If you are reasonably handy, yes, you can plumb a water softener. One issue is what type of piping (copper, PEX, CPVC, etc.) to use to make the connections. CPVC is probably the easiest, soldering copper takes a little skill but is doable (it's all in the prep work), and PEX requires tooling that you probably don't have and don't want to buy ($$$). You've run conduit as an electrician, so you should be able to transition to water-based conduit. lol! When you buy the softener, be sure to know what the pipe fittings/connections are going to be. Probably most accept threaded pipe or adapters, some are sweat-soldered. Plan for a bypass valve setup either on the softener or in the supply lines. Do the softeners come ready to install? Most don't, which requires one to assemble a few items and put the resin in the tank. It's not hard. You only need a twin tank softener if you will be using soft water in the middle of the night (when a typical softener regenerates). The computerized on-demand control valves can predict water usage and maintain enough reserve that you won't run out of soft water before the unit regenerates. Do get a softener that regenerates based on gallons of water used (demand type). It will save salt $$ in the long run. A good valve to consider is the Clack WS-1. Just google it for some softener vendors. It has a computer chip that does a lot of nice things for the softener. Fleck has a model to compete with the Clack (Fleck 7000??). A big issue is how big a softener do you need? Most softener vendors figure on 60 to 70 gallons of water usage per day per person. You will have to use some sort of adjustment factor to estimate your dog water usage (based on people). You probably want to bathe the dogs with soft water,but if you can replumb and use hard water for the dog drinking and kennel washdown water, I think you would be way ahead.

Install a PVC tee. Let's suppose you have 3/4" PVC and you have 3/4" galvanized iron pipe. On the 'run' of the tee (that connects to the metal pipe (galvanized iron pipe) you need an adapter 3/4" FPT (FPT = female iron pipe) to 3/4" PVC. You cut a short length of PVC (say 6") and glue it into the Tee and glue the FPT adapter to the other end. Wrap the galvanized pipe threads with teflon tape, and use a little pipe dope.

Image by: Ruth2 Ruth2's wire art Wire Art Danglers & Suncatchers ~ Where to find wire Where to obtain the wire - Most of the members are purchasing their wire in rolls at a do-it-yourself "super store". You can also try the electrical and plumbing supply stores, or your local corner hardware store. The wire may come on a roll - a "normal" size roll being 25 feet which is enough for several wire art projects. The wire sold in most DIY super stores may be encased in plastic that needs to be stripped off. You are more likely to find 'plain' (not covered in plastic) wire at the specialty electric supply stores. Notes from our members: Yukon Gold suggests: Use Romex 12/2 electrical wire which has 3 copper wires inside. Use a box cutter to strip plastic covering off. sonicsink says: I found mine at the hardware store, it was a bunch of wire twisted to make like a cable rope. It was i think about 60 cents a foot so I bought 3 feet and after uncoiling it all I ended up with 8 strands of 3 foot long wire. I'm thinking the hardware store is way cheaper than craft stores! Dig_Deeper adds: The copper wire is electrical wire that you can purchase in rolls. You can buy 25-foot rolls that will come as 2-wire, 3 wire, or 4 wire combinations. The wire is encased in plastic that will have to be stripped off. The bundle of wires (2, 3, 4) is also encased in plastic that can be easily stripped off. The ground wire in the 3-wire bundle is wrapped in paper that can easily be stripped off, the black and white coated wire, take a little more effort. With a 25-foot roll, you should have more effort. With a 25-foot roll, you should have enough wire for many, many projects. Morganwolf tells us: One of the electrical guys at our DIY super store told me that this wire is available w/out the plastic coating at electrical supply stores. I'm tempted to try it, because I'm not having much luck stripping the plastic From Ruth2: 14 gauge copper wire (had to strip it) found at thrift store. We have been searching for wire but I did not want to use too light a gauge. We found some at an electrical store - you can ask for it by "magnet wire", used for motor windings (?). It's not bare wire, has a clear or colored coating, but I'm going to try it. Also, you don't have to use just one piece of wire, you can form several and put them together. ~~~ TIP: To polish copper: stir a teaspoon or two of regular table salt into a cup of white vinegar. (Use a clean plastic container with a lid that seals tight and you can reuse the solution for some time.) Dip in your copper piece, swish, remove and rinse well. Finish off by buffing with a clean soft cloth. Allow more corroded wire to soak for a bit. Badly discolored wire can be polished with fine (#000 or #0000) steel wool. TIP: Remove ink markings from copper pipe with rubbing alcohol on #000 steel wool.

I'm with adellabedella. You have to tell the ladies that you can't stopâ¦.we look forward to it. I'm sure the cross is lovely but doesn't show up as well in the picture. My favorite, the clothespin dolls. Reminds of many years ago when I made clothespin place card holders for Christmas. They were a lot of work and I should have collected and saved them over the years, but I didn't. I let the nieces and nephews play with them.