New Well - Local Water Company $6,000+ - what to do?

[Water Pro]

personally, I would steer clear of the Cull. units. Their new units are referred to as HE models and are a drastic departure from traditional designs. they use 7 separate pistons (as opposed to 2) which only serves over-complicate things and allow for more points of failure. I was less than impressed. Fleck and Clack are industry standard. Pentair makes Fleck valves and they also have other models available, such as Autotrol

 

[Reach4]

1. Not sure what "make sanitizing harder for recirculating" means - are you referring to retreating or "shocking" the well with bleach for the coliform? If so, we just did that. Well guy pour bleach into well, took small hose and circulated some water from spigot at well back into well a few minutes. Then we turned on a few faucets in house until we could smell bleach. Let sit for 24 hours.

You apparently have a port, probably for the air vent, available. So that aspect works, tho I would do my more intense longer sanitizing, using that hole for more effective killing. I run my recirculating water through a cartridge filter because I have one available.

Your casing is above the ground nicely. It still made me wonder about your nitrate, and your coliform if sanitizing does not take care of it for an extended time. Your well should keep surface stuff out including fertilizers both chemical and cow-processed. I don't know the incidence of nitrate in aquifers.

I found this: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es502725f
Heavy in scientific language, but it has some maps farther down.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[jeff blankenship]

Local "well doctor" which was our 2nd quote for $6,200 for softener, UV light and RO.
CSI Legacy Softner
Viqua UV light
No brand of RO

Price includes 10 yr parts and labor warranty, and they fill salt free for 1st year. After 1st year, they do regular checkups and salt delivery/install, we only pay for salt.

I have no idea if this is a good deal seems very high since I can find 4800 grain Water Softner with Fleck for less than $1000, and UV light and RO for both under $500. So, looks like I could purchase all 3 pieces for ~$2,000. am I'm paying $4200 for labor?

Also someone mentioned that 4800 grain is not a good fit for us.

We do want to solve our HARD water problem, ensure water is bacteria and nitrate free (or safe levels) but want to keep our 25 gal/min flow and pressure as high as possible. 5 people in the house, with an apartment with 2 part time residents all on same system.

 

[Reach4]

I have no idea if this is a good deal seems very high since I can find 4800 grain Water Softner with Fleck for less than $1000, and UV light and RO for both under $500. So, looks like I could purchase all 3 pieces for ~$2,000. am I'm paying $4200 for labor?

There is the design efforts, and I expect some warranty, which has value. There are misc parts that you are not yet considering. But the majority of the 4200 is markup. A plumber who is not a water filtering specialist would probably hook it up for maybe $350 give or take if you had done the assembly. High-cost areas cost more.

I still have hope that a good one-time sanitizing and good sampling technique would rid you of the coliform. I am concerned that your sanitizing did not reach the bottom of the well or the area just into the aquafer.

There are variations on suggested sampling techniques, but they have things in common:
https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/Pubs/331-225.pdf
https://www.anra.org/divisions/wate...nking_Water_Samples_for_Coliform_Analysis.pdf
https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Alberta/Pages/Bacteria-Testing.aspx
https://www.digbydistrict.ca/559-water-testing-sample-taking-procedure/file.html
https://servitechlabs.com/Services/Water/WaterSamplingProcedures/tabid/128/Default.aspx
These all describe methods to avoid contaminating the sample.

 

[Skyjumper]

I could purchase all 3 pieces for ~$2,000. am I'm paying $4200 for labor?

Also someone mentioned that 4800 grain is not a good fit for us.
.

a 48k grain softener should be fine for you. it's a 10x54 tank with 1.5 ft3 of resin in it. the rough math is (7 people) x (50 gals per day) x (16 grains per gal) = 5,600 gains per day usage load. a 48k grain softener has a usable capacity of about 36k. 36k/5.6k = 6.4 ... so 6 days between regenerations, which is fine. You could go 64k (2 ft3) it wouldn't hurt, and really doesn't cost much more.

you should be able to get a 48k Clack softener for about $1300 or so installed. Mine was $1100 6 years ago. of course that price didn't include free salt or annual "check ups" which are just an opportunity to sell you repair services. Clack is the best in the business, in my opinion, but since you don't have iron a Fleck would do just fine as well. keep the salt tank filled and you won't have to mess with it for years.

