Posted: 5/15/2017 7:31:30 PM EDT
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So our house came with a Culligan softener system from the 80s. It quit working a few months ago. Basically just runs and runs dumping water down the drain but not actually pulling from the brine tank. I had the local Culligan guy out and he just wants to sell us a new system, because he can't find parts, blah blah.
I don't really have 1500+ bucks laying around, so I'm thinking I just want a (around) $500 unit from Home Depot. I did take a water sample into another local water softener place and watched her test it using some sort of titration that turned the water purple. It took 24 drops which is apparently pretty hard. It's well water. She said the city water is around 17 drops of whatever. Anyway, I don't plan to buy a unit from that place either, but I'm not sure how that testing method translates to PPM or any other metric which will tell me what softener I need. Apparently the iron is pretty low, so that's not much of a concern. Anyone have any ideas about what method takes 24 drops to turn the water purple and what that means? Thanks. Also, it's 4 people living in a 3 bedroom house, if that makes a difference. |
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I have a Morton system. Paid $350ish. Just two people so with more I'd want a bigger one. I like it and have no complaints. We have very hard water from a well too.
Make sure you also have a water filter to filter out sediment before the softener. Probably not needed for city water but IMO a requirement for well water. You can also buy a kit at hardware stores where you can test your own water to see how hard it is. I think they are reasonably accurate. I used one to set my regeneration settings and the water is clearly soft. We get no deposits on our faucets and when I tested it with the same kit post softening, there was a clear reduction in water hardness. |
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Just put in a new one Lowes
Over time the media deteriorates and is less effective. For that reason, I would recommend starting with more capacity than you need, plus regeneration will be less frequent. |
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Quoted:
So our house came with a Culligan softener system from the 80s. It quit working a few months ago. Basically just runs and runs dumping water down the drain but not actually pulling from the brine tank. I had the local Culligan guy out and he just wants to sell us a new system, because he can't find parts, blah blah. I don't really have 1500+ bucks laying around, so I'm thinking I just want a (around) $500 unit from Home Depot. I did take a water sample into another local water softener place and watched her test it using some sort of titration that turned the water purple. It took 24 drops which is apparently pretty hard. It's well water. She said the city water is around 17 drops of whatever. Anyway, I don't plan to buy a unit from that place either, but I'm not sure how that testing method translates to PPM or any other metric which will tell me what softener I need. Apparently the iron is pretty low, so that's not much of a concern. Anyone have any ideas about what method takes 24 drops to turn the water purple and what that means? Thanks. Also, it's 4 people living in a 3 bedroom house, if that makes a difference. I'm not certain of their test kit, but over the years I have carried 3 or 4 different brands of titration test kits for hardness, and all of them had each drop of the titrant was equal to 1 grain per gallon, until the solution turns from red to blue. 1 grain per gallon = 17ppm 12 grains per gallon is considered very hard water nationally, around here that is somewhat, to much lower than the norm, 14-25+ is more normal (plus iron, you have to treat each ppm of iron like 5 more grains). Assuming their test kit was in grains per gallon, your water was 24 grains. so a 24,000 grain capacity unity will regenerate after 1000 gallons of usage (ideally, it will actually be a bit less than that, but you get the idea) Generally speaking I like to have softeners regenerate at least once a week. |
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Im a happy customer of ohiopurewater. Purchased and installed two systems in two different houses. There are other internet retailers too.
Size as recommended above. Fleck 5600 mechanical metered valves are great. I dont know how the digital version holds up but that is an option too. |
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Quoted:
I'm not certain of their test kit, but over the years I have carried 3 or 4 different brands of titration test kits for hardness, and all of them had each drop of the titrant was equal to 1 grain per gallon, until the solution turns from red to blue. 1 grain per gallon = 17ppm 12 grains per gallon is considered very hard water nationally, around here that is somewhat, to much lower than the norm, 14-25+ is more normal (plus iron, you have to treat each ppm of iron like 5 more grains). Assuming their test kit was in grains per gallon, your water was 24 grains. so a 24,000 grain capacity unity will regenerate after 1000 gallons of usage (ideally, it will actually be a bit less than that, but you get the idea) Generally speaking I like to have softeners regenerate at least once a week. |
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How often do you have to add salt to these, also how long does the filter last coming into home on main water line. I'm on county water. But the county has been doing alot of contruction the last several months and I have gotten a lot of boil notices.
I get a lot of trash in water it seems since this construction has been going on. I have inline filter on refrig. But I want that feel you get with soft water when you shower ect....i also just installed a kitchen faucet that cost over 350.00 today. A Moen and I notice more calcium and iron deposits on the old one when I removed it than I cared for. Maybe that's why it broke. There are only two of us that live here. Do you plumb you exterior faucets to bypass water softener and water filter so your outside lines do not run through system. |
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We have two people in the house. With more people we'd use more salt. I use something like a bag per month roughly.
We change the filter every 2-3 months. Mainly because we have some iron bacteria issues (gradually getting resolved through shocking the well). We just have a pleated filter element. We have a hot and cold faucet in the garage. Both faucets are on the softened water. All other exterior faucets are straight unfiltered well water. |
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Most mechanical filters don't give you any indication, you need to test water quality in some way. That could be taste, smell, visual, or by quantitative measurements. The simplest is a TDS meter. It will give you the reading of total dissolved solids and is one measure of quality. A basic filter is a good idea if you want to clean up sediment in the water before sending it to a water softener. Depending on what you have after the water softener, you may want to also add a carbon filter. Some people prefer to do this at the dispenser point for drinking water. An RO unit may be what you want. Could be that you need a potasium permanganate and green sand system. Perhaps you need a chlorination and precipitation system.
The point is that without knowing what is in the water, and your goals, it's impossible to give a correct answer for treatment. Get the water tested so you can make a decision as to what to treat. You need to find out if it's iron, hardness, sulfur, nitrates, sediment, biologics, or any number of other contaminates, and the quantities in order to determine which way to go. ETA: there are tons of people out there willing to sell you "something" to treat your water. Some are even well intentioned because it worked for them or for someone else Some are trying to line their pockets on your lack of knowledge. |
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How do youknow when it's tme to change the filter. Does the filtration system tell you The filter housing is clear so you can visually monitor it as well. |
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Quoted:
Im a happy customer of ohiopurewater. Purchased and installed two systems in two different houses. There are other internet retailers too. Size as recommended above. Fleck 5600 mechanical metered valves are great. I dont know how the digital version holds up but that is an option too. The Fleck 5600 is hard to beat. I had one in my old place and eventually I'll replace the crappy one in this place with the model above. Given things like shark bite fittings or a house plumbed with pex already, these are incredibly easy to install. |