Inherited Plumbing for a Water Softener

[Phasers]

Hello all, long time reader first time poster.

I purchased a home during Covid, and the previous owners had some sort of dual tank water softening system that was removed, however I still have the plumbing in place. I believe it was an older Culligan??? The plumbing coming in looks to be 1.25" or so, with connections for two tanks. (i've attached pics below, red valves are on the input line). There is also a black rubber line, I assume some sort of drain line (for recharging maybe?).

I'd like to add in a water softener system of my own since the majority of the hard plumbing is done. I've heard good things about the fleck system (maybe the 9100?). I have 2 adults and 3 children living here, with relatives that visit and stay for weeks at a time, so multiple showers can be in use at any time of day or night, not to mention the mountains of laundry. I can of course change the connections that I currently have for the plumbing now, but essentially I'd like to know: What should I get based on my current setup? My hardness level is around 130-140 ppm (~7.5-8.0 gpg)

Thank you all in advance.

 

[Bannerman]

- Water source? (Municipal or private well)
- If private well, a comprehensive lab test is highly recommended so as to determine other water conditions that may also require treatment such as iron, manganese, low pH etc.
- If water is municipal sourced, is chlorine or chloramine (chlorine + ammonia) being utilized for disinfection?

My hardness level is around 130-140 ppm (~7.5-8.0 gpg)

How was 130-140 ppm measured? When posters provide hardness as ppm, that often means a TDS meter was utilized, but TDS ppm does not indicate hardness. To determine the water total hardness level required for sizing and programming a softener, a Hach 5B Total Hardness test kit is recommended, which will report hardness directly as grains per gallon.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Phasers]

- Water source? (Municipal or private well)
- If private well, a comprehensive lab test is highly recommended so as to determine other water conditions that may also require treatment such as iron, manganese, low pH etc.
- If water is municipal sourced, is chlorine or chloramine (chlorine + ammonia) being utilized for disinfection?



How was 130-140 ppm measured? When posters provide hardness as ppm, that often means a TDS meter was utilized, but TDS ppm does not indicate hardness. To determine the water total hardness level required for sizing and programming a softener, a Hach 5B Total Hardness test kit is recommended, which will report hardness directly as grains per gallon.

Water source: Municipal. Total Chloramine Residual (ppm) average per the town's water quality report is 2.6.

The 130-140 ppm was also based on the town's water quality report, and is in line with other cities and towns around here which feed off the same water source.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

It looks like you might have had a carbon filter installed before the water softener.......
the red handled bypass valve could have been attached to a Clack unit ....

nothing is going to just go back into that configuration
so you will probably just have to cut it all out and re-configure
the whole system from scratch....

 

[Phasers]

It looks like you might have had a carbon filter installed before the water softener.......
the red handled bypass valve could have been attached to a Clack unit ....

nothing is going to just go back into that configuration
so you will probably just have to cut it all out and re-configure
the whole system from scratch....

I don't have an issue doing that. Do you ahve any guidance for what I should put there?

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

I don't have an issue doing that. Do you ahve any guidance for what I should put there?

It all depends on how bad your water is and what you want to take out of the water..

If you are on city water and do not want the chlorines in the drinking water or bathing water you would want
to throw in a backwashing carbon filter into the line first and then install a water softener
after the carbon filter ...... that is the best path to go for max efficiency

if you are on well water then maybe there was an iron filter in the system first....
then the water softener came in second....

or you can just forget the first bypass mess and install a common water softener if you are not
concerned about chlorines.....

 

[Texas Water Boy]

What part of tx?

 

[Phasers]

What part of tx?

near DFW airport, part of the Trinity Water district.

 

[Phasers]

It all depends on how bad your water is and what you want to take out of the water..

If you are on city water and do not want the chlorines in the drinking water or bathing water you would want
to throw in a backwashing carbon filter into the line first and then install a water softener
after the carbon filter ...... that is the best path to go for max efficiency

if you are on well water then maybe there was an iron filter in the system first....
then the water softener came in second....

or you can just forget the first bypass mess and install a common water softener if you are not
concerned about chlorines.....

Honestly, it is more my wife complaining about how the water affects her hair, plus the mild white buildup around faucets and shower heads.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

Honestly, it is more my wife complaining about how the water affects her hair, plus the mild white buildup around faucets and shower heads.

I know that feeling... i have to keep my wife happy with soft water too

 

[MaxBlack]

Yup we HAVE a softener and it wasn't making silky enough H2O for Wife's hair, but when I switched from Potassium to Sodium Chloride crystals that made her happy again. Not sure why but it worked.

Re: "relatives...that stay for weeks at a time" don't they know that relatives and fish smell after three days? Actually, in a couple of our instances it is only two days.