Tannin and water softner unit all in one?

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spete112

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I have a question regarding the all in one tannin filter and the water softener. Right now my water tests are coming back with a trace on tannin and 0.47 of Iron and 20 for hardness. I noticed that most local dealers will not even talk about these unit and say they just don’t work. Has anyone had good results with these units and would I be a candate for one with my water just having a trace of both Iron and Tannin?

Also right now my water softener is getting my hardness down to 0 however the water does not feel right and soap does not stick around very long. We are on a private well. I am wondering if we have something else in our water that a routine water test is not showing. I am willing to pay for a extensive test to be don’t however I would like to know what else should I be testing for? So I am getting the results that I would be paying for.

I know I need to take care of my tannin problem so I don’t get staining on some new fixtures in a newly finished bathroom and I figure that my Kenmore ultra soft 250 Is getting tired and probably should have never been bought in the first place for a private well. So I have time to do my homework I just want to make the wises decision that I can. I will find a company on the internet that has been talked about on this site and install the equipment my self.

Thanks for your time and help.

Shawn
 

ditttohead

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Tannin/softener combo units work, but the tannin levels must be very low. The Anion resin is easily fouled by and should be softened prior to going through the tannin resin. This poses a problem for the combo design since the anion resin will naturally seperate and rise to the top above the softener resin (cation).

I always recommend a res-up or similar resin cleaning program for these combo units, and they are not recommended for larger application (1-2 bath is my maximum recommended application, no mega showers or tubs).

For this design, the larger the better. I do not recommend a small system since the amount of resin is limited since you are sharing the tank with 2 different medias. We have several customers that are successful with this design, but they can be tricky. A fishy odor is also a common complaint when the systems are not set up correctly or if they are operated beyond their capacity.

A water softener producing 0 GPG may not feel soft. 0 gpg can range from 0-3 on many softness test strips. A gpg is 17.1 ppm, so you could be exceeding 50 ppm and the test strip may show you 0.

I highly recommend the HACH 5B test kit, it is not good for low level testing (<17.1 ppm), but to ensure you are below 1 GPG, it is highly accurate and inexpensive. Test strips are not a good or proper test kit except for verifying that the system is, or is not working.
 

spete112

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Tannin/softener combo units work, but the tannin levels must be very low. The Anion resin is easily fouled by and should be softened prior to going through the tannin resin. This poses a problem for the combo design since the anion resin will naturally seperate and rise to the top above the softener resin (cation).

I always recommend a res-up or similar resin cleaning program for these combo units, and they are not recommended for larger application (1-2 bath is my maximum recommended application, no mega showers or tubs).

For this design, the larger the better. I do not recommend a small system since the amount of resin is limited since you are sharing the tank with 2 different medias. We have several customers that are successful with this design, but they can be tricky. A fishy odor is also a common complaint when the systems are not set up correctly or if they are operated beyond their capacity.

A water softener producing 0 GPG may not feel soft. 0 gpg can range from 0-3 on many softness test strips. A gpg is 17.1 ppm, so you could be exceeding 50 ppm and the test strip may show you 0.

I highly recommend the HACH 5B test kit, it is not good for low level testing (<17.1 ppm), but to ensure you are below 1 GPG, it is highly accurate and inexpensive. Test strips are not a good or proper test kit except for verifying that the system is, or is not working.

Thanks for your reply. We do have a 3 bathroom house. However there is just the two of us in the house. So I am thinking that we are borderline?? The only concern is that the new fixtures that we are installing in the basement is a wirlpool tub and a shower with two spray heads. Now they will not be used every day however I do understand that when they are being used we will be taxing the filter. Would you minding commenting one more time if I should stay from the all in one unit or not with this added information?

Thanks again Shawn
 
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