Water softener placement advice needed

[Joey Hedrick]

Hello all! Due to 32gpg hardness in my area, I am in desperate need of a water softener and could really use some advice in terms of placement. I have a rather narrow rectangular utility room with a door at each end. It contains my furnace, water heater, washer/dryer (front loaders, stacked), and a small free-standing shelving unit. Here is an image showing roughly how it's currently laid out, although it's not quite exactly to scale:

I get GE employee pricing and have the opportunity to get the GXSH45V at a fraction of retail, so that would obviously be my preference. The problem is, the only real spot I have for this unit would be to the left of my laundry stack (shown as a dotted line above). I would like to remove the free-standing shelves, place the softener in this spot, and mount some wire shelves up in the corner. This would give me the added benefit of opening up some space on the floor for things like my vacuum, broom, etc.

I called GE's help line and they said that the length of pipe between the water inlet and the softener should be no more than 5 feet. I have never heard of this requirement before, but I'm assuming it's to prevent a substantial loss of water pressure? In any case, due to the placement of the water inlet, which comes up out of the concrete slab foundation right in front of the water heater, the only real choice for this install would be to run the pipe back behind the water heater and laundry stack (shown with the dotted line in the image). You may be wondering why I can't just move the laundry stack over to the left to make room for it right next to the water heater -- as I mentioned, the image isn't to scale, so in reality if I move the laundry stack more than 10 inches to the left, I wouldn't be able to open that left door due to their depth.

Based on my rough measurements, putting the softener where the shelves are right now would mean a total run of approximately 8 feet, possibly as much as 9. What I'd really like to know is if this is even workable, or if GE is just being conservative in their requirements.

My other option would be to go for the Fleck 5600SXT instead. Since I can move the laundry stack a little to the left, I can make enough room for the Fleck's main tank to sit in front and slightly to the left of the water heater, and then I can put the brine tank in the left corner, running the tube to the main tank behind the washer.

Although I always had one growing up, I am a complete noob when it comes to placement and installation of water softeners. Due to the price difference, my preference is the GE unit... but I'm willing to pay the extra for the Fleck if the GE just isn't going to work. Any advice you guys can give would be fantastic!!

Thanks,
Joey

 

[Mikey]

I called GE's help line and they said that the length of pipe between the water inlet and the softener should be no more than 5 feet.

Let's see.... the water line from the well or street is -- what, maybe 50 feet? And they're worried about another 5? That makes no sense to me; I'd call them back and ask for some clarification. If they confirm a 5' limit, I'd ignore them.

Needless to say, I am NOT a plumber, water treatment professional, etc.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

I called GE's help line and they said that the length of pipe between the water inlet and the softener should be no more than 5 feet. I have never heard of this requirement before, but I'm assuming it's to prevent a substantial loss of water pressure?

I agree. No way that would be a limitation.

Given the valuable space and the special pricing, the cabinet model seems like a good choice for you if the sizing is right. For 2 people using 60 gallons per person 32 GPG, you would usually want a 2 cubic ft unit or bigger. The reason is that would be more salt-efficient than using a 1.4 cubic ft softener. The reason that matters is that the softener needs to leave a reserve to make it probable that it will be able make it through the next day when it makes its nightly decision to regenerate. On average the softener will leave about 1/2 day of softening capacity on the table. If you are regenerating every 4 days, a half day is significant. If regenerating every 7 or 8 days, not so much. With a Fleck 5600SXT-based softener, you could also choose 10%-crosslinked resin, which is more durable when it has to face the chlorine in city water. I presume the GXSH45V would come with standard resin.

 

[Mikey]

Could you change the door(s) to swing in the other direction? Could you change to pocket door(s) (a biggish, but fun, job)? Do you need doors at all? They seem to be taking up a significant percentage of valuable space.

 

[blaze4545]

I would advise against the big box GE softeners. They are a pain to service and parts tend to be limited to ordering from GE customer service or relying on Home Depot to bring the parts in. I would go with a Fleck valve if you want to avoid headaches, extra salt usage and get the best bang for your buck. There is more than enough feedback on Fleck softeners, lots of plumbers and distributors are familiar with them , and if you wanted to do some DIY, there are more than enough videos and writeups on troubleshooting and maintaining a Fleck valve.

As Reach said, the GE is probably using regular 7% softener resin which will break down early due to the heavy chlorination on municipal water lines. You do not want to be vacuuming out little plastic beads at every fixture in less than 3 years because your resin melted and blew through the house.

Also, I have never heard of that 5 foot limitation. Sounds like a misunderstanding.

 

[ditttohead]

The actual limitation would be based on some rather complex calculations but... it does not matter. Do not reduce the pipe size and keep it under 50' and you will be fine. After 50' some consideration may need to be considered but even then it is unlikely that it would affect anything.

Agreed on the Fleck vs cheap units. The small unit and high hardness are a bad combo. If you read through threads here you will find very few people even bother replying to questions about the big box store units when the inevitable problems occur and even then the replies are usually "time to upgrade".

Can you redo the shelves with something smaller? Put the softener next to the laundry and get some new shelves.

 

[Joey Hedrick]

Thanks for the responses! Lots to think about. It seems like GE is full of crap with the 5-foot thing, and it won't be an issue. I've been reading reviews of the Fleck units, and it does sound like the way to go. I'm ok with spending a little extra. Unless I'm mistaken, it looks like I should be ok putting both tanks to the left of my laundry stack, even with nearly 10' of pipe going to the unit and then another 10' back to the line that goes to the rest of the house?

Could you change the door(s) to swing in the other direction?

I've considered that. The only thing holding me back is that the laundry room adjoins my kitchen and my living room, so the noise level is quite distracting when the furnace is on and I've got a load of laundry going. I like having the thick doors, but if I can find some that are lower profile and can still block the sound, I'm all for it.

For 2 people using 60 gallons per person 32 GPG, you would usually want a 2 cubic ft unit or bigger.

I'm single and I really doubt I use more than 30-40 gallons per day, but I obviously want to size it with the assumption that there will be more than 1 person here should my situation change. According to the sizing charts I've found, the 48,000-grain 5600SXT should be more than sufficient even for 2 people at 60-80 gallons/day, but you're saying I should spend the extra to get the 60,000-grain unit with 2.0 cubic ft?

 

[ditttohead]

The extra capacity will have a couple of benefits. Softer water, more efficient, and should your hardness go even higher you will do just fine. Assuming you have a couple people extra in the house in a couple years, you will still be fine. That being said, the 1.5 CF will also do ok, just some slight loss in efficiency.