Installing a water softener in condominium

16 years ago

9/17/07 SU, 16:21EST

I have a question on water softener. We are considering purchasing a water softener to alleviate if not eliminate dry skin problem that my wife has been experiencing with hard water.

We live in a condominium. I am not a DIYer. But Ive been reading forum such as this as much as I can and trying to educate myself so that we can make the right decision on this purchase. I became extremely appreciative and grateful for the fact that so many people are so kindly taking time to respond to so many questions generated by folks like me.

We have so far asked two companies (And the third is coming this week of Sep 17, Â07) to come out to our condo and give us their opinions as to whether it is possible for a softener be installed in our particular circumstances, including their quote. We are concerned with our unique (or may be typical if one lives in a condo) circumstances with regard to installation. The condo has three levels, ours is located on the second level, and no one lives on the first (ground) level. Ground level is for car space upfront, and storage space in the back for resident. We gave both the exact same tour including the ground floor near our storage area where (common) water meter is located, and second floor where we live, taking them to a small laundry room where water heater is located. Both said that it would be best to have the softener installed near the water meter on the first floor for accurate reading. After investigating the situation in our small laundry room where water pipe is coming from the first floor, both came to the same conclusion that it is possible for the softener be installed on the second floor near the water heater. This is, we believe, important because we do not have to get a permission so long as we install softener in our own property- in our laundry room.

My questions are:

1) Has anyone had any experiences or heard someone with having a softener installed in condominium /town home setting as opposed to single home?

We felt confused when company "A" told us, "We can install one in your small laundry room, and the softener get your water softener both cold and hot. But company "B" told us, "We can install one in your laundry room, but with that setting we can only get your hot water softer. Not with cold water. In order to soften cold water as well, we need to install a softener on the ground level near the water meter. I suggest you contact your association for permission."

2) We are wondering, whether these differences in opinion might be coming from the different technology each offers or can anyone think of any other possible reasons?

Our preference is to install one in our laundry room so that we can avoid seeking permission from the notoriously intolerant/inflexible Condo Association. Although we have not asked, but I am almost certain that they would say no to our request of installing softener on the first floor on the ground that it is the "Common area", and it is not considered as anyoneÂs personal property".

I apologize for not being as thorough/specific as one might want me to, but I truly appreciate any response, feedback, things we should be doing going forward.

For your reference, here are actual names of the company I referred in my questions above:

Company A: EcoWater Offering ECR3000 or ERR3000

Company B: Culligan Offering Meddalist 30 w/ softminder, or Gold 9" w/Acua-Sensor

And the third one this week of Sep 17, Â07: Kinetico

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Comments (3)

User
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
The different answers you received from the two vendors has nothing to do with technology and everything to do with the knowledge and ability of the sales reps. I don't know how your water pipes are run, so cannot tell you which one is correct. If all water into your condo runs into the room where your water heater is located, then the softener can soften all incoming water if placed in that room. However, if the lines branch off upstream from that room,then a softener located in that room can only soften the water running to your hot water heater. Perhaps you could do some investigating yourself to determine which is the case - that way you will know for certain which sales reps do their homework and know what they are talking about, and which ones do not. Generally, it would be cheaper to run one line to each condo, then split off to the hot water heater, but that split may not be in the room where your water heater is located.

Ideally, it would be best to soften all of your water, but having only the hot water softened will be better than no softening at all. Cold water pipes will not get hard-water deposits because hardness (calcium and magnesium) will stay soluble unless heated. You will, however, still see hard-water residue where water is allowed to evaporate away, such as around faucets and in sinks.
Kelsey Compars
9 years ago
These are all great questions, thank you for putting them out there. My home needs a water softener so I have been wondering some of these same things. Hopefully we can both figure out how to do it in the best way possible. http://www.northernwatercleaners.com/index.php?p=product&type=residential
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Run a new 3/4" line. 1/2" just won't be enough. While I absolutely concur with lurker's sentiment, I realize sometimes current finances dictate we do things we know aren't ideal. In your case, purchasing the softener you can afford now will mean compromising softener life and operating cost. Due to the iron in your water, you will have to set up your softener to use more salt (not as salt-efficient, but your softener will be undersized) and you should use iron-out salt - this won't prevent your softener from dying early, but will prolong its life. If you provide your hardness analysis, we can tell you how to set up the softener you can afford. Even an undersized, poor quality softener will be better than no softener if you absolutely cannot afford better. You may, however, want to look into a Culligan (or other major brand) lease agreement first - these can be quite reasonable if you can't afford a large cash purchase, but can afford a monthly fee. It sounds like you are planning to install yourself. If that is the case, there are many options available online that can be much more affordable than what you will find locally. However, the trade-off is that you get no service. Frankly, however, I've found local softener service to be highly over-rated as most softener salespeople have little to no actual technical knowledge (just my opinion). That said, the first step is still water analysis, actual numbers from a lab. If you've had a water treatment pro test your water already, share those numbers. We can make some recommendations, but they will only be as good as the information you provide. Lastly, if you do end up installing the cheap Morton softener, immediately start a savings account and make a commitment to adding a set amount to it from every paycheck so you can purchase a quality softener later. You'll be glad you did.
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User
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Resurrecting an EIGHT YEAR OLD thread just to post a useless link? That's pretty silly, even for a spammer such as yourself, Kelsey.

Installing a water softener in condominium

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Kelsey Compars

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