Water Softener Install - Identify These Pipes?

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KenJr

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Hey Folks,

First post here for me. Looking to install my own water softener soon and I live in a new home where they ran some pipes in the garage that I can tie into to install a water softener.

I'm likely going to get the Fleck 7000 system - it's a salt unit so it will need to drain.

I'm trying to figure out which one of these pipes at the bottom is a drain pipe. One of my hot water heaters is in a closet right behind the wall here - but the pipe doesn't go directly into the closet where it's exposed so I can't see where it leads to.

Also, for the loop that's available does the water flow from the street left to right?

Thanks in advance!
 

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Mikey

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It looks like the upper white PVC pipe stub is intended to be a drain. Since there is what looks like a plumbed diversion for a softener above that, the drain may have been intended for the softener. I think you'll need a trap and standpipe for the softener drain. The capped pipe below looks like a cleanout.

If the street is to the left, then the odds are good that the flow is left to right in the loop. If you have a main water shutoff somewhere, that will provide a clue as to where the water is coming from, but with everything hidden inside finished walls, you may need to do some creative exploring. What's the big white thing behind the ladder?
 

KenJr

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Thanks Mikey. The street and my water main shutoff is to the front of the house and the right so it's behind me and to the right related to where I'm standing taking the picture. I figured I'd probably have to just shut the water off and cut the pipe and see what happens...maybe turn the water main back on for a spritz to see where it's coming in to be sure.

Do folks typically plumb in a bypass for the entire softener system? Curious if it were to ever have problems or not work properly...be nice to have a way around it but I don't see an example of how to do that in the 7000 instructions - they just run it right in line with existing plumbing.

The white thing is a florescent light fixture I took out of our master bedroom closet. My wife wasn't a fan of that. :)
 

Mikey

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The 7000 has a bypass available as an installation option, so you don't need to build your own 3-valve system, but if you want to bypass the entire treatment system (assuming more than just the 7000 softener) then put in your own bypass. I would do exactly what you're proposing to find out where the water comes from -- turn off water -> build 3-valve bypass -> shut off all 3 valves -> turn on water -> see which valve is upstream by cracking it open a little and see if it leaks.

As for the standpipe, your washing machine probably has one. There's a vertical pipe going down to a P-trap, which goes into the drain. The drain line from the softener is just inserted into the top of the standpipe. I'm sure the experts here can cite height, size, etc., off the top of their heads. OTOH, maybe it isn't required; here's a link to a picture with essentially no standpipe, just the line going into a P-trap search this forum for "softener drain":

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/drain-for-softener.48719/#post-358903
 
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