deedee, The size, type, and complexity of the equipment required will be dependent on... 1. What is in the water that needs to be treated. 2. Number of people in your home. 3. SFR and plumbing requirements. Without knowing all three variables there is no way to even ball park what you'll need. Could be as little as $500 or a few thousand. How about this... Get a water test from an independent lab. An independent lab has no agenda and won't be trying to sell you water treatment equipment. Go to http://www.epa.gov/safewater/labs/index.html to locate a certified lab near you. This is a MUST DO because without it everything is a guess. A quickie water test from Sears or a water softener company won't be as accurate (and possibly not as competent) as from a certified independent lab. Hit the Yellow Pages and call at least three local water treatment pros. Make sure you call at least one of the big dogs like Kinetico or Culligan for comparison and at least a couple independent pros. DON'T TELL THEM YOU HAD YOUR WATER TESTED. 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. After they've gone use your water test to compare with theirs. 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.

Lol. I hear ya. Thanks for pointing that one out to me - I haven't done as much research into RO units as I did the softeners. I guess I'll get an education on how to do some actual plumbing in the next couple weeks... I'm bet the guy used a saddle valve in my basement when he installed my humidifier a year or so ago...I'll check that out. This post was edited by Jlmurph2 on Fri, Apr 26, 13 at 11:03

Living on a well is different and more complicated than living on a water system. You have to make the water SAFE and then decide whether to make the water NICE. NICE water gives you longer service life for plumbing, appliances, and fixtures and can save you money in soap and detergent use and your clothes will last longer. You need to get a comprehensive water test from an independent certified lab. Labs usually know what to test for in well water in their areas but at a minimum... hardness, iron (ferrous and ferric), manganese, pH, TDS, nitrates, bacteria, sodium, copper, arsenic. With those test results we can intelligently discuss what is in your water, in what amounts, and how best to treat it.

Culligan sent out two technicians today (the second guy was experienced in the field, but new to Culligan, so he was on ride-along). They were both friendly. The main guy tasted the water, noted that it had a taste, and said that that was how soft water tasted. The other guy tasted it and he did not care for the flavor. On the one hand, they wondered whether the carbon in the tank needed to "settle in". But on the other hand, they said that the softener was removing magnesium/calcium and replacing it with sodium--and that carbon would not change that if this is simply the taste of the soft water. They asked me to keep the system in place for another week or two to see if the taste goes away. Culligan has a 30 day guarantee, so they will take the system out if it does not resolve. They also said that they would offer to swap the tank with a new one, before yanking it, if I remain dissatisfied. I still find it hard to believe that soft water is supposed to taste like this. I have to believe that I would have read or heard about it in my research and in my discussions with people who have softeners. So I guess I am in a holding pattern for the next week or two to see what happens.