Which softener, specific help!

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Healthguru

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Hi,

My family just moved into my grandpa's house and needed to drill a new well a few months back. We had the water tested and after having a few big name softener dealers come out, I realized there has to be a better way than spending thousands.

I've done a bunch of reading but this is all new to me so I'm looking for some specific help.

Here's our data from the well test from national testing labs:
Calcium 114.0
Iron 2.08
Magnesium 33.20
Manganese .07
Hardness 420
TDS 470

We have 3 people total in our household, probably another one coming in another couple of years. I understand I'm right at 24 grain hardness. I need help with choosing the right size Fleck softener as I can do it myself.

What do I need to know for gpm, pipe size, and water pressure? I read a post on here that depending what size softener it may reduce water pressure?

What are my options for a prefilter to handle the iron and manganese?

Thanks for your help!
 

Reach4

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You did not mention pH, so lets presume it is 7.x for now.
  1. pressure tank
  2. ball valve
  3. possible sand filter, but not necessarily
  4. place you could add chlorine or H2O2 injection later, but may well not be needed.
  5. boiler drain for sampling water
  6. Katalox Light backwashing filter, figuring 8 GPM backwash with 10 inch tank and more for bigger tank (pump must keep up) or maybe more backwash if you are in a warm area
  7. boiler drain for sampling water and attaching pressure gauge
  8. I would use a sediment filter here, but others would not. I am not a pro. 3-valve bypass is best unless filter has bypass. But be aware that a cartridge filter is a thing that can cause pressure drop.
  9. tee to drinking water spigot if you want. This would be like free mineral water.
  10. boiler drain for sampling water and attaching pressure gauge
  11. Softener with 2 or 2.5 cubic ft of resin
  12. boiler drain for sampling water and attaching pressure gauge. Also can be used to top off solution tank if needed for #4 later.
 

Healthguru

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pH is 6.8

You did not mention pH, so lets presume it is 7.x for now.
  1. pressure tank
  2. ball valve
  3. possible sand filter, but not necessarily
  4. place you could add chlorine or H2O2 injection later, but may well not be needed.
  5. boiler drain for sampling water
  6. Katalox Light backwashing filter, figuring 8 GPM backwash with 10 inch tank and more for bigger tank (pump must keep up) or maybe more backwash if you are in a warm area
  7. boiler drain for sampling water and attaching pressure gauge
  8. I would use a sediment filter here, but others would not. I am not a pro. 3-valve bypass is best unless filter has bypass. But be aware that a cartridge filter is a thing that can cause pressure drop.
  9. tee to drinking water spigot if you want. This would be like free mineral water.
  10. boiler drain for sampling water and attaching pressure gauge
  11. Softener with 2 or 2.5 cubic ft of resin
  12. boiler drain for sampling water and attaching pressure gauge. Also can be used to top off solution tank if needed for #4 later.
 

ditttohead

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Can you post the complete report? There tend to be a few items in the report that can be helpful. A full Kar LAbs os NTL Labs report would be ideal.

As to the pre0filter, this level of iron and low pH may benefit from a simple h2o2 injection system. Most iron reduction medias that are based on manganese dioxide ore do not work as well at lower pH levels. A simple oxidant injection ahead of the KL system will usually work just fine to reduce the iron to extremely low levels. KL does require a strong backwash so be aware that you will need adequate water from the well to accomplish this.

H202 injection can be done in many ways but I personally lean towards flow based solutions. A simple meter controlled peristaltic pump tends to be the most effective and consistent.
 

Healthguru

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Here's the report, I didn't include the pesticide panel because that came back clear.
 

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ditttohead

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Low pH makes iron reduction a little more difficult using Manganese Dioxide ore based media. Depending on your budget there are several ways to treat this. The higher the budget the better the treatment success will be and the more efficient the system will function.

A common but not recommended way would be a simple traditional softener. Since the pH is slightly low the iron will foul the resin but not as badly as it would were the hardness higher. Regular chemical cleaning of the resin and high salting/frequent regeneration will mitigate some of the fouling as well. This will at least double or triple your salt usage, not exactly environmentally friendly.

Another simple option is oxidant injection, carbon tank, softener. This will do little for the pH problem, but considering the slightly low pH, this may not need correction, rather monitoring. Simple copper testing can be effective at determining if the pH is too low and is stripping metals from your plumbing.

You could go with a simple bakwashing calcite pre-filter, then an iron reduction system followed by a softener. Obviously this will add cost but it will take care of the low pH, iron, and soften the water as well. If this system is designed properly, adding an oxidant later if needed for enhanced iron reduction can be very easy and inexpensive.

The three suggestions above are in order of cost/effectiveness.

There are many more ways to treat this, Air injection, AIO, soda ash injection, sequestration, etc. The three suggestions I gave above are the three that I would lean towards, depending on your budget.
 
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