Water conditioning and treatment

[RobertN]

We originally had Rainsoft. Their prices were ok, service was good. Had to have extra water tests; our hard water overwhelmed the little kit the salesman used. It was easy to tell it was over his head...

My only experience was with Rainsoft - They did fako tests and high pressure sales. I eventually had to demand that the salesman leave.

 

[AchingBack]

Sounds like my water.

Our house was 7 years old when we got it; all the sinks, toilets, dishwasher, were iron stained. The people living here used bottled water for drinking.

Immediately after moving in, we got a Rainsoft unit. Pre/sediment filter, then commercial grade softener because the water is so hard. In the kitchen, we also have a reverse osmosis filter. It worked for about 15 years, with a couple minor issues. The RO is still working fine(with regular filter maintenance ect).

When the Rainsoft softener went out, we changed to Kinetico. I like this unit better. It is two tank; when one tank is flushing, we have good soft water on the second tank. It is mechanical, and based on water use, not just a timer.

I like this unit better. It uses less salt, on demand as compared to timed; timed regenerates whether you need it or not. And, the neighbor has had a Kinetico for 28 years. With no issues, same hard iron water.

First thing I would do, is have your water tested to see just how hard it is... That will help you with figuring how many grains of softening you need. We, needed a lot.....

I have the same setup. The Kinetico is a very care free softener, and if you are using softened water, you will have to have a reverse osmosis system for drinking water, or else you will have to distill your water. I don't care for the softened water without further treatment.

 

[stl]

I met with the kinetico salesperson today, and the softener along with an RO unit was $3800 installed. Yikes, getting more and more expensive.

Good price, bad price?

 

[AchingBack]

I just dug out my paper work for the Kenetico model 60 I purchased in 2001. Total price, including installation, with one prefilter, and one bypass valve, $1483.

As for my RO system, I love it, and it was only $299.00 plus shipping. It is manufactured by APEC water systems, made in America. Installation was quite easy. Available from Reverse Osmosis Systems - Drinking Water Filter Systems and Water Purification Solutions | APEC Water Systems

 

[joe48]

You need to have your water tested to know how many grains of hardness you have, and if there is anything else you have to treat for. That, will give you the information to figure how many grains of softening you need. With my bad water, we needed