LA area - Water softener needed

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J Wa

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Hello,
I am looking for a water softener recommendation and possibly whole-home filter. Can anyone recommend a local dealer/advisor/specialist or how I can begin the process? Should I conduct a water test myself first? And then pass that on to the advisor? If so, how?

I have LA City water. 2-3 persons in a newly renovated home with 3.5 baths. We are seeing lots of spots and buildup on the shower glass, toilets, and around our water fixtures and drains.

Thank you!
 

WorthFlorida

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I cannot help you to find a dealer but be careful when searching on line. There are too many sites with no address and only toll free numbers. There are trolls who sit on there butts anywhere in the country taking request and then contacting a local dealer. If you select one on line you want to see the actual address, a local phone number and then google map it. Manufacture sites is different since they'll contact one of their local to you authorized dealers.

Reputable and well experienced dealers will have a test kit (hardness test) with them but usually they'll know the water for your area especially if it is city water. Well water, yes you would want a complete water test.
 

Breplum

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You don't need a water test in L.A.
L.A.'s water quality is good, aside from the disinfectants, which excellent charcoal filters will address most typically at point of use, like kitchen sink and piped to refrigerator.
Fridge mfr's small filters are inadequate for chloramines, that is why we recommend filtering via the kitchen sink larger filters.

See the facts, (required annual tests report) all public water systems generate these.
https://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/faces/l...&_afrWindowMode=0&_adf.ctrl-state=t1bsbp3tt_4

The water is not particularly hard at all so I wouldn't take wasteful steps to whole house your water.
Spots on shower glass: That's why they make special shower glass with special coatings. We use a squeegee.
 

ditttohead

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Yes, the water quality is acceptable but so is all municipal water as required by law. Can it be greatly improved... absolutely. Many area of LA have fairly lousy water. Does it meet the EPA requirements? Obviously yes as does all municipal water. I build municipal systems, we design them to meet the absolute minimum water quality requirements. This is a cost per gallon analysis.... I only design municipal equipment to meet the absolute minimum requirements for the obvious reason... the majority of the water is used for irrigation, toilets, showers and not actual consumption.
 

J Wa

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Thanks, all.

@breplum The problem is less with spots on the shower glass and more with the hardness and residue that's appearing on all of my faucets and drains, and even inside the dishwasher and along the tile/grout in my shower. Many of my drains are black. My kitchen faucet is copper. My shower tile is dark green. So all of those details really show off the white residue and scale of the hardness. I have a separate drinking water filter. I'm not worried about potability as much, as this is an ongoing maintenance issue. Also the water lines in my area are very old, making the quality of the water that arrives in the house a bit less. Perhaps what I'm pursuing is a cosmetic fix and one to help save on the extensive cleaning time of removing the water scale, but it's become a priority for me.
 

Jeff H Young

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DWP area is so big some places are known for hard water within the county. If op knows he wants a softener then he wants a softener. I bought a tester don't know how much I can trust it but it was under 20 bucks can't remember maybe 15 bucks just recently but was insignificant amount price tag . I need to double check my numbers with perhaps my pool supply store.
Sorry no referral as where to go in LA or any area for that matter
 

Reach4

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I bought a tester don't know how much I can trust it but it was under 20 bucks can't remember maybe 15 bucks just recently but was insignificant amount price tag .
The Hach 5-B test is more accurate than many tests, and not that much more expensive. You get one test tube that you use to measure water being tested into a supplied bottle. Add a tiny included spoon of an included crystals.

Then drop supplied liquid with the supplied dropper drop by drop. If the water transitions from pink to blue when you add the 10th drop, that's 10 grains of hardness.
 
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