Household Water Softeners

[Garak]

Originally Posted by doitmyself
I'm not so sure that is correct Lintex.

I think you both make some very valid points. There are some standardised parts, and I wouldn't doubt efforts at cheapening things out where they can, on a company by company basis. I know my buddy was trying to track down a manual for his water softener, since he was having difficulty with the settings, and it was installed at the house before he purchased it. Now, going by the numbers found on the tank and head, I ended up going down a very complicated rabbit hole on the net trying to find anything of value, finding that many companies used the head, or the tank, or both, and finding more literature than I knew what to do with.

To the Critic, I'd echo the sentiments of getting the water tested to find out what you need. We've got hard water in Regina, but there are far worse places in the province. As for where to test, talk to a trusted plumbing contractor. Some of them can do it themselves. As Donald notes, it's worthwhile to pay attention to not get oversold.

I also prefer buying over renting; I can't speak for how well that works in other jurisdictions and other water conditions. Here, I got my last water softener for $200. It was an off lease reconditioned unit. As Donald notes, overselling and commissions. I got it for $200 because of who I know. You know what others have said here about rental charges, and you can see the purchase prices online for yourself. There's some markup there, quite clearly.

 

[MNgopher]

Originally Posted by Rand
To the OP:
what is the complaint with the city water?
taste? stains? smell?

you could install a R/O filter system to fix most of that..
(city water should be fine for showers, dishes, clothes etc)


Originally Posted by ls1mike

Mine is like this minus the very small tank and the four small additional chemical dispensers.

I dont think they are chemical dispensers its a water filter system and a small pressure tank.... looks too small for whole house use.. might store the filtered water.. my R/O system looks similar (4 filters and an R/O element) but I dont see an R/O element in that setup, however that blue line that is following the white pvc pipe is probably the drain line for the R/O filter. Since we know that white pipe is for the wastewater from backflushing.. the blue line being wastewater from R/O filter going to same place makes sense.


You can follow the other blue line to the left. That is the supply line from the r/o system and filters. In our similar R/O setup, it supplies water to the ice maker and a spigot at the kitchen sink. NO chemicals dispensed, all filters for various components along with a r/o in one of them.

 

[Cujet]

Online softener retailers are a fraction of the cost. Plus you can spec exactly what you need.

It's good to note that a 60,000 grain softener is often the right choice for a home. If your water use is minimal, simply set up the timer to cycle less often.

my FL home cycles once a week.

 

[Donald]

Back in the late 1960s my Dad installed a Sears manual water softener. You moved a valve one way, let it backwash for a period of time and then moved it back. Something like that. Been awhile. I was a teenager.

Keep in mind with a water softener, if you drink the water you are drinking sodium. Not sodium chloride which is table salt but sodium which some people with high blood pressure try and reduce sodium intake. My Dad would get water from the outside garden hose faucet to drink.

 

[GON]

Originally Posted by ls1mike
We had a test of our water done and were provided with a list of what to do correct our issues. Hard Water and high iron. We have a salt barrel a Charcoal filter and I cannot remember what the other one is.. They work awesome..

I fill the big salt barrel once a month. The other two tanks look like big fiberglass welding tanks. They are good for 10 years each. One of them gets back flushed to the outside daily.

Have it tested to see what you really need.


Mine is like this minus the very small tank and the four small additional chemical dispensers.

Mike- I see you are running PEX type A. The rarest of PEX (A,B, C) in the USA- and in my opinion- it is by far the very best. Hard to find PEX A parts at most stores, but man does it work good.

 

[GON]

I am a very big fan of Water Boss water softeners made in Ohio. Sold at Home Depot and Menards. Poor customer service at times, but they make a great machine, one call gets you the exact part you need. Avoid all the "tin men" water softener salespeople.

I might have the worse water in the USA. I need a whole house filter, iron filter, than a softener. I use to run a water boss iron filter, than a water boss softener. I ended up finding a dual tank softener than could regenerate at any time needed, it switched tanks during regeneration. This is a major saving on salt, as regeneration only happens when needed- not on a timer.

 

[GON]

Originally Posted by earlyre

sounds like dad's Kinetico system. their local dealer came out, tested our water, turns out our old waterboss system wasn't close to strong enough for our well.

there was a noticeable difference once the new system went in.

Dad has a maintenance contract with them, they deliver salt every month, and change the element in the iron filter. (Not sure of the cost)


Waterboss has two models of softeners, when for well water, one for municipal. The also make three additional models, to include a iron filter. I wonder if your Dad needed an iron filter before the softener. That is how I configured my Water Boss and it worked great, and saved large amounts of money over the water softener snake oil salesmen.

 

[Doc8404]

I may have to look into this. I have an Autotrol that they say will last forever. But [censored], regenerates twice a week no matter what and I still have spots. Can't tell if they are salt (which as I read there shouldn't be) or still hard water.

Feels soft and suds like crazy.

 

[MNgopher]

Absolutely loathe the setups that regenerate based on a timer only. The amount of salt they generally waste is staggering. When the we switched from a timer set (minimum was once a week) to one that was demand based, our salt usage plummeted, I hear of people going through multiple bags of salt a month, and wonder why.

 

[ls1mike]

This is my actual setup.