Very, very hard water problems

[Roveet]

Last year I moved into a house on a shallow well. We had a 64,000 clack water softener installed and it has proved very undersized to our needs. After getting the water properly tested by a lab I have learned the hardness level is 95 grains. TDS number is around 1300.

I have a household of seven people. My options are to buy a new, very big softener (110,000 grain I think) or switch to town water which is significantly less hard. The second option would be better in every way but the distance and topography of my lot would bring the cost of doing this to over $10,000 - more than double the price of a larger softener.

However, even with our inadequate 64,000 grain softener I've noticed a significant decline in efficiency over about 10 months. As of about 3 months ago it was keeping up with our demand if it regenerated every other day. It now needs regeneration every day. I am guessing the resin bed is fouling from the TDS/hardness levels but I'm not sure. If trying to soften our well water will be a losing battle, even with a bigger softener, it may be better to just bite the bullet on switching over to town water now.

Would appreciate any input.

 

[Reach4]

. As of about 3 months ago it was keeping up with our demand if it regenerated every other day. It now needs regeneration every day. I am guessing the resin bed is fouling from the TDS/hardness levels but I'm not sure.

How is your iron? You should have a lab water test that gives you that number. If your softener deals with with iron, you want to do some extra treatment to help that resin.

I have a household of seven people. My options are to buy a new, very big softener (110,000 grain I think)

If you get a new softener, consider a dual tank softener. That alternates tanks, and does not have to wait until 2AM to regen. When the capacity of one tank has been used up, the valve switches to the other tank. It then regenerates the exhausted tank.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Bannerman]

Regardless of the size of the softener or the settings utilized, removing 95 gpg will result in a very considerable quantity of sodium in the softened water, so you will also require a water purification system such as RO for drinking & cooking.

Softeners do not reduce TDS as they utilize cation ion exchange resin, to remove calcium and magnesium ions (main minerals causing hardness), replacing them with an equal quantity of sodium ions.

I have learned the hardness level is 95 grains.

I've noticed a significant decline in efficiency over about 10 months. As of about 3 months ago it was keeping up with our demand if it regenerated every other day. It now needs regeneration every day.

Even if your raw well water contains 0 iron and 0 manganese, both of which consume additional softening capacity, if you utilized 95 gpg for your hardness setting, additonal softening capacity continues to be consumed each cycle due to other factors including regeneration using hard water. To compensate, the appropriate hardness setting would need to be increased to 133 gpg (95 gpg actual hardness, X 1.4, which is the appropriate multiplier when actual hardness is from 71 to 100 gpg).

A softener maybe programmed to utilize salt more efficiently, by reducing the capacity setting while also reducing the amount of salt consumed each cycle, to the amount needed to regenerate that lower capacity. Unfortunately, increasing efficiency by using a lower salt setting, will result in lower quality soft water due to higher hardness leakage through the softener.

As you are contemplating an alternate larger softener, and as you already own a reasonably sized softener, consider purchasing an additional larger capacity softener, programmed to utilize higher that typical efficiency settings such as 4 lbs salt per cubic foot resin (=4,200 gr/lb salt efficiency).

Although the quality of that softened water would be lower than is usually acceptabe, the water exiting from that softener could then supply your existing softener which will function as a second stage, programmed using more conventional settings, to further reduce the hardness level and to supply higher quality soft water to your home's plumbing fixtures. This two stage softening approach will result in increased salt efficiency compared to a single stage solution, to deal with your excessive 133 gpg softening load, while also attempting to obtain reasonable quality soft water.

 

[Roveet]

How is your iron? You should have a lab water test that gives you that number. If your softener deals with with iron, you want to do some extra treatment to help that resin.


If you get a new softener, consider a dual tank softener. That alternates tanks, and does not have to wait until 2AM to regen. When the capacity of one tank has been used up, the valve switches to the other tank. It then regenerates the exhausted tank.

We do have an iron filter as well, which seems to be effective.

 

[Roveet]

Regardless of the size of the softener or the settings utilized, removing 95 gpg will result in a very considerable quantity of sodium in the softened water, so you will also require a water purification system such as RO for drinking & cooking.

Softeners do not reduce TDS as they utilize cation ion exchange resin, to remove calcium and magnesium ions (main minerals causing hardness), replacing them with an equal quantity of sodium ions.




Even if your raw well water contains 0 iron and 0 manganese, both of which consume additional softening capacity, if you utilized 95 gpg for your hardness setting, additonal softening capacity continues to be consumed each cycle due to other factors including regeneration using hard water. To compensate, the appropriate hardness setting would need to be increased to 133 gpg (95 gpg actual hardness, X 1.4, which is the appropriate multiplier when actual hardness is from 71 to 100 gpg).

A softener maybe programmed to utilize salt more efficiently, by reducing the capacity setting while also reducing the amount of salt consumed each cycle, to the amount needed to regenerate that lower capacity. Unfortunately, increasing efficiency by using a lower salt setting, will result in lower quality soft water due to higher hardness leakage through the softener.

As you are contemplating an alternate larger softener, and as you already own a reasonably sized softener, consider purchasing an additional larger capacity softener, programmed to utilize higher that typical efficiency settings such as 4 lbs salt per cubic foot resin (=4,200 gr/lb salt efficiency).

Although the quality of that softened water would be lower than is usually acceptabe, the water exiting from that softener could then supply your existing softener which will function as a second stage, programmed using more conventional settings, to further reduce the hardness level and to supply higher quality soft water to your home's plumbing fixtures. This two stage softening approach will result in increased salt efficiency compared to a single stage solution, to deal with your excessive 133 gpg softening load, while also attempting to obtain reasonable quality soft water.

Thanks. I was wondering about this: Whether it was possible to reduce the quality of the softened water or if it was a binary thing; that is, either the water coming out is softened or it's not. This answers my question.