How many people and what's the PH?

Two people for now, planning on children in the future (2 or 3, but this will be 5+ years down the road).

PH is right around 7, so it's not acidic.

Two people for now, planning on children in the future (2 or 3, but this will be 5+ years down the road).

PH is right around 7, so it's not acidic.

Are you on municipal water or well water?

If it were me I'd get a twin resin tank softener with a premium resin like Purolite C100 or Sybron C-249 not the no name or Nelsen branded el cheapo stuff. In an generic industry standard softener a Fleck 9100 based or for a premium softener a Kinetico.

Some will say that no one needs a twin resin tank softener unless they take showers at 2AM and they are mostly old timers who are just plain stubborn or mentally locked into doing it the way they learned it. Some times you can't teach old dogs new tricks and sometimes you can't teach them any tricks at all. Soft water 24/7 is never a bad idea and switching resin tanks to regenerate almost exactly when the hardness removal capacity of the resin has been exhausted instead of wasting the reserve capacity that single resin tank softeners must set aside and almost always waste is a money and water saver EVERY regeneration and over time that adds up.

With your hardness and iron a correctly sized softener would regenerate every 4 days and a twin resin tank unit would be the most efficient in water and salt use. Twins use soft water to regenerate which lengthens the service life of the resin in the long run.

I wouldn't bother with a turbulater or SST60. A gravel underbed wouldn't hurt.

Its a well...

I had Kinetico out, but I can't justify the 2.5-3k they want for a softener. I do see the benifit of a twin tank, I had read however that they weren't that good (for reasons you state, likely written by old dogs). I'm intrigued now, though...more info perhaps?

Additionally, why would you stay away from a turbulator and SST-60? The SST-60 resin data I've read shows that it is fairly efficient, is that not the case??

Overall, I want to keep my entire set up around $1000...I don't need some top of the line reverse osmossis thing, I just want to eliminate the hardness, iron, and do it efficiently and not go through a ton of salt.

Regarding twins... Kinetico has built up a large and loyal customer base with twins. The #1 reason cited by Kinetico owners for spending the money is that you install it, put salt or potassium in it, and all it does is work. Ten or 15 or twenty years down the road they have them rebuilt and rebedded and they're back at square one. That's the way all twins work, not just Kinetico. You don't accommodate them, resin lasts longer and they are more salt and water efficient. Isn't that what you asked for?

If the old timers had their way we'd all still be using timer based softeners and wasting mucho dinero. We'd also all be using adjustable wrenches instead of air ratchets and be watching round tube Dumont B&W TVs.

In your situation I don't think you need SST-60 or a turbulater. Your conditions are manageable without them and the money is better spent on better hardware than compromising as you seem to want to do.

"Overall, I want to keep my entire set up around $1000. I just want to eliminate the hardness, iron, and do it efficiently and not go through a ton of salt". Good luck with that. At a kilobuck you'll buy too small a softener and when the two kids come you'll be undersized. You'll also get a cheap Chinese RO with poor quality components. hopefully it will just die a quick death when it goes instead of cracking a filter canister and flooding the kitchen as they do.

The best deal there is, is a dollar's worth for a dollar. Most people want a dollar's worth for 75 cents, but they end up spending seventy five cents and getting fifty cents worth. It's really a matter of how little you'll accept and how often you want to revisit this decision

I'm not selling you anything and have nothing to gain regardless of what you do.

Regarding size, for my situation I estimate roughly 48k if I regen every 4 days (this is with a single unit). The thought was going larger (60k) would dilute the salt dose for regen....thoughts?

You've got me turned onto a twin tank, and in that realm I've found fleck 9100's for right around 950 with C-249 resin - but again this is with a 48k (1.5 cu ft) size...I see the benifit behind a twin tank, and if I'm making the initial investment I'd like for it to work for years to come...size suggestions??

You have to size the softener for the ultimate family of four and short salt down to the capacity you need now for the two of you.