I think the softener is all you need. but I don't have experience with coliform.

 

[Water Pro]

Local "well doctor" which was our 2nd quote for $6,200 for softener, UV light and RO.
CSI Legacy Softner
Viqua UV light
No brand of RO

Price includes 10 yr parts and labor warranty, and they fill salt free for 1st year. After 1st year, they do regular checkups and salt delivery/install, we only pay for salt.

I have no idea if this is a good deal seems very high since I can find 4800 grain Water Softner with Fleck for less than $1000, and UV light and RO for both under $500. So, looks like I could purchase all 3 pieces for ~$2,000. am I'm paying $4200 for labor?

Also someone mentioned that 4800 grain is not a good fit for us.

We do want to solve our HARD water problem, ensure water is bacteria and nitrate free (or safe levels) but want to keep our 25 gal/min flow and pressure as high as possible. 5 people in the house, with an apartment with 2 part time residents all on same system.

the CSI seems rather rudimentary. Not saying you can't do it yourself, but you'll likely need some guidance. This isn't something you can just dive into with no experience and expect the best results. Both estimates are rather high for the softener, but, as long as you have someone well qualified, your paying a premium for the knowledge and expertise. Plus they are in business to make money, not break even if you know what I mean. Get some more quotes, and don't discount the smaller companies, often times they are just as qualified, sometimes maybe moreso. Go with your gut when talking to them as the gut never lies.

 

[Bannerman]

Many softener systems sold online will typically offer a great older design Fleck valve, but will include low quality components such as tanks, bottom screen and resin so as to be $1 cheaper than the next online vendor.

Gravel underbedding is not essential but is recommended in almost every softener. Systems sold online will usually not include gravel underbedding and so will also often include a smaller media tank which both will reduce shipping costs for the seller since online pricing will include shipping.

Recommend contacting a generic water treatment equipment dealer local to your area. They will typically offer non proprietary equipment brands such as Fleck and/or Clack and will usually offer control valve models not available online. One local dealer may be agreeable to selling you a unit for self install. Since local dealers usually install and service the equipment they sell, they will be less likely to use low quality components on their systems as component failures will usually lead to callbacks which they are unlikely to be reimbursed to provide.

With minimal iron, the usual recommendation is a large enough system to provide between 7 to 30 days usage before regeneration will be needed, A larger quantity of resin will also support a higher flow rate before some hardness will pass through the softener.

A 2 ft3 softener will provide 48,000 grains usable capacity when regenerated with an efficient 16 lbs salt.
6 persons estimated to each use 60 gallons/day = 360 gallons/day X 16 gpg = 5760 gr/day.
48,000 / 5760 = 7-8 days estimated before regeneration will be required.

A 2 ft3 softener would then be the minimum size recommended but if occupancy or water usage is higher, then a 2.5 ft3 or larger unit would be appropriate.

 

[ditttohead]

that would be the "inside the beltway" price...

you will get a lot of great advice here. I'll say your iron looks really good and that makes this much easier for you. the WD48 is a 48,000 grain softener, and $2740 is very high for that even with installation. but they figure, hey this guy has a huge new house in DC he can afford it...

don't worry about the "slimy" feel --- that freaked me out when I first moved from hard to soft water... now I could never go back to hard water, can't stand the sticky feeling.

The water is not "slimy", it is "silky" (so says my marketing degree...)

 

[ditttohead]

Do not buy knock off valves. Many companies have simply been cut off from buying Fleck and Clack so they buy the Chinese knock offs, make ridiculous claims (never ever replaced a seal or piston!!! I will call BS on that ridiculous claim...) and I would avoid companies that make bogus claims like that for any components. Remove the clear filter from the system, any field technician knows the frequency of clear filter housings failing is 100X's that of opaque housings, and if you are going to use a BB style filter Atlas Filtri or Pentek are the only two I recommend. A few dollars more than the cheap ones, but definitely worth it.