For those of you on well water or otherwise having some knowledge of water softeners: I recently got back my water test results from the State Health laboratory, and everything looked great except for hardness. The State rates hardness on a scale of <75 = not hard water; 75-150 = moderately hard water; >150 = hard water; >250 is very hard water. All numbers in mg per liter.
Mine is 427. Off the scale, it’s definitely a softener situation. I have absolutely no knowledge of these things, it’s one of those things that I just didn’t bother to research while working on house design. Anybody have recommendations as to what I should be looking for in a water softener? Best brands or models? Features and operations I should look for? I am not a “rent from Culligan” type of guy – I want to buy it and be responsible for it.
Replies
I just installed a unit that I purchased from Aquascience over the web. http://www.aquascience.net/softeners.htm
It has a Fleck controller and works great. It was an easy install. They also suggested installing a sediment filter inline before the softener. Got that at HD.
John
Just installed for myself a unit I bought from Home Depot, GE 30k grain softener, and the whole house sediment filter as well. Dropped the 10% coupon and saved $50.
There's a gift card rebate deal if you buy the above AND a water heater. Already put a new WH in a couple years ago.
Looking forward to clean dishes/silverware/toilet bowl/tub, etc.
PJ
I have very hard water as well - ~280, and I am on a well. I am leaning towards a Kinetico model ??? unit as it cleansregenerates itself with softened water and not untreated water. The units appear to be more expensive to buy but the research I have done indicates it is a quality unit. They only appear to be sold tohrough a dealer installed.
http://www.kinetico.com/kinetico/en/
I have a boiler system with DHW heat exchangers that will give me lots of grief until I get one installed.
We've had a Kinetico unit for about 5 years now and have been satisfied with it.
Before that we went through two Sears units, each lasting a hair more than ten years. The first Sears unit was quite reliable, but the second one required constant fiddling.
Also have a large paper media sediment filter ahead of the softener.
On city water that's quite hard and contains a fair amount of iron and silt, but otherwise OK.
My advice is to avoid Sears softeners if possible. I had terrible problems with the electronics on mine. The circuit board went out after two years and the $150 replacement lasted 3 months. I'm no expert on softeners by any means, but I would look for an "on demand" softener. This type measures the amount of water used and cycles when a certain amount of water has passed through. The alternative is the type on a timer that automatically cycles at set intervals. The advantage of the timer-type is you can set it to cycle in the middle of the night when nobody is using water. The disadvantage is you will probably waste salt on unneccessary cycles when your water useage is low. It's not the cost of the salt so much as the pain in the neck lugging those bags to the softener. LOL The "on demand" style are often non-electric, handy if you live in an area where the electricity goes out often. Of course that would make it tough for the well pump to work too, wouldn't it?
Conrad
Yeah, the main advantage of the Kinetico is that it's purely demand-driven, with no electronics, timers, etc.Most softeners use a timer and only recycle at night, because during recycling the softener is bypassed and hard water is fed to the house. The Kinetico and a few other brands use two resin tanks, so that one can recycle while the other is "on line". This lets them recycle in a purely demand-driven fashion, vs having to wait until dark, after some demand threshold has been reached.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
I would highly recommend Kinetico.
I have had mine about 10 years, and it has been serviced once or twice. Previously we have had Rainsoft, and Culligan which both required constant maintenance and upkeep.
As has been mentioned, the Kinetico uses soft water for regeneration and brining, as well as running through the meter and turning the valves. Our water here is very hard and full of live iron, so the other softeners get eaten inside out from the hard water they use during regenration, and the valving.
There may be other brands available, that work on the same principle.
With water as hard as yours, i would stay away from the cheapies.