When you say "I've found Fleck 9100's for right around 950 with C-249 resin - but again this is with a 48k (1.5 cu ft) size" do you mean 1.5 cu ft in each resin tank (total of 3 cu ft) or .75 cu ft in each resin tank (total of 1.5 cu ft)? We have to be talking apples to apples here.

And you want the Fleck 9100SXT control.

http://www.discountwatersofteners.com/Fleck-9100SXT-Dual-Tank-On-Demand-Water-Softener-p/91sxt48.htm

There's a link to a 9100SXT with 1.5cu ft/tank capacity at around 1100 with C239 resin. I'm still up in the air about a twin tank. However, that said, with a single tank I'll likely need to up capacity to 2 cu ft. Because my piping is only 3/4" anyhow, I don't need a Fleck 7000 - despite its excellent reviews on durabilty. The 5600 has good reviews, as does the 2510. Looking at those, they run around 750ish in 2 cu ft size.

I know it isn't apples to apples, but to me a twin seems like two softeners sitting there, so one would think they'd use twice the water/salt because now you have two tanks to regen...

That is 1.5 cube per resin tank so it is a 3 cubic foot TWIN.

"but to me a twin seems like two softeners sitting there, so one would think they'd use twice the water/salt because now you have two tanks to regen".

It is like two softeners sitting there. Each tank has 1.5 cu ft of resin and it takes x many gallons of water and x many pounds of salt to regenerate that volume of resin whether it is regenerating ONE tank of a twin or the ONLY tank of a single resin tank softener. You don't regenerate BOTH tanks of a twin every regeneration so there is NOT more water and salt used by a twin. What the twin offers that the single doesn't is 24/7 soft water with seamless switchover to the other tank exactly when the resin's hardness removal capacity us exhausted INSTEAD of wasting the set aside reserve (about 20%) that single tank softeners have to set aside so they can get to 2AM to regenerate AND twins regenerate with soft water which makes life easier on the resin when there is iron so the resin lasts longer.

In plain English... in actual use a TWIN resin tank softener will use less water and salt over time (which saves you money) than a single resin tank softener because it DOES NOT WASTE A CALCULATED RESERVE. A TWIN does not need a calculated reserve like a single does. When a twin counts down to it's regen oint it just switches over to the other tank and then uses soft water to regenerate the spent tank seamlessly in the background.

A single resin tank softener will count down to regen and then use it's set aside reserve to continue to soften the water until it reaches the next 2AM (if that's when it is set to regen) and regenerates. Depending on when the next regen count trips the single tanker may use or waste all or part of that set aside reserve. Not as efficient as a TWIN, see?

To be honest, I do how questions not why questions. I'm not a teacher and my fingers get tired from typing so I don't think I can add anything other than the facts and info I already have.

Let us know how it works out for so others can learn.

"but to me a twin seems like two softeners sitting there, so one would think they'd use twice the water/salt because now you have two tanks to regen".

A twin tank system will be more efficient than a single tank system both in salt and water over a given period of time. As pointed out, since they clean themselves with treated, the resins stay cleaner and last longer. A standard high quality reisn is recommended.

A twin regens at the same point of exhaustion each time which can happen any time of day or night...and you just continue using water without any worries. Everytime.

Think of it this way: with 2 ppm iron, everytime a single tank softener regenerates it is backwashing with maybe 40-60 gallons of raw, untreated, iron-laddened water (this is the 'cleaning stage' mind you). Even before you get back on line the softener has alread been flushed with 'dirty' water. Everytime.

There are few appliances that will work harder and affect more items in your home and on/in your body than your water equipment. Getting a great one should also outlast them. Go cheap can be very costly.

Ended up going with a Fleck 9100SXT with C249 resin, which I got for right around 950 offline. I've got it installed and it's working great...hopefully over time it'll last - will have to wait and see.

With routine use of resin cleaner like Iron Out or Super Iron Out or Pro Rust Out and brine tank clean outs every year or so you should get the reliable and efficient service you expect.