Water softener basic questions

[xyla]

Hi,

I'm moving in to a new construction home soon and am planning to install a water softener. I've never had one before so I'm trying to learn.
1) If I have a water softener, what are the issues with NOT installing a RO system? I don't want to drill another hole in my countertop for the faucet. I will have a built in refrigerator that does not have a water dispenser but does have an icemaker.
2) Install - My new house will have a built in loop for the water softener. If I buy one of the kits that ostensibly comes with everything I need, how DIY is the install? I've installed toilets, faucets, sinks before.
3) Sizing - The new house is 5bed/3.5bath but most of the time we will only have 4 people (2 teenagers who take long showers) living there. If I size for 4 people, what happens when we have a house full of guests?

Thanks for any pointers you can provide!

 

[Bannerman]

1) RO is one of the most effective methods to remove contaminants from water, to provide virtually pure water for drinking and cooking. How pure do you want your water? Even with less thorough filtration methods such as a simple inline carbon filter to remove chlorine and improve odor and taste, that will continue to require a relatively slow flow rate to be most effective, so a separate faucet would continue to be needed.

2) Most water softeners offered by big box stores are typically built for low cost as the primary goal with low quality and reduced lifespan as a result.

Softeners are often assembled using various off the shelf components and so many sold online may offer a great control valve which is paired with low quality components so that dealer may be $1 cheaper than the next online dealer.

While many of the proprietary water treatment brands may offer quality equipment, they are typically sold only through their brand's closed dealer networks thereby resulting in little competition for pricing, and usually a reliance on the local dealer for parts and service.

Review of this forum will show the most common recommendations are Fleck or Clack control valves which are paired with quality domestic components and resin.

Contact generic water treatment dealers in your area to determine if they will sell a Fleck or Clack system uninstalled if you wish to perform that task yourself. Installation should not be difficult based on the experience you stated, and this forum will assist in answering questions in regards to installation and programming.

3) Almost all softeners sold today are equipped with a water meter so regeneration will be performed when the programmed capacity has been consumed. The usual recommendation when the water has no iron or manganese content is to size large enough to provide at least 1 week of usual consumption before regeneration will be required while using an efficient salt setting.

Knowing your water consumption such as stated on a water bill will help to determine an appropriate softener recommendation otherwise, water consumption would need to be estimated.

Also required will be the the pipe diameter of softener loop and also the hardness quantity of the water at your specific location. Municipal water suppliers will sometimes state average hardness from all sources but that may not be the actual hardness experienced at your location.

While the softener will automatically regenerate when the programmed capacity has been consumed, when higher than usual water use is anticipated, if the remaining capacity is low and regeneration will soon be needed, a manual regeneration is often performed in advance to ensure there will be sufficient soft water available for the additional usage.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[xyla]

Thanks Bannerman for the detailed response! See my further comments:
1) Just to be crystal clear, the RO system will purify my water and make it taste better but if I'm ok drinking tap water (I have my entire life up until now!) then there's no particular issue with drinking softened water. Is that correct? I might install a RO system down the road but didn't want to drill into my brand new granite just yet.
2)I wasn't looking at big box stores, but rather a system like this one: http://apluswater.org/Fleck 5600 SXT Water Softeners.html
3) I looked on my current water bill (smaller house, same number of people in it) and it says usage is 59. I'm assuming that's in thousands?

 

[Bannerman]

1) A softener will exchange calcium and Magnesium ions in the water (the minerals most causing hardness) and will replace them with sodium ions, The amount of sodium in the softened water will be conditional on the amount of hardness to be removed. No issue with drinking soft water but here is a chart which discusses the sodium amount.
https://view.publitas.com/impact-water-products/2018-catalog-final/page/154-155

2) There have been other forum members that have purchased from that vendor. While a Fleck 5600SXT is a good valve, I don't know the quality if the other components such as tanks, distributor basket, resin etc. I have watched at least 1 of their 'information' videos which did not include accurate information.

A Fleck 5600 is a several decades old design that remains popular but is appropriate for homes with 3/4" plumbing. As your home is equipped with 3.5 baths, I anticipate your incoming water line will be 1" or 1.25" so a Fleck 5810 (up to 1") or a Fleck 5812 (up to 1.25") will be appropriate for your application. Alternately, a Clack WS1 or a Clack WS1.25 (1.25").

The quantity of resin will determine the total capacity of the system but to improve hardness removal efficiency and reduce salt consumption, the total capacity will not be used per regeneration cycle (roughly 75% max).

3) I don't know what your 59 is intended to signify. I anticipate it will be indicated somewhere on your bill. In my province, my water bill specifies cubic metres of water so 59 m3 would equal 15,586 US gallons.