Hey everyone,

I've been reading thoroughly on water softeners and I wanted to ask for a sanity check and some additional advice before committing to the purchase.

I recently purchased an older home in Florida that has been renovated with all new bathrooms and appliances. The water here is pretty hard, and I want to protect all the brand new fixtures.

Here's the breakdown of my situation:

- 2 people living in the home
- 3 full bathrooms
- Hardness was informally measured at 19 g.p.g.
- Free chlorine was informally measured at 2.4 p.p.m.

- Local water company official report lists the following for my area:
- Hardness: 358 ppm, g.p.g. 21
- Arsenic 0.924 ppb
- Lead 4.13 ppb
- Chlorine 1.07 (range 0.13 - 2.9)
- Sulfate 255 ppm
- TDS 686 ppm (154-686)
- House plumbing is 3/4"

I am planning to have someone locally install a Clack WS-1 valve (CS model?) at a size of 1.5 or 2.0 cu. ft.

Things I am keeping an eye out for:

- gravel underbed
- top basket
- Noryl yoke bypass included with 3-ball bypass for seamless repair
- Circular/cylindrical tank
- Float protection
- 10% crosslink for chlorine

It's just my wife and I in the house for now, but we plan to potentially have kids in the next few years. Two at most. Want to make sure I get a system that will be salt-efficient for now and in the future without getting something undersized for my family's growth, and I have seen some postings urging strongly for 2.0+. Have heard conflicting reports on the necessary size, some saying oversized systems have their own problems. Companies locally tell me 1.5 cu. ft. (or 45000 grains they usually say) is more than enough.

I did find one person who seemed knowledgeable who would install the system for $1100. Is this a good price for the Florida area?

Finally, I can smell the chlorine in the water. I have a pool and the water from the tap smells pretty similar if not quite as strong. Is it recommended with the numbers given to get a chlorine filter? The same guy who could install the Clack also offered a Clack carbon filtration unit for an additional $600. Said the media wouldn't need to be replaced for 7-8 years. Don't know much about carbon filters or if that's a good price or worth my while. Another company offered to do a big blue filter for 250. But said filter replacement was $50 a year.

I really appreciate the help in advance and thank you for your time.

This post was edited by Nite on Wed, Nov 19, 14 at 2:04