High phosphates generally won't hurt fish, but it can cause algae. You can buy chemicals that will lower phosphates. I personally don't like to use any chemicals though if I can help it. A friend of mine has high phosphates and she put in a large tank of water hyacinth. The W.H. eat up phosphates pretty well, so that might be a good way to combat the problem.

Yes, the microbelift is certainly useful for the store. I have no idea about for your pond. But again, just for pH buffering, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is the perfect thing; can't hurt; cheap. If microbelift was supposed to be mainly for pH buffering, it is probably mainly just sodium bicarbonate anyway. My guess is that plants don't grow as early up north. That might lead to more algae. My lily pads get black spots as they age. I pull pads out as they deteriorate. We can't be sure about the pH, but it is likely that it really is around pH 9

General forum: Please keep subsequent posts on the same topic in the same thread rather than starting a new one. It will keep the information all together and save all of us time and effort. Water analysis: The numbers don't add up. Hardness alone is over 100 ppm, yet TDS is listed as 100 ppm. Are you certain you didn't drop a digit somewhere? If transcribed correctly, where did the analysis come from? Dissolved CO2 in well water would be odd. Given the amount relative to hardness, do you mean CO3, or perhaps M-alkalinity? Pressure switch/pump/tank: pressure relief valve location should be protecting the tank. In it's current location it cannot necessarily do that. As to the pressure settings and potential pump and tank replacements, you can get the best of both worlds with a pump that has a variable frequency drive to maintain more constant pressure and improve pump life. It also won't require a larger tank. Aerator: I am retracting the sparger suggestion I made earlier - your iron is WAY too high for that to work at all. You can install your bubbler pipe, but it won't accomplish much as it won't provide much surface area for air/water contact. Most of what the aerator accomplishes will happen in the air at the top. Katalox light filters, sizing: Your parts spreadsheet isn't working today (lots of rows are hidden) so I can't see the size of these filters. However, according to the manufacturer's specs, you need 4.78 cubic feet of media for the 8 gpm your pump puts out, with 40% freeboard, that would be two 14" diameter x 65" tall tanks. Katalox filters, chemistry: Additionally, inlet water pH needs to be at least 7.5 for good iron removal. 8 would be better. If you don't increase pH, you will have iron bleed from your iron filters. That will foul your softeners. Katalox filters, design considerations: Stacked tank/mid-Vortech. This would be an extraordinarily bad idea. The tanks would either have inadequate freeboard or be so tall you would need a ladder to reach the control valve. Backwash rates would either be inadequate to remove solids from the Katalox or too high for the softener resin. Regen/backwashes would be too frequent for the resin or not frequent enough for the Katalox. Put the thought out of your mind if you want both systems to function properly. Softeners, in-service operation: How much water do you expect to need at once? Unless it's truly copious amounts, I would switch to a twin tank softener - two tanks, one valve, operating one at a time with no hard water during regen and the added benefit of soft water backwashes and rinses. Softeners, regen: You do not want counter-current regeneration. While it is true that there can be some benefit to counter-current regeneration, those apply only to packed bed softeners in residential application or in commercial/industrial demineralization applications. In a more standard softener, counter-current regen leads to inadequately regenerated resin due to irregular flow patterns if the flow rate is too low, or fluidization with resin loss and poor regen if the flow is too high, or both if your water temperature change seasonally. With potential for iron in the water going to the softener (let's face it - at some point it is bound to happen), counter-current regen schemes will result in poor removal of solids. Softeners, resin: Am I correct in assuming your resin choice was driven by lower salt use? If so, be aware that if you want to operate your softeners at the low brine rates that will result in that lower salt use, you may need to increase the size of your softeners because the lower salt dose will decrease softener capacity. Further, depending upon how effective your iron removal is, you may need to regen at a higher salt dose to adequately remove any iron that bleeds through. With the current water pH, you will need to regen with a salt dose of 8-9 lb/cubic ft of resin and more frequently than capacity would otherwise indicate. Carbon filters: What are you trying to remove with these? Typically, for whole-house applications, a GAC backwashing filter is more appropriate. If cartridges are really what you want - change filters every six months lest they become bacteria havens. Micron filter: It's not hurting anything (other than possibly becoming a flow bottleneck), but what do you expect this to remove? Regardless, change filters every six months whether they appear to need it or not. Drainage: Entirely depends upon how it is all connected, line diameter, and length. Backwash for the Katalox runs at a pretty high flow rate. Additionally, if you are relying on the pressure from the backwashes/regens to drive the water to the pasture, then you will need check valves (possibly I am misreading your intent here - the drain/pasture/outdoor lines discussion is a bit convoluted). If any of those lines are above ground, you will want freeze protection. Water heater: The plus actually works out if you do the math. You will still have to adjust at point of use, but not nearly as much. The 36 is capable of heating 3.75 gpm from 55 to 120 degrees. You have two fixtures running, each using 1.88 gpm hot water, plus 0.56 gpm cold water, for a final temperature at each fixture of 105. Now, somebody comes along and opens another fixture using 1.88 gpm of hot water. With standard control, your water heater is now putting out 5.6 gpm of water at 98 degrees, and your fixtures each now get 1.88 gpm at 98 degrees and 0.56 gpm at 55 - temps drop to 88 at each fixture with the same total flow rate. With the plus, the water heater still only allows 3.75 gpm, but now that water is distributed to three fixtures instead of two each receiving 1.25 gpm of 120 degree water, still mixed with 0.56 gpm of cold water - final temperature = 100 (but your fixture total flow drops from 2.4 gpm to 1.8 gpm).

Have to say this is quite disturbing. We really have no idea what we've been putting in our laundry. Wish there was someone here that uses STPP from a different source from Dafna that could check theirs. I ran this by one of Amiees doctors on the phone today. She said she's not exactly eduucated in this but her opinion is if the tester gives a reading on phosphates in detergent it should do so with the STPP also as they would both be complex phosphates. But we're not to take her opinion to the bank. There should be a place that the stpp could be tested...a lab...I just don't know what type of lab.