Consider that you might have gotten the "newbie" on the phone. Call back and ask the same question of another rep and see if they give you the same answer. Fleck says the 5600 is limited to a 12" tank so no sales person gets to change the specs. Step 8 = 48,000 Step 12 = 8 (days calendar override) Step 17 = In order to program this step you need to know the BLFC size. If the BLFC is .5 gal/min, which is common, then each gallon = 3 lbs of salt. At 1/2 gpm, 5 gallons = 10 minutes so set step 17 at 12 minutes (fudge factor or reserve, whatever definition makes you happy). "I ask because when I buy a 2.5 cube softener, it will surely be called a "80,000 grain softener" even though your recommendation is to program it like a 48,000 softener"... for the LAST TIME, if you refer to the softener as a 2.5 cu ft softener then so will the sales person and there will be NO MISUNDERSTANDING about what you are ordering. A 2.5 cube softener can be marketed as an 80k softener but you'll be using 15 lbs of salt per cu ft to get that 80k. That's 37.5 pounds of salt each regeneration versus getting 48k at 6 lbs per cu ft or 15 pounds of salt each regeneration out of the same 2.5 cu ft of resin with the same SFR. In the simplest terms... the K, or hardness removal, capacity of a softener is determined by the volume of resin and the salt dose used to regenerate that volume of resin NOT THE SIZE OF THE TANK. A correctly sized resin tank's function is to allow enough room (freeboard) above the resin for the resin to move during regeneration. You water conditions and water usage dictate the correct size of the softener. The cost of the correctly sized softener is the cost. You can change the other variables and get a smaller softener using the 5600... stop using so much water or move to a place that doesn't have 25g hard water. I've shown you how to correctly size the softener using only 15 lbs/regen so the salt savings alone will cover the increased cost of the correctly sized softener and what those savings don't cover you can amortize over the 10, 15, or 20 years that softener will serve you. Money is tight and very few have any to burn. You're wise to treat your water because not doing it can get more expensive down the road in plumbing and appliance/fixture repair. If you just can't swing the 2510SXT @ $885 delivered then click here and buy a Clack for not that much less. And all this knowledge cost you what? Invoice to follow.

I don't sell water softeners so I have nothing to gain or lose in this conversation. That said ... the negatives regarding the pre-built softeners are ... Lower quality materials, mostly ABS which ages and becomes brittle. ABS does not do well with really hard water. On 3 gr hardness city water most any softener will give a decent service life BUT harder water than that seperates the pre-built box store softeners from the quality ones. While all ion exchange water softeners use resin and "tanks" there's a big difference in the resin and resin "tanks". Again, the pre-built softeners do not use the top quality resin from companies like Purolite or Ionac and the materials their resin "tanks" are made of are not the same quality as the Structural brand (10 year warranty) resin tanks the top quality softeners come with. Most of the parts are proprietary and available from limited sources and they tend to be expensive. The pre-built softeners are "cabinet" (all-in-one) designs and are much harder to work on. The cabinet design puts the resin tank inside the brine tank. The routine cleaning of the brine tank is more difficult and takes a lot more time than a conventional design softener but the Sears type does take less floor space (the ONLY advantage in it's design). The greatest falsehhood is that pre-built BOX store softeners are less expensive than the industry standard softeners. The Sears softeners around 40000 hardness capacity generally run a little under $500. For $466 you can have a Fleck 5600SE electronic on demand metered softener delivered to your home including shipping. You'll need to assemble it (takes less than 30 minutes) and install it. You can have a plumber assemble it and install it (you'd need a plumber to install the Sears softener also or DIY). You'll get a control valve that has proved it's reliability over 20+ years, is made of state of the art materials (Noryl) which does not turn brittle and is totally inert. You'll get a 5 year warranty on the control valve and ten year warranty on the resin tank. You can buy parts for the Fleck control valve locally (usually) or all over the internet. Complete parts and service/repair manuals are available for download and there is always someone everywhere who can service Fleck control valves as they are the long established industry standard AND they are as easy OR easier to program than the pre-built softeners. They tolerate the hardest water with no problem. Real softeners generally last 20+ years EVEN on ludicrously hard water while the service life on a pre-built softener seems to be under 5 years (if you're lucky) on really hard water and lasting longer than that is a rare exception. Sears, GE, Waterboss, North Star and the like are the most commonly complained about water softeners on this forum and all over the internet. The Fleck, Autotrol, and Clack water softeners just work and work and work and work and work. IMO it's a simple choice. Spend uncounted hours cruising the internet reading up on how to fix your box store softener and having to do it often OR just walk over to the sink and have soft water. If you want to take the time to learn how to overcome the many design problems of the "cheap(?)" softeners and spend much more time on them when they need maintainence and repair that's your choice OR you can just have soft water and EZ minimal maintainence with a quality softener.

To prove that my resin was going bad they had me turn on the kitchen sink, go to the nearest bath, turn that sink on and flush the toilet. The fact that the water pressure went down slightly at the kitchen faucet they said was indicating that our resin had gone bad. That happens at my house. But I don't have a water softener! Never had a softener but would like to have one. Everything that I've read says that the resin should last 10-20 years or longer. And replacing the resin isn't complicated or hugely expensive...replacement resin is less than $150 per cubic foot. Depending on your system, you could need 1, 1.5 or 2 cu. feet of resin. But it is highly unlikely that you need to replace the resin in a system that is less than 3 years old. My son is shopping for a softening system. He just had a company out and was quoted $6K for a softener & install. His water is 11 grains, so pretty hard. 38,000 grain system--small house, 2 people + one dog. Single story, uncomplicated install, all plumbing exposed in the basement. He figures he can DIY for under $1K.

Re: "around here it doesn't seem the treatment folks are doing specific tests to determine these things" - The vendors are not doing specific tests on your water probably because you are on city water; they likely have been dealing with the water from your city for years so it is well-defined to them. Your water is the same as the house next door, the house next door to them, etc. The 1.5 cu ft system is probably a better size system for a 4 person and higher flow rate requirement, it is over-sized for just 2 people. The articles below dis cuss how to size a system and the subject of salt usage and efficiency, http://www.advancedwaterfilters.com/faq-what-size-softener-do-i-need-water-softener-capacity-calculation/ https://www.aquatell.com/pages/understanding-true-water-softener-capacity