WorldPeace
Member
Hi, Everyone,
I've spent a lot of time reading threads here and tons of articles online about water softeners. I've literally spent days. I still have a ton of questions I was hoping you guys could help me with.
My home's water is supplied by my town. I live in a 2,000 sq ft home with a wife and 2 kids. We have hard water. The exact number is unknown but the town claims it's about 13-15 GPM. Due to the buildup of lime, I would like to get a whole-house water softener as well as a point-of-use water filter for my kitchen sink.
1. Do I need to test my water if I use city water? Reading the threads in this forum, I know it's necessary for homes with well water to get tested but my water comes from the town. I have the annual water quality report. Would simply getting my water tested for hardness be sufficient or do I need to shell out $300 for the water test? I have already ordered the Hach 5B Total Hardness test kit which is going to take 3 weeks to come from Amazon.
2. National Labs Water Test. How is their test compared to the tons of local labs that I see listed by my state? I haven't called for prices but are local labs cheaper? Is there a difference in quality and reliability?
3. Weird Water Usage. Looking at my past water bills, it states that my family of 4 uses on average 83 gallons per day. The maximum is 108 gallons per day. People have said the average usage is 75-100 per person so the 108 per house seems extremely low. Further, I don't think my family is particularly water-saving conscious either. Nevertheless, this is the number I got and I rechecked it multiple times so I guess I have to go with it? What average water usage do you think I should use to determine the size of my water softener? For example, should I go with an average water usage of 50 (actual is 21) just to be safe?
4. Should I use softened water for my kitchen sink? From what I've read, it appears that drinking softened water is fine. Furthermore, I am installing a water filter at the kitchen sink. I was just wondering if people had an opinion that I should be aware of.
5. Should I install a TDS meter for my water filter? What's a good brand/model? I noticed that aquarium hobbyists install a TDS meter to determine if they need to replace their filter. I'm thinking that this would be a good thing for water filters for humans, right? Instead of relying on a time interval, it's probably better to use a meter to know exactly when the filter needs to be replaced. (Note: Even if the TDS meter doesn't indicate replacement, the water filter should be replaced at a minimum time interval, due to the growth of bacteria inside the filter.) Do you think this is a good decision?
6. Should I install a backwash carbon filter before the water softener? Some people have recommended this. It will help remove chlorine which damages the water softener's resin beads. It will also help purify the water in addition to the water filter at the kitchen sink. On the other hand, removing the chlorine will necessarily increase the level of bacteria growth in the pipes. Is this something you guys recommend?
7. How to deal with increased bacteria load? If I do install a charcoal filter, it will remove the chlorine which kills bacteria. I watched a pretty reliable video that determined this can lead to a high amount of bacteria within the non-chlorinated pipes. What's a good way to deal with this? Should the charcoal filter be periodically bypassed (maybe turned off for a week) so the pipes become sterilized again?
8. Where to buy the water softener? I noticed that people in this forum have warned that it's not a good idea to buy water softeners from online companies. They evidently sell cheap parts. So, where should I buy the water softener? Are companies like AFWFilters, Durawaters, Pentair, Aquasure, etc. on Amazon the same as online companies?
9. How do you find the best water treatment specialists? In this forum, people have warned against online companies because they are motivated to sell the cheapest product. But, don't water treatment specialists have the same exact motivation? If so, how do you determine if the product that local water treatment specialists are selling is good or bad? (It's hard to go solely by reviews since they are rigged these days.) Are there certain brands that I should look out for?
10. Aren't the resin beads the most important component? People have compared the quality of the controller but I don't know why this is so important. It's simply a valve that changes the path of the water. I would think that the resin beads are the most important component since it is doing the actual water softening. If so, how do you assess the quality of the resin bed? Are there certain brands of resin beads that I should be looking for? What other components of water softeners are important?
11. Is oversizing dangerous? I assumed that it would be best to just get the largest resin bed as possible. As a result, the salt efficiency would be the highest and the regeneration frequency would be the least this way. However, one professional stated that you can damage the resin if you wait too long to regenerate. Is this true? What's the maximum amount of time that should pass before you regenerate?
I know these are a lot of questions but if you can provide any concrete advice, it would be indebted. Thanks!
