Serious Hard Water, Solutions?

[doitmyself]

A water softener will handle a certain amount of iron. Our unit is over 15 years old and is still doing well on water that will stain fixtures untreated.

OP, for temporary reprieve look into a product called SUPER IRON OUT. It can be used with white clothes and some colored clothes. Read the warnings. It does wonders cleaning out iron stains in washers and plumbing fixtures. http://www.superironout.com/

 

[SteveSRT8]

OP may want to try the specific salt formula for iron. I get it at lowes.

It even cleaned a very stained shower!

 

[Andrew1972]

Borax can help and is relatively inexpensive. Also they have washing soda's and baking soda's too.

Realistically you need to get the water test for hardness or whatever element is causing your problems and go from there.

In the end its water chemistry without testing you are guessing.

 

[Kawiguy454]

I invested in a Kinetico system with RO. It needs no electricity and if plumbed properly can be put in bypass and you can take whole system with you when you move to a new house.

Those all electronic systems are a scam and the softener business in general protects itself from DIYers by only selling the good valves to authorized resellers/installers. This keeps prices high for stuff that shouldn't cost so much.

The DIY stuff you can buy is junky.

 

[SHOZ]

There is only 2 or 3 water softener manufactures. I have repaired mine before and the parts aren't hard to find.

The killer for them is usually the resin becomes contaminated and needs changed.