We've been in our new home for about 3 years now. We are on a shared well in the neighborhood with a water filtration membrane servicing almost 300 homes managed by the water company. It's like our own little private water system. But, we are on a limestone overlay and my water hardness is measuring 11-12 gpg in a 5 bedroom, 4 bath home. Iron is zero. Ph is 8. Our water usage this summer was around 200gallons per day, but I want to have a solution that is flexible enough to handle low consumption when the kids move out, or higher consumption if we move and sell the house to a larger family.
I'm pretty handy, having finished my own basement, including plumbing a bathroom (yes I passed inspection), so I want to install a Water Softener. The pipe where I'd hook this up is 1".
A quick google for water softeners and Fleck comes up a lot. Another one that keeps coming up is "Discount Water Softeners" with their Genesis line, claiming that their upflow systems are more efficient and saves money in the long run and they actually sell and do comparisons to the Fleck systems. The company is not the Original Manufacturer, they are just rebranding something else. The control valve appears to be a Clack. From their website:
"The Genesis Upflow, high efficiency water softeners are manufactured by a company that has been in business for over 50 years. They have offices available in the USA and Canada. Discount Water Softeners is the only company to carry the Genesis name, and we currently only sell our line through our website. For proprietary reasons, we are not authorized to list the manufacturer on our website, but the parts are readily available as well as warranty and support."
Questions, questions, questions:
Any opinions out there about upflow vs downflow? Is upflow really that much better?
Anybody run into Genesis or know the OEM? Any opinions/thoughts on the Genesis systems (i'm looking at the Revolution due to the 1" pipe)?
Opinions on the Fleck systems (probably the 5600SXT but I also am looking at the 2510SXT)?
Oh boy. Where to start.
Upflow vs downflow is actually not that different, though most companies marketing departments will cry otherwise. Ill give you the short summary:
In BOTH upflow and downflow, the service flow (basically, the position of the piston when you are softening) goes through the top basket (aka upper distributor) and down the resin, gravel, and into the lower basket (aka lower distributor) and eventually up the manifold tube and out the outlet of the valve.
This is for BOTH upflow and downflow, and is the #1 mistake people make. The difference between upflow and downflow is during the brining step, also called brine rinse/slow rinse or regeneration/"regen" (and other steps, but not important for this discussion).
In the regen step for UPFLOW systems, the eductor pulls the brine from the brine tank, mixes it with fresh water in the injector and dumps it into the tank through the LOWER distributor. This means the brine directly contacts the resin and moves up the resin bed and out to drain.
In the regen step for DOWNFLOW systems, the eductor does the same though it dumps the brine into the UPPER distributor, and the brine percolates downwards.
Now, here is where it gets tricky: downflow is usually regarded as 'less efficient' but that depends on what youre talking about. If you are talking about BRINE efficiency, then yes, downflow is less efficient because it needs to inject a more concentrated brine solution since the top of the tank is water and therefore, the brine needs to fight dilution before it accesses the resin bed. However, downflow systems are more water efficient. I wont get into why, because I would have to go through the injector/eductor design, how it works, the salinity/mix ratios between upflow and downflow, etc.
However, the real deal is that the brine efficiency improvement of upflow vs downflow is about 10 to 15%. So dont assume that it will be a major difference. Another blow to upflow is that they are VERY FINICKY. The distributor effect on capacity (AKA, how many grains your tank can filter) is huge in upflow systems, so you need to make sure you are using a nice clack stacked distributor and/or a skinnier tank (for example, 8x44 instead of 9x42). You also need to make sure your water pressure, at the time of regen, is steady. Upflow systems have a very narrow band of optimal operation, so you need to check the water pressure in your home and set it up accordingly with the properly sized eductor.
This is why I generally tell DIYers to make a downflow system. The rate at which you uptake brine during regen is not nearly as important as it is with upflow systems.
Also, 10-12 gpg is actually not hard water. Chicago/Midwest averages at around 20-25 gpg, and Europe is around 40 gpg. So depending on your water usage, you probably would never need to go above a 9 or 10" tank.
DO NOT GET A TWIN. Twins are for people who need to protect equipment and therefore need constantly softened water without any rest. If you set the regen at 2am (usually standard default), I doubt you would ever notice the 1hour in which your house has hard water. Only if you intend on protecting, say, your boiler, would I recommend spending that extra $3-400. They are also much trickier to diagnose and use more dynamic components (extra piston or ball valve usually).
I wouldnt worry too much about tank capacity. 1 cubic foot of resin is already around 30-35k of capacity, and that should easily last a family that uses 300-500 gallons a day around 4-5 days (BTW, the tank is usually set to regen before full depletion, also called 'reserve capacity' in the software manuals. You can always regen more often, the consequence of course being more brine usage). An 8x44 can fit around 1.5 to 2 cf of resin without issue. You can also forego the gravel/sand bedding for more resin i.e. more capacity. Sand is not necessary, but does help in situations where the tank is large and the distributor is small. The sand is not there to prevent resin from escaping as some people think.
Another thing to note is tank size. In general, you will have less problems and higher efficiency with a narrower tank. I would suggest getting the Pentair/Structural 8x44". It has fairly decent capacity.
As mentioned, go for a nice stacked Clack distributor that can fit the 2-1/2" opening in the top of the tank. Forget about the tiny point distributors, they are not worthwhile.
When it comes to plumbing, try to drain to the floor. Drain elevation can be a major issue. If you try to elevate the drain line, depending on your water pressure, you could have an impending disaster. Therefore, it is much better to drain to the floor OR, if you need to raise the drain level, to get a float-activated sump pump.
TLDR Version:
- Go downflow if DIY
- Drain to floor
- Use one tank as skinny as possible
- Set your salt load to around 6 to 8 lbs per cf of resin for Downflow, 4-6 if upflow. These are the most efficient salt loads that will give you the max capacity/salt.
- Set your regen to 2am or a time when no water is being used (for steady pressure)
- Check that your eductor/injector is sized for your water pressure (at night, not during the day)
- Start with single tank. If unit is outdoors, paint it or get a black tank (prevents algae growth)
- Clack or Pentair sell the best by far. Most others are knockoffs of the Clack or Pentair designs. Kinetico is mechanical timing based and has best distribution in industry. Culligan has an aqua-sensor to detect when hardness is starting to bleed for most efficient regen times. However, you will pay a lot more for the last two brands.