I've spent a lot of time reading threads here and tons of articles online about water softeners. I've literally spent days. I still have a ton of questions I was hoping you guys could help me with.
My home's water is supplied by my town. I live in a 2,000 sq ft home with a wife and 2 kids. We have hard water. The exact number is unknown but the town claims it's about 13-15 GPM. Due to the buildup of lime, I would like to get a whole-house water softener as well as a point-of-use water filter for my kitchen sink.
1. Do I need to test my water if I use city water? Reading the threads in this forum, I know it's necessary for homes with well water to get tested but my water comes from the town. I have the annual water quality report. Would simply getting my water tested for hardness be sufficient or do I need to shell out $300 for the water test? I have already ordered the Hach 5B Total Hardness test kit which is going to take 3 weeks to come from Amazon.
2. National Labs Water Test. How is their test compared to the tons of local labs that I see listed by my state? I haven't called for prices but are local labs cheaper? Is there a difference in quality and reliability?
3. Weird Water Usage. Looking at my past water bills, it states that my family of 4 uses on average 83 gallons per day. The maximum is 108 gallons per day. People have said the average usage is 75-100 per person so the 108 per house seems extremely low. Further, I don't think my family is particularly water-saving conscious either. Nevertheless, this is the number I got and I rechecked it multiple times so I guess I have to go with it? What average water usage do you think I should use to determine the size of my water softener? For example, should I go with an average water usage of 50 (actual is 21) just to be safe?
4. Should I use softened water for my kitchen sink? From what I've read, it appears that drinking softened water is fine. Furthermore, I am installing a water filter at the kitchen sink. I was just wondering if people had an opinion that I should be aware of.
5. Should I install a TDS meter for my water filter? What's a good brand/model? I noticed that aquarium hobbyists install a TDS meter to determine if they need to replace their filter. I'm thinking that this would be a good thing for water filters for humans, right? Instead of relying on a time interval, it's probably better to use a meter to know exactly when the filter needs to be replaced. (Note: Even if the TDS meter doesn't indicate replacement, the water filter should be replaced at a minimum time interval, due to the growth of bacteria inside the filter.) Do you think this is a good decision?
6. Should I install a backwash carbon filter before the water softener? Some people have recommended this. It will help remove chlorine which damages the water softener's resin beads. It will also help purify the water in addition to the water filter at the kitchen sink. On the other hand, removing the chlorine will necessarily increase the level of bacteria growth in the pipes. Is this something you guys recommend?
7. How to deal with increased bacteria load? If I do install a charcoal filter, it will remove the chlorine which kills bacteria. I watched a pretty reliable video that determined this can lead to a high amount of bacteria within the non-chlorinated pipes. What's a good way to deal with this? Should the charcoal filter be periodically bypassed (maybe turned off for a week) so the pipes become sterilized again?
8. Where to buy the water softener? I noticed that people in this forum have warned that it's not a good idea to buy water softeners from online companies. They evidently sell cheap parts. So, where should I buy the water softener? Are companies like AFWFilters, Durawaters, Pentair, Aquasure, etc. on Amazon the same as online companies?
9. How do you find the best water treatment specialists? In this forum, people have warned against online companies because they are motivated to sell the cheapest product. But, don't water treatment specialists have the same exact motivation? If so, how do you determine if the product that local water treatment specialists are selling is good or bad? (It's hard to go solely by reviews since they are rigged these days.) Are there certain brands that I should look out for?
10. Aren't the resin beads the most important component? People have compared the quality of the controller but I don't know why this is so important. It's simply a valve that changes the path of the water. I would think that the resin beads are the most important component since it is doing the actual water softening. If so, how do you assess the quality of the resin bed? Are there certain brands of resin beads that I should be looking for? What other components of water softeners are important?
11. Is oversizing dangerous? I assumed that it would be best to just get the largest resin bed as possible. As a result, the salt efficiency would be the highest and the regeneration frequency would be the least this way. However, one professional stated that you can damage the resin if you wait too long to regenerate. Is this true? What's the maximum amount of time that should pass before you regenerate?
I know these are a lot of questions but if you can provide any concrete advice, it would be indebted. Thanks!
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