Best water softener brand?

2 years ago

We're a family of 5. We've had a Kinetico water softener for 10+ years but we just did a home remodel and need a bigger system. **Must be compatible with 1.5" water pipes** (this is apparently not standard -- our existing unit is compatible with 3/4" pipes so from what I understand if we stick with the unit we have, we'll have issues w water pressure and/or multiple showers running at once).

I started researching and am very confused. Called Kinetico and Culligan and both quoted me in the neighborhood of $5500 (phone call only, no site visit yet). Looking online at Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. there appear to be units from reputable brands (GE, Pentair, etc.) with good reviews that run $700-1500.

I've spent a lot of time researching but am overwhelmed. Just need something for our hair/skin, not looking for anything super sophisticated. Hoping someone might be able to simplify this for me! Thanks in advance!

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Comments (3)

Jake The Wonderdog
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
How many showers do you have running at the same time? Are there some that are multi-head showers?

Indeed, 1.5" water supply is commercial, not residential. what's up with that?

Forget "brand" let's understand the actual need.
merbeamish
Original Author
2 years ago
Hi Jake, thx for your response. 2-3 showers at once potentially. No multi head showers. 1.5” is what the piping is so it needs to fit that I guess. I don’t know much about plumbing. 😬
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Jake The Wonderdog
2 years ago
Hi @merbeamish

"I don’t know much about plumbing." Makes it difficult, because you are posing a technical question and the part about 1.5" plumbing really doesn't make sense.

So here's some basic info to help sort things:
1. Forget about "brand" - that's not at all the issue right now.
2. Typical water supply for a residence is 3/4" or possibly 1" for high use homes
3. If you really do have 1.5" supply, unless you have a mansion with a dozen or so bathrooms, it's being used for outdoor irrigation or fire suppression (sprinkler system - required in California, for example). If it's for irrigation or fire suppression, you don't need to soften that water.
4. Ignore the size of your water service, for a moment, and focus on how much water would be softened at one time (gallons per minute).
5. Three showers at once = 2.5 gpm x 3 = 7.5 gpm. Seven and a half gallons per minute is well within most standard residential systems without excessive pressure drop - but it's good to check the math anyway. By comparison, a 1.5" water supply, just using some general numbers, could supply 81 gallons a minute - far in excess of what a family of 5 would use.
6. There are no residential water softeners with 1.5" connections that I'm aware of or that could process ~81 gpm.
7. Assuming you really need a standard residential water softener, A very good unit is under $1,000 for the unit itself(mine was $600). With install and such you would be perhaps $2,000-3000. Kennetico and Culligan are both very expensive.
8. Water softening is a commodity thing: There isn't any hardware that is going to make the water "more soft" than the other. There is slightly better hardware - but not that justifies 3-10x the cost.
9. Talk to a local supplier or a quality plumber.

Best water softener brand?

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Jake The Wonderdog

merbeamish
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Best water softener brand?

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Jake The Wonderdog

merbeamishOriginal Author

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merbeamish
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