Hi - was hoping to get some advice on picking a water softener/filter. Have been reading lots of posts so think I have a good idea, but would really appreciate some pointers to make sure I am on the right path.
We are trying to address:
-Mineral buildup (white and bluish green) on fixtures and appliances
-Chlorine smell in water (and occasional sulphur/egg smell)
Here is what we have to work with:
-City water and aerobic septic system
-We have a slab foundation with no visible soft water loop. Water main comes in to one side of the garage, water heater is on the other. Not sure if the piping behind the water heater would allow install of a soft water loop. Could put softener equipment near point of entry to slab (in garage, but pipes running out the wall to tie into the main outside) or near hot water heater (ideal, if plumbing behind hot water heater allows us to intersect the main there)
-We are fine softening/filtering water to the whole house including outdoor hose bibbs. We water a garden and flowers, therefore want to use potassium chloride rather than sodium chloride so it is usable in the yard. We fill a pool periodically too. Salt efficiency is very important due to the increased cost of potassium chloride. Water here is cheap, so water efficiency is a lesser (but still good) priority.
-We have a 3 stage under sink filter in place in the kitchen now, plan to use that still going forward and potentially look at an RO filter if needed later (and if we can fit it under the sink)
-2 people in the house. 3 bed, 2.5 bath. Average usage is around 165 gallons per day total (for both of us combined) from past water bills. We’ve ranged from 105 GPD to 219GPD as far as extreme low-high end months in the past 4 years.
-Here is our water report. Spoiler: 7-10 grains hardness, I do not see iron or manganese listed which I see can affect calculations if I have them. Chloramines used by Fort Worth. Maybe there are other important things to test/look for that I need to determine:
http://fortworthtexas.gov/water/pdf/2016WQR-FINAL-English.pdf
Questions:
-Sizing? - presuming calculation for 10 grains hardness, I am coming up with 165gpd x 10 grains hardness=1650 grains to regenerate x ?unknown? number of days between regeneration. Plugging in a 7 day period gives me 11550 grains/cycle (presuming no adjustment needed for iron/manganese/other). I like the idea for efficiency of upsizing for lower salt usage on regenerations, so presumably either 24k or 32k grain system? What size mineral/brine tank?
-Which valves? I want to meter base on usage rather than time and have a display of some sort. 5600SXT and the 5800/5810/5812SXT (or even XR2) models seem to be a good fit. Seems the 5800 series is the new replacement for old models and may be the way to go. For valve size, it may depend on whether I connect to the water main outside or interior plumbing behind the water heater. Unless I am missing something there are not huge price differences and larger units could be sized down with reducers without issue?
-Carbon filter? My water has chloramines, so catalytic carbon? Want to preserve as much water pressure through the whole filter/softener, so I am guessing a backwashing carbon filter tank will be recommended
-Efficiency aids - have been reading lots about 10% crosslink resin, Purolite SST resin, upflow regeneration, Vortech tanks and/or use of a bottom distributor plate vs gravel/basket, dual backwashing steps of the 5800 series valves, twin-tank designs with a shared valve head. Seems some of these are met with more love than others on the forums, but what would be the ideal setup? What is not worth the extra cost? If it makes enough of a difference, lugging less potassium chloride (and keeping that cost down) is worth it to me to pay more upfront or replacing components as needed. Talk me out of this if I am not thinking logically here though of course.
-Water testing - Where should I get this done? I saw there are some test kits I can get from Home Depot and online - are any of these useful/reliable, or is there a good inexpensive mail-off lab that is recommended? I know findings here will affect capacity calculations and filter media.
-Where should I get all this from? I am not ruling out a dealer installing, but my instinct is to order the products recommended to be shipped to me and have my plumber install to make sure I get the best system and result. Have seen several sellers mentioned on here, are there any that seem to be the clear winner as far as having quality equipment/resin/filter media available and also knowledgeable/helpful in troubleshooting?
I really appreciate any advice or input you may have. Thank you!
We are trying to address:
-Mineral buildup (white and bluish green) on fixtures and appliances
-Chlorine smell in water (and occasional sulphur/egg smell)
Here is what we have to work with:
-City water and aerobic septic system
-We have a slab foundation with no visible soft water loop. Water main comes in to one side of the garage, water heater is on the other. Not sure if the piping behind the water heater would allow install of a soft water loop. Could put softener equipment near point of entry to slab (in garage, but pipes running out the wall to tie into the main outside) or near hot water heater (ideal, if plumbing behind hot water heater allows us to intersect the main there)
-We are fine softening/filtering water to the whole house including outdoor hose bibbs. We water a garden and flowers, therefore want to use potassium chloride rather than sodium chloride so it is usable in the yard. We fill a pool periodically too. Salt efficiency is very important due to the increased cost of potassium chloride. Water here is cheap, so water efficiency is a lesser (but still good) priority.
-We have a 3 stage under sink filter in place in the kitchen now, plan to use that still going forward and potentially look at an RO filter if needed later (and if we can fit it under the sink)
-2 people in the house. 3 bed, 2.5 bath. Average usage is around 165 gallons per day total (for both of us combined) from past water bills. We’ve ranged from 105 GPD to 219GPD as far as extreme low-high end months in the past 4 years.
-Here is our water report. Spoiler: 7-10 grains hardness, I do not see iron or manganese listed which I see can affect calculations if I have them. Chloramines used by Fort Worth. Maybe there are other important things to test/look for that I need to determine:
http://fortworthtexas.gov/water/pdf/2016WQR-FINAL-English.pdf
Questions:
-Sizing? - presuming calculation for 10 grains hardness, I am coming up with 165gpd x 10 grains hardness=1650 grains to regenerate x ?unknown? number of days between regeneration. Plugging in a 7 day period gives me 11550 grains/cycle (presuming no adjustment needed for iron/manganese/other). I like the idea for efficiency of upsizing for lower salt usage on regenerations, so presumably either 24k or 32k grain system? What size mineral/brine tank?
-Which valves? I want to meter base on usage rather than time and have a display of some sort. 5600SXT and the 5800/5810/5812SXT (or even XR2) models seem to be a good fit. Seems the 5800 series is the new replacement for old models and may be the way to go. For valve size, it may depend on whether I connect to the water main outside or interior plumbing behind the water heater. Unless I am missing something there are not huge price differences and larger units could be sized down with reducers without issue?
-Carbon filter? My water has chloramines, so catalytic carbon? Want to preserve as much water pressure through the whole filter/softener, so I am guessing a backwashing carbon filter tank will be recommended
-Efficiency aids - have been reading lots about 10% crosslink resin, Purolite SST resin, upflow regeneration, Vortech tanks and/or use of a bottom distributor plate vs gravel/basket, dual backwashing steps of the 5800 series valves, twin-tank designs with a shared valve head. Seems some of these are met with more love than others on the forums, but what would be the ideal setup? What is not worth the extra cost? If it makes enough of a difference, lugging less potassium chloride (and keeping that cost down) is worth it to me to pay more upfront or replacing components as needed. Talk me out of this if I am not thinking logically here though of course.
-Water testing - Where should I get this done? I saw there are some test kits I can get from Home Depot and online - are any of these useful/reliable, or is there a good inexpensive mail-off lab that is recommended? I know findings here will affect capacity calculations and filter media.
-Where should I get all this from? I am not ruling out a dealer installing, but my instinct is to order the products recommended to be shipped to me and have my plumber install to make sure I get the best system and result. Have seen several sellers mentioned on here, are there any that seem to be the clear winner as far as having quality equipment/resin/filter media available and also knowledgeable/helpful in troubleshooting?
I really appreciate any advice or input you may have. Thank you!