Will do. A quick in home test showed primarily medium hard water with traces of manganese. However, no details. As for the other stuff:- 1. Plumbing at softener installation is 1". Rest of house/appliances is 3/4". 2. 2 permanent adults; 2 adults visit on and off. 1 child. 3. 2x 3/4 baths (no bathtub); 1x 0.25 bath (a powder room basically). 4. Energy efficient appliances (fridge, dishwasher, washer, tankless water heater). 5. Tankless water heater has a flow rate of 6gpm. I looked up the definition of SFR. Assuming that, I am guessing about 42 gpm? Here is how:- 3x Toilets @ 5.0gpm = 15.00gpm 2x Showers @ 5gpm = 10.00gpm Dishwasher @ 3gpm = 3gpm Washing machine @ 5gpm = 5gpm 3x Faucets @ 3gpm = 9gpm. Total = 42gpm. Does that sound right?

I'd like to follow this, we're going to be looking at whole-house filtration. Our area is VERY high iron, as well as arsenic, and other undesirables. I recently skimmed an article about water evaporating from toilets and showers that may be leaving chemicals in the house-is that a thing?! Geezum. I buried my head in the ground and moved on! We are concerned about sprinklers leaving rust stains on the house and lawn furniture, mineral deposits in the house, and the possibility of chemicals leaching into the house.

Subjecting an RO to water of moderate or higher hardness will dramatically shorten the life of the RO membrane so be prepared for that. In order to help you correctly size a softener and recommend treatment of other aspects of your water we need more detailed info... 1. Well or water system? 2. Results from tests of your raw water by a certified independent lab... hardness, iron, manganese, TDS, pH, arsenic, copper, sodium, potassium at minimum and if on a well also test for nitrates and bacteria. 3. # of people in the home and number of Bathrooms. SFR of the plumbing. 4. Diameter of the plumbing at the softener installation point and you'll need AC power and a drain.

My suburb purchases its water from Chicago. The water is not considered hard and homes on Chicago water typically do not have a water softener. Over the years, the smell and taste of chlorine has gotten much stronger - either I'm getting more sensitive to it or more is being added to the water. I was using an under-the-sink filter with 2 cartridges and the single cartridge units that are placed ahead of the shower head. When I touched up my main bathroom 3 years ago, I decided to scrap all the separate filters and install a whole house filter. I purchased this one from Discount Filter Store: http://www.discountfilterstore.com/two-housing-filter-system-pentek-bbfs-22.html and two cartridges - one for sediment and one a carbon filter. So far, I've been totally happy with it. I did not notice any pressure drop and no more chlorine taste or smell when taking a shower. The cartridges are cylinders, 20" long and 4.5" in diameter. Together, I paid around $90 for the pair, last time I replaced them. When replacing them, you have to wash out the housing with a chlorine bleach solution and then install the new filters. Because of the size of the housing, that's something best done in a basement laundry tub. Then there's new o-rings and food grade silicone lubricant for the o-rings. Definitely not as easy as replacing the under-the-sink versions, but once installed, every faucet, shower and tub are covered. Unfortunately, also every toilet and sill cock (I didn't have the house re-plumbed). However, since my water usage is low, I only change the filters every 2 years - have only done so once; time to do so again is coming up. Since I have a meter, it's easy to know how much water is used vs. the rating of the filter. I had a plumber install the system for me. He put in a full complement of ball valves such that I can bypass the filters and still have water in the house. I also purchased the special wrench that fits into the grooves of the housing making it easier to remove.