Water softener sizing iron please help

[Jerry Ning]

Let me first thank everyone for the time and knowledge about this matter. I’ve learned much from dittohead and Gary. I am in the process of gettting a new water softener for my well to replace a 25 yr old Fleck 2510.

My water test results are as follows.
pH 7.5
Hardness 16
Iron (2.0ppm 5 yrs ago) and (1-1.5 last week).
We have a total of 3 people in the household and 3/4 in plumbing coming to the pressure tank.

I’ve had 2 local water companies come out test and quote me. My concerns are proper sizing and iron removal. One
company wanted me to get a 1 cu ft clack system and regenerate with 15lbs salt.
The other company , ecowater, wanted to sell me a 1.0 or 1.5 cu ft evolve ES or a clack softener.

My questions are:
How often should I be regenerating with iron in my water? I’ve heard some say less than 4-5 days to 7-8 days. I also will have a res-up feeder continually running.

I asked both about SST-60 resin and both are unfamiliar with the resin. They both think they are fine mesh which it isn’t. They both don’t seem to use this product at all. I’ve also read some reviews from this forum that the water with SST60 get a plastic smell. I thought it would be beneficial as it harder to foul.

what is the correct sizing for softener? I’m worried that a 1.5 cu ft will take to long to regenerate at 8lbs. I do like the higher SFR rate with the 1.5 cu ft.

Please please help me. I plan to make a decision very soon.

Jerry

 

[Reach4]

If the DO does not come into play, you would regenerated about every 7.69 days with 1.5 cuft, 3 people, 8 lb/cuft. Hardness set H=26 to compensate for iron. That would mean about every 7 days.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[ditttohead]

1 Ft3 Clack with 15 pounds of salt... this is why we do not recommend softeners for iron reduction. The massive inefficiency is what leads to government regulations on water treatment systems. But, this might actually work for you since you need to regenerate frequently when using softeners for iron reduction.

With a relatively low level of iron and adequate pH, a simple iron reduction system may be a good solution. Or even a Hybrid design with the iron reduction tank on top. This should get you less frequent and more efficient regenerations.

https://view.publitas.com/impact-water-products/2018-catalog-final/page/12-13

 

[Jerry Ning]

If the DO does not come into play, you would regenerated about every 7.69 days with 1.5 cuft, 3 people, 8 lb/cuft. Hardness set H=26 to compensate for iron. That would mean about every 7 days.

What does DO stand for or what does that mean? Will the longer >7 days to regeneration foul the iron?

 

[Reach4]

Day Override sets the maximum number of days between regeneration. I don't know the right level for what amount of iron. If you have a "sulfur" smell (H2S), then a backwashing iron filter could handle that as a bonus. Plus filter sediment. A softener won't get rid of H2S, and would not do as fine of sediment filtering.

This is from Gary Slusser's old site:

If you have 2.0 ppm or more of iron, you may want to regenerate every 3-4 days. If so divide the numbers you just produced by 2. Round each up/down, they are your salt dose and capacity figures. Then you will Calender Override the control at day 4. Depending on your iron content, you may want to consider a softener with a Turbulator distributor tube and/or SST-60 resin and to use a resin cleaner.​

 

[Jerry Ning]

Has anyone here used SST-60 resin here?

 

[Bannerman]

Here are some links which may be of interest.

https://terrylove.com/forums/index....-brine-grid-question.49333/page-2#post-362998 see post #30

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/water-testing-medium-hard-water.53271/#post-388434 post #7

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/culligan-mark-59.55119/page-2#post-407432 #24

 

[ditttohead]

Yes, SST-60. Neat resin, worth it? Probably not.

 

[Jerry Ning]

dittohead,

I am not interested in an seperafe iron filter at the moment. I am interested in your experience with the SST-60 resin. I came across a couple of reviews that complained of plastic smelling water after using the SST-60 resin. I wasn’t sure if those reviews are just a couple bad batches or it is a normal thing. Can you vouch for the fairly new infrequently used resin? I am leaning that way due to my iron consent. All 3 local water companies are very u familiar with it but 1 is willing to acquire it for my system.

 

[Jerry Ning]

Yes, SST-60. Neat resin, worth it? Probably not.

dittohead,

I am not interested in an seperafe iron filter at the moment. I am interested in your experience with the SST-60 resin. I came across a couple of reviews that complained of plastic smelling water after using the SST-60 resin. I wasn’t sure if those reviews are just a couple bad batches or it is a normal thing. Can you vouch for the fairly new infrequently used resin? I am leaning that way due to my iron consent. All 3 local water companies are very u familiar with it but 1 is willing to acquire it for my system.

 

[Bannerman]

Jerry, what are you expecting will be the benefits of using that resin?

Although there will likely be some measurable benefits, if the cost is 2X standard resin, will it perform 2X better? Many times, benefits stated by a manufacturer will be under ideal lab conditions, not necessarily achievable under field conditions. As implied in one of the links provided, for resin to perform as well as possible when removing iron, the resin will require a cleaning routine with citric acid or other acid resin cleaners, regardless of which resin it is.

 

[Jerry Ning]

Jerry, what are you expecting will be the benefits of using that resin?

Although there will likely be some measurable benefits, if the cost is 2X standard resin, will it perform 2X better? Many times, benefits stated by a manufacturer will be under ideal lab conditions, not necessarily achievable under field conditions. As implied in one of the links provided, for resin to perform as well as possible when removing iron, the resin will require a cleaning routine with citric acid or other acid resin cleaners, regardless of which resin it is.

Thank you Bannerman, I’ve decided upon a clack unit with 1.5 Cu ft and regular resin for $1789 out the door.