Softener settings review

[sophosis]

I got my softener recently installed and it just completed it's first automatic regen the other night. I pulled the usage data off and the current settings and wanted to see if everything makes sense.

Clack WS1EE 1.5 cu ft (E injector, 027 drain)
Avg gal/day (from the WS1): 104 gal/day (highest single day 276 of 13 days)

Function: Softening
Direction: Down brine
Refill: Post fill
1st Backwash: 8min
Slow Rinse: 60min
2nd Backwash 3min
Fast Rinse 8min
Salt Setting: 7.5lb/cuft
Capacity: 30k grain
Volume Capacity: auto
Regen Time: normal
Relay: off

The softener is following a calcite filter, with filtered water at pH 7.0 (from around 5.75), reading 10 grains per gallon before the softener.
Today is day 3 after regen and the hardness is still reading 0 grains using Hach 5b.

The wife gave the signoff on taste, today, but strangely, not before this regen. She said it tasted "chemical-y". With only the calcite filter, she hated the taste comparing it to Evian bottled water. She loved the taste of the raw water. So, hopefully everything is good.

Any changes I should make?

 

[ditttohead]

Change the salt to 12 pounds, capacity to 36K.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[sophosis]

Thanks, ditto.

 

[Reach4]

She loved the taste of the raw water. So, hopefully everything is good.

Any changes I should make?

Optionally, you could tee off the raw water, possibly via a cartridge filter, to a dispenser faucet at the kitchen sink. You would pipe that in plastic for better acid resistance, just as you would the output of a reverse osmosis filter.

 

[sophosis]

Optionally, you could tee off the raw water, possibly via a cartridge filter, to a dispenser faucet at the kitchen sink. You would pipe that in plastic for better acid resistance, just as you would the output of a reverse osmosis filter.

I've thought about doing this to the fridge water dispenser, since this is where we pull drinking water from. My only concern is what the water could do to the fridge components (originally 5.5-5.75 pH). I lost two pex fittings at the water heater last year due to corrosion and likely need to replace the ones in the wall at the water heater. But actually, that's on the hot water side, so maybe it's not as much of an issue for the fridge, being cold water? There's a stub out in the wall for the fridge. I've never checked to see how it's plumbed from the water supply. I'll look the next time I'm under the house.

 

[Reach4]

I lost two pex fittings at the water heater last year due to corrosion and likely need to replace the ones in the wall at the water heater.

Brass fittings I presume. Use plastic ("EP") to avoid that when sending your corrosive raw water through PEX.

Refrigerators are often supplied by an RO filter. So I would expect them to be built to handle some acid. Just don't use copper tubing for the fridge connection.

However the valve or passages in the fridge could get hard water deposits. If you know somebody who feeds the fridge with RO water, maybe have your wife sample that.

 

[ditttohead]

Some refrigeratos are plumbed with Pex, many are plumbed with copper. Each builder does it differently.

That being said, hot water is far more damaging to plumbing than cold water. The charts on the linked pages show maximum code velocities for hot vs cold, hot is rated at 1/3 of cold water. https://view.publitas.com/impact-water-products/2018-catalog-final/page/48-49