Help me on my water softening journey!

[TekkSki]

Thanks in advance!

I've been doing some research and I think I have decided to go with fleck but the 'upflow' genesis stuff has me intrigued. I like efficiency but not marketing.. Any input here would be welcome.

Quick question first: Are there any softeners that regenerate 'only' when needed? Or are they all programmed on a cycle?

Next: I've seen people referencing the 5810sxt but I can't find it on their site:
https://www.flecksystems.com/fleck-systems/water-softeners.html

There are 4 of us with 3 bathrooms. Our average daily consumption is about 230 gallons but that includes a bunch of landscaping. Little kids get lots of baths too.

The water:
Hardness: 17.4 gpg
All other stats: http://www.mesaaz.gov/home/showdocument?id=22017
Looking at the Eastern Zone

We have fairly decent water pressure and I'd like to maintain that. I don't know if I have 3/4 or 1" piping yet, I'll measure after work.

Will I be happy enough with a 5600sxt, 5810sxt(where is it?) or 2510? Do I need the separate carbon filter? I live in what used to be an orange grove so it has me worried but I plan on doing R/O under the sink. Should I leave the extra carbon tank out for this reason since I won't be drinking this water? (except maybe ice maker?) Thanks again for any guidance.

 

[Reach4]

Quick question first: Are there any softeners that regenerate 'only' when needed? Or are they all programmed on a cycle?

Almost all new ones are that way. The term is "demand".

There are 4 of us with 3 bathrooms. Our average daily consumption is about 230 gallons but that includes a bunch of landscaping. Little kids get lots of baths too.

A 1.5 cubic ft ("48000 grain") softener would be enough. A 2 cubic ft ("64000" grain) softener would not be overkill.

Will I be happy enough with a 5600sxt, 5810sxt(where is it?) or 2510? Do I need the separate carbon filter? I live in what used to be an orange grove so it has me worried but I plan on doing R/O under the sink. Should I leave the extra carbon tank out for this reason since I won't be drinking this water? (except maybe ice maker?)

I would not go with the carbon tank, but others would do so quite reasonably. It would go in front of the softener. You would feed the RO with soft water in either case, and you would do well to feed the fridge from the RO. Use plastic pipe for that run, not metal.

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[ditttohead]

Any modern system (last 25 years) can be programmed to be extremely efficient. Please ignore the garbage marketing put forth by most companies. Nothing is free, many of the original automatic softeners were upflow designs with massive water and salt efficiencies... they also destroyed the resin beds within a year regularly. Common sense needs to come into play. A car can get 80 MPG, but it will obviously be a moped with four wheels and the likelihood living through even a minor accident is slim to none. Any system can be programmed for 1-2 pounds of salt per ft3. and they don't have to program a backwash cycle... or a fast rinse etc... all of these cycles perform a specific function. Is a 10 minute backwash cycler really necessary? 4-5 minutes is typically adequate. In that scenario we are only talking about 10 gallons... is this really an issue considering that the system can treat 1000-3000 gallon between cycles? Buying a complex piece of equipment that was designed and manufactured in the USA, Italy, Germany, etc and running it overseas to the lowest bidder to make a counterfeit or poor copy, is this really what we want to support? All of the research and development that goes into these complex designs is expensive. I travel overseas regularly and the amount of intellectual property that is counterfeited is amazing. I will be in China in a couple months again, anyone want a Rolex? How about an I-Phone for $100

FYI, please turn on your sarcasm filters if they are not already activated.