Softener drain questions

[Spencer Valeri]

Hi all, I am planning to install a new water softener at my house. The home has never had one before so I will be installing from scratch. I recently picked up a GE 30,000 grain unit from Home Depot. The unit will be installed in my garage after the pressure tank but before the water heater. I have two drain options. There is a floor drain about 20 feet from the softener in the middle of the garage. The biggest problem I see with it is that the line would run into the middle of the garage leaving it susceptible to be driven over. Also I would need to find an air gap option which would leave a block or pipe in the middle of the floor to be stepped on or kicked. My other option would be to run a drain hose to my ceiling (7’3”) and across the garage into the laundry room (about a 36 foot horizontal run). The manual for this GE softener says to avoid runs longer than 30 feet and higher than 8 feet. So do you think that option would work with this softener or would I be able to do it with a different unit like this one Fleck 5600SXT 48,000 Grain Water Softener Digital SXT Metered Whole House System https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OGN3162/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_x2.rAb02F0DHV

Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[Spencer Valeri]

The other option would be to add a wye tee into a drain line above the softener that comes from the kitchen. If I plumbed the discharge line into that drain line, would that be acceptable?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

If you want to be sure, run the long drain with 3/4 inch.

Going up to the kitchen drain somehow would call for an air gap.

 

[Spencer Valeri]

Thanks. Do you think that I could run that longer run with the 3/4” using the GE softener or would it be wise to go with the Fleck model?

 

[Reach4]

Of those, I would go with the Fleck 5600 SXT choice, but more for other reasons. They are well documented and maintainable. I think cabinet softeners tend to be disposable.

The backwash of a 1.5 cuft resin, 10 inch tank softener would only be 2.4 gpm, so 1/2 should be fine in practice. However 3/4 would meet the stated requirements of the 5600SXT manual:

The pipe size for residential drain line
should be a minimum of 1/2 inch (13 mm). Backwash
flow rates in excess of 7 gpm (26.5 Lpm) or length in
excess of 20 feet (6 m) require 3/4 inch (19 mm) drain line.​

Unless your water supply pressure was only 30 PSI, a few PSI of backpressure , on top of your 8 ft rise, would not matter.

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