Read several posts on this site and there is certainly a wealth of knowledge here. I have been confused by the glut of information on the internet and from local salesman. Please help. I have an 11 year old Sears water softener and a "iron filter" of unknown origin and age which was here before we moved in. We replaced the original water softener with Sears one when we moved in. We have well water. The water will occasionally leave rust stains on everything from laundry to toilets. I can get the water back to clear by cycling the water softener two or three times back to back. However, my wife says the water no longer feels "soft" which I think she means it no longer feels slippery to her in the shower. I think both the filter and the softener are done and need replacing. We have 2.27 mg/L iron, 198 mg/L hardness, pH 7,0, low Iron Bacteria, no E. Coli and no Total Coliform according to the tests results of an independent lab test. nothing else was tested for. Looking for recommendations. I would love to have a local company or plumber put something in place for us but can't seem to find one. We live in Wilmington, NC. One company came out and wanted to do their own water test which I was fine with. I showed him where the well was and the closest hose bib to the pump. He insisted on testing the water inside the house. I don't understand why he wanted to use those test results to treat what was coming out of our well. He came up with a $4700 iron filter and water softener system. Easy Water wanted us to buy a salt free radio wave system. Sounded like voodoo science. Pelican recommended a WF10 system. Home Depot recommended we go to Lowes and Lowes recommended their 44000 softener but didn't have an Iron filter but claimed using the iron fighter salt would take care of our problem. Help.

The ECO removes chlorine within itself be using a mixed media bed of resin and carbon which is a bad idea for the customer but good for the dealer. Since there's a minimal amount of carbon (which removes the chlorine) mixed with the resin when the carbon is depleted the dealer will come out and add more carbon to the resin tank but... not for free and who will be monitoring the chlorine levels in the water so someone knows when the carbon is depleted and needs to be replaced... you?. I'm not a fan of removing anti-bacterials under any circumstances and especially at the low levels you quote. Anti-bacterials are added to water supplies for a reason and giving up that protection at the house POE just doesn't make sense to me.I have to know my water is safe when I turn on the faucet... no ifs, ands, or buts. At your chlorine levels your resin might only last 15 years instead of 20 or maybe 20 instead of 25 years. By then it'll be time to rebuild the control valve anyway so get them to rebed the softener when they come to rebuild it.. Watering house plants with NaCl softened water in theory could harm plants.. Our water is currently running at 40gpg hardness (approximately 7 times more sodium exchanged into the soft water than you will have) and the wife routinely waters her house plants and no casualties have been reported and I know I'd hear it if one of her plants curled a leaf let alone died. At 6 gpg hardness you really needn't worry but don't water anything with the effluent that runs from softener to drain during regeneration... that stuff is high concentrate chlorides. KCl is an appealing alternative especially to people on a salt restricted diet and when it was $7 a 40 pound bag I used it, but KCL ia currently selling for around $25 per 40 lb bag and NaCl is around $4 per 40 pound bag so the question is how much money you got to spend on regenerant? Quality NaCl is fine for your needs. Whichever softener you choose make sure the installation is treating the water to the entire house and not just to the water heater, Before you pull the trigger on a brand name proprietary softener from Kinetico or ECO look around for local independent water treatment companies that sell industry standard softeners. Equal performance for a fraction of the brand name cost and parts and (free) tech info are readily available unlike Kinetico, ECO, or Culligan. This post was edited by justalurker on Mon, Aug 5, 13 at 20:40

Water softener 101 ... Since 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 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. 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 (IMO a 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.

If you have sediment, absolutely install a sediment filter upstream from the water softener. Although your softener will act as a sediment filter if it must, it will damage the resin. A sediment filter can either be a backwashing media filter (looks similar to a softener), or a cartridge filter. Both work very well. A backwashing filter will cost much more to install, but can mostly be ignored once it is operational. Filter cartridges are cheaper to install, but filters should be changed every six months or as needed. If you choose filter cartridges, look for "Big Blue." Go with the 4" diameter, not the 2". You didn't mention any other water parameters. Since you are on well water, it is important to have a comprehensive water test to include: TDS, pH, hardness, alkalinity, sulfides, iron, manganeses, bacteria, any others recommended by your local lab As to softener size, if hardness is your only issue you should be looking in the 1.5 - 2.0 cuft size range. However, if you have iron and/or manganese in your water they will greatly affect proper softener size. If the home has been there for years without a softener and you don't see signs of iron (rusty stains) or manganese (black stains that aren't bacterial), then they likely won't affect softener size, but even tiny amounts will affect resin life, so best to be certain. Since you are not happy with your Kinetico rep (for good reason), either Culligan or the independent will be fine. My preference would be the independent dealer over Culligan solely because Fleck parts are readily available from multiple sources whereas Culligan parts are only available from Culligan. You want to ensure your new softener meets some basic standards: High quality American or German made resin. This will provide a tight size distribution for optimal flow within the resin, longer resin life, and more reliable, predicable water softening. Since you have WELL WATER: 8% crosslinked resin. Top basket. This serves two purposes. It sets up a proper water distribution during normal operation and prevents resin loss during backwash. Gravel underbed. The gravel underbed is there to set up proper flow patterns, improve backwash, keep the bottom basket in place, prevent basket failure, and prevent channeling. Many softener sales companies like to leave this out or sell softeners with a vortex system instead. Vortex systems weigh less than gravel so they cost less to ship. In addition, they are a more expensive item that adds profit for the softener salesperson, but provides no additional benefit to the homeowner . It simply adds another piece of equipment that can break. Fleck or Clack valves. These set the industry standard. Be aware that you will not be able to purchase Clack valves online. This is not a problem if you purchase locally. The valve should regen based on water usage, not time. Noryl bypass. Most softeners are available with either Noryl...