I didn't recommend a 1.5 cu ft softener anywhere in this thread. I said "just to get the 12 gpm SFR for your tub you'd need 1.5 cu ft of resin and that wouldn't accommodate your other appliances". To clarify, a 1.5 cu ft softener would only support the SFR needed by the tub and that would be ignoring any other water use in the home. During the holidays with 20 people it would be difficult to find any moment when there wouldn't be someone using water somewhere in the house like sink, toilet, bath tub, washing machine, shower, water heater, etc... understand? "Soft [not salt] water brining -- my mistake"... now more to learn... There is soft water brining with hard water regeneration and there is soft water brining with soft water regeneration. The 1.5 cu ft softener you seem to have fallen in love with only offers soft water brining with HARD water regeneration which is a good feature but not as desirable as soft water brining WITH soft water regeneration which the Kinetico offers. The 1.5 cu ft softener you seem to have fallen in love with will regenerate at 2:00 AM (in some control valves you can change the time but it MUST be during a period where there is NO water use) generating the noise you don't want to hear and do it for a longer time interval and waste unused hardness removal capacity set aside as a reserve while the Kinetico will regenerate immediately whenever the gallon count zeros with no set aside reserve capacity being wasted. The Kinetico will use less water and salt to treat an equal # of gallons of hard water than the 1.5 cu ft softener you seem to have fallen in love with which SAVES you money every time it regenerates... and the resin will last longer because it is being regenerated with SOFT water. "Previously posted information: 1.5 cu. ft. tank handles 30,000 - to 45,000 grains of hardness, using a minimum of 6 # to a max of 15 pounds of salt for regeneration. Am I missing something?" Yes you are and for the umpteenth time... the max hardness removal capacity of 1.5 cu ft of resin at the max salt dose of 15 lbs/cu ft or 22.5 lbs for 1.5 cu ft of resin is 40,000 not 45,000 The occasional use you now define is a considerable percentage of your annual water use. The additional occupancy at your home during the holidays will be a huge increase in water use for that period. If you're smart you'll buy the Kinetico 2060S OD and get what you need. The Kinetico will have a longer warranty and cost less to operate then your 1.5 cube favorite and in the long run it will cost you less than buying what you don't need.

I won't make a sizing recommendation but here are some things for you to consider... Don't forget to add 1 days hardness removal capacity for reserve in your arithmetic. A 12" diameter resin tank is right at the design limit of the 5600 series control valve. Consider a Fleck 7000SXT and it will come with its own Noryl bypass keeping you from making a mistake there. If you're smart you will install a three ball valve bypass to the plumbing in addition to the bypass on the control valve. That way, if the valve bypass ever requires service you will still have water to the house while waiting on parts or repair. ALWAYS get a top basket and gravel underbed REGARDLESS of what the seller tells you. They are there to make a profit not to sell you what is best for you. Percentage of resin crosslink won't matter cause you are not on a chlorinated water system HOWEVER the quality of the resin matters a lot. Stay away from no name or anonymous resin and get a brand name resin like Purolite or Sybron or Dow. NSF approval is not an indication of quality. Invest in a small (350va or so) computer UPS (NOT a surge-spike protector) for the softener. It will protect the control valve from power spikes and brown-outs and maintain power for a limited time during an outage. With your modest 7 GPM SFR requirement I'd consider a Fleck 9100SXT softener with twin resin tanks. As your family grows it will simply regenerate more often and there's no reserve to bother with. Set up to run with an efficient salt dose that would work nicely. Lastly, living on a well be prepared to have your water tested at least annually cause well water conditions change and bacteria and nitrates can come and go. Success living on a well is to make the water nice and make the water safe. This post was edited by justalurker on Thu, Apr 24, 14 at 9:52

You will see closer to a 5% reduction using a twin system. The only way you would see close to a 15% reduction in salt usage is if somehow you always hit the cutoff right as you used the last drop of water for the day. Close, because twin tanks use softened water for brine make-up, which increases salt usage by a bit. You will save 2-3 lb potassium chloride per month using a twin vs single-tank system, assuming you regen with 4 lb salt/cuft of resin. It is possible to regen with an even lower salt dosage, but not successfully in a standard softener. For that you would need a packed bed softener, such as those offered by Kinetico. They are mechanically operated by water power, rather than electronically controlled. Although they come at a premium price, they are very reliable. If your chief concern is environmental, they are worth a look. The 2x1cuft twin system you have quoted above should work fine for your purposes if you prefer a Fleck softener. Alternately, a 1.5 cuft single tank would work. For watering outdoor plants you may wand to consider alternating between raw water and softener effluent. The effluent will have a very high TDS. Coupled with your already high pH, it could burn your plants if it is their primary source of water. There is a big difference between watering with potassium-softened water and watering with potassium chloride saturated water.

GardenWeb Community, I need your assistance. I am needing to size a water softening and whole house filtering system for my home and there are many different approaches I have found on the web with different values, peak vs. average flow rates, etc. Based on the feedback I have read thus far from Justalurker and aliceinwonderland_id on this site I am leaning towards a Fleck softening system but not sure which one. Also looking for ideas on a whole home filtering system based on the below test results. We live in Anchorage, Alaska and we just bought a 6000 sqft., 3 bed 3.5 bath house with 3 people living in it (wife, 2.5 yr old daughter, and myself). All appliances are high efficiency Frigidaire Professional series, Triangle Tube Prestige Water heater, etc. A recent water test was performed by a local sales company and the basic results are as follows: TDS: 125 ppm Hardness: 10 gpg pH 7.0 Total Alkalinity 120 ppm Total Iron 0.1 ppm Total Manganese 0.2 ppm Coliform: Neg colonies/100mL Nitrate: 5.09 mg/L Arsenic: ND ug/L Let me know if any additional information is needed in order to provide any recommendations. Any recommendations are welcomed and I genuinely appreciate the assistance in advance. Regards, Derek