Water softener needed?

[Jeffrey Taylor]

I received my results from a professional water lab. My hardness is at 112 mg/l with no iron detected. PH is 7.65 , sodium is 5.34 mg/l, chloride is 2.79 mg/l and sulfate is 18.9mg/l. What do i need and what products do you recommend. Overwhelmed with online research. I live in CT and have well water. Plumbing is 3/4 inch and there are 4 people in the house with 2.5 baths. Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Reach4]

You don't need a softener for your 6.5 grains of hardness, but it is nice. I would go for a softener with 10x54 inch tank, and a separate brine tank. This is called a "48000 grain softener" for comparison purposes, but don't use that number for calculations. It would regenerate about every 3 weeks.

A system based on the Fleck 5600SXT controller (widely advertized) or Fleck 5800 SXT controller (advertising is restricted) would do well.

You could also use a cabinet type softener. I would not go that way, but they are compact.

Who would do the installation?

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/new-softener-recommendations.75352/ may be of interest.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jeffrey Taylor]

You don't need a softener for your 6.5 grains of hardness, but it is nice. I would go for a softener with 10x54 inch tank, and a separate brine tank. This is called a "48000 grain softener" for comparison purposes, but don't use that number for calculations. It would regenerate about every 3 weeks.

A system based on the Fleck 5600SXT controller (widely advertized) or Fleck 5800 SXT controller (advertising is restricted) would do well.

You could also use a cabinet type softener. I would not go that way, but they are compact.

Who would do the installation?

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/new-softener-recommendations.75352/ may be of interest.

I was thinking of doing it diy. I have done limited plumbing in the past and all of the piping is in the unfinished basement with easy access.

 

[Jeffrey Taylor]

also does resin type make a difference, fine mesh vs 10%?

 

[Reach4]

also does resin type make a difference, fine mesh vs 10%?

Usually you would not choose fine mesh. The regular size is best for most cases. The regular size was finer than I had anticipated.

Your well water does not have chlorine, so 8% crosslinked resin should be good. However I went with 10% crosslinked for my well water. It may have been a waste. I do expect to sanitize as often as every 2 years. Maybe every 5 years. That infrequent exposure to chlorine did not call for the 10%. But I chose it anyway. I am not recommending that you do so. I am not warning you against it.

Any smell? A softener does not help that.

 

[Jeffrey Taylor]

no smell, water is clear and tastes fine...just spots on dishes and figured would help with appliances, wash etc.

 

[Reach4]

Softened is good. You can still get spots, but they rinse/wipe off. Add some Jet-dry etc to the dishwasher. For eyeglasses, do a final spray with distilled water (don't wipe dry). It is cheap.

Some say they can't seem to rinse the soap off with softened water. They are used to using much more soap than they need with softened water. With hard water, I now feel I have a hard time washing the dirt off.

 

[Jeffrey Taylor]

Thank you for you quick response...I'll start looking into the system

 

[ditttohead]

Fine mesh is more marketing than function. We sell a lot of it still but it is mainly for companies pushing "super ultra mega efficient" systems... obviously marketing is important but the minute gains in efficiency vs the potential pressure drop is usually not worth it n my opinion.