-select/ is less expensive than some other lab tests. $100 may seem like a lot, but you really should have a lab test for more stuff than your safety report did. Your report did not even identify hardness. It did not report iron, and more.

Do you get H2S ("sulfur") smell? Got significant rust stain in the toilet tanks?

https://terrylove.com/forums/index....izing-extra-attention-to-4-inch-casing.65845/ is my well and plumbing sanitizing writeup. You want some nice weather for that, and it takes time to gather the materials.

 

[WinstonXL]

Slowly repiping the copper over to cpvc. The only stains we have are a greenish brown stain in the tub. They had a slow drip but we got it fixed during the final walkthrough before settlement. The sinks and toilets are fine. My two closest neighbors both around 150-200 yards have neutralizes but not softeners per conversation with them.

There is a local (not big box) hardware store that is testing my water today. They do a lot of business in the area with parts and whatnot because we have a lot of people on well water around here. They are testing for PH, Hardness, Iron, Bacteria, and some other things.

 

[Reach4]

Calcite and corrosex neutralizers add hardness. Soda ash injection does not, but requires fancier equipment.

 

[ditttohead]

That is an Autotrol 268 valve with a calcite on top, softener on bottom. Not the best design, but it was popular years ago. There are several problems with the design... the timer gear and the cam yoke tends to break but yours is still intact. Definitely time to consider updating. Non metered softeners are rarely recommended.

 

[Bannerman]

don’t know what the white plastic barrel is for either. It has these white ice cube looking things in it but no water.

The brine tank contains water softener salt utilized to produce salt brine to regenerate the water softener's softening capacity.

 

[WinstonXL]

Ok, so I got some additional testing done.
Hardness 1
Iron 0.26
PH 6.5
TDS 20
No Bacteria

That is from my kitchen faucet which is technically hooked up to the softener in question but that I do not believe has worked in a while. The gentleman at the hardware store thinks with a little work and replacing timer with a 460TC I can salvage the unit. I'm on the fence, I am leaning towards tearing it out and going with a new systems that I hopefully won't have to worry about for a while.

To answer the question about any odor, No we do not. The water is fine, no smell, no staining other then the green in the shower from the copper pipe where is was dripping.

I'm replacing my pressure tank later this week and will get another sample tested to see if it is reading the same. If it is do you have any water softener suggestions?

 

[ditttohead]

Yes, but the copper staining is worrisome. Your pH is not that low, but low enough under the right conditions to cause very expensive damage to the plumbing over time. You really need to get a real water test done before the softener.

Here is a link to a great water test. look for well water standard.
NTLWATERTEST