Which water softener do I get?

15 years ago

My husband and I just had a house built and had it plumbed for a water softener but have not purchased one yet because we have no idea what to get. Our house is almost 1700 sq ft, our water isn't super hard however, bad enough to turn all of our bronze fictures white within about a month and a half. I want to get one asap and have been researching the net but there are too many choices and we know nothing about plumbing. Do we get a whole house system? Salt or no salt system? RO?

If anyone has had experience with softening systems or any other comments to help out we would greatly appreciate it.

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biermech
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I have 16+ years as a service tech. I like the Fleck 5600 metered system. The cost should be very affordable ($800.00 to $900.00 installed). It is a simple valve and that is what makes it last. It has been around since the 60's. To size it, you have to have the water tested for hardness and iron. Is there any chlorine?
User
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
To "soften" water is to remove calcium (among other things like iron) from water, not calcium deposits from pipes, and that is commonly done by one of two methods.

One method is ion exchange as done by a water softener. A water softener exchanges either sodium ions (if using NaCl) or potassium ions (if using KCl as a SALT SUBSTITUTE) for calcium (and other) ions in the hard water. That's it, no ifs, no ands, no buts, and no sales double talk. Simple chemistry and physics. Softening water is not black magic. It is physics and chemistry with a side of mechanics. No matter how hard sales people try (and want) to they can not violate the laws of physics or change the nature of chemical actions and reactions.

The other is by a filter and/or membrane technology or distillation, but no simple filter will remove calcium. You would need a reverse osmosis unit large enough to service your entire house. You would not want to pay for that big an RO nor pay for the service and routine maintenance it would require and RO water would be very aggressive in your plumbing and it would waste a lot of water.

NO magnet(ic) gizmo or electronic gizmo or "conditioner" or salt-free conditioners (that should not be called softeners because they are not) will soften water but people waste their money on them EVERYDAY.

Check out this URL for one story http://www.nmsr.org/magnetic.htm and there are many more on the net if you Google.

If you're on a water system the water utility can supply you with the specs of the water AS IT LEAVES their facility but that is not necessarily representative of the water conditions at your water meter.

Hit the Yellow Pages under water treatment and call at least three local water treatment professionals. Make sure you call at least one of the big dogs like Kinetico or Culligan for comparison and at least a couple independent pros.

Give each an opportunity to offer suggestions and provide you with a quote to meet your water treatment needs. IGNORE ANY THAT DON'T TEST YOUR WATER THEMSELVES as they can't speak intelligently to water treatment without knowing what needs to be treated.

Ask lots of questions. Softening the entire house or just the water heater (bad idea)? Warranty, parts & labor or just parts, how long and on exactly what? Install, permits required, licensed plumber? Routine maintenance and costs? Do they stock parts? Response time for emergency (water leak) calls? If they don't explain things to your satisfaction that is a good indicator of how you'll be treated after the sale.

Are all your treatment needs being addressed?

Ask your neighbors if they have any water treatment experience. They might tell you who's good or who to avoid.

Come back here and post the specific recommendations and hardware components with the costs and we'll give you our opinions.

If you're a DIYer then you have other options but remember, when you do it yourself there's no one else to blame.
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If you later decide you want to filter out all the "bad" stuff you call always add a high quality water filter. Some high priced softeners also add filters, but I prefer to keep the two functions separate to make the maintenance easier. I don't want to replace a high priced combo unit just because one part of it has gone bad. That definitely makes sense, and is the route I've decided. If I add any filter it's likely to be something for drinking water only. "Anyway, most tap water has a hardness (CaCO3) of 35 to 45ppm. Iron and manganese will vary depending the source water and treatment techniques." Well, maybe, but not here. That's like 2-3 grains per gallon. It's over 15 here for sure, and maybe higher. Central Illinois has some pretty hard water. BTW, check out Penn & Telle'rs "Truth about bottled water" on youtube. Hmm, I might have too. I don't drink bottled water, and realize half of that comes from city water sources and the other half from springs which probably don't even get tested . . . As to my water testing, after doing a bit more research I had them test for hardness, pH, manganese, and iron. I have aquarium test kits for pH and hardness, and so after I get a lab test on those, I'll compare them to my aquarium test kit results (see how accurate my test kits are) and use them to keep on eye on the water quality. I know it works, cause when I test softened water, one drop changes the water to green, while with unsoftened water, it takes 25 drops (supposed to be 25 degrees of hardness, or about 26 grains per gallon). The question is just how accurate it is vs a lab test.
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Which water softener do I get?

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biermech

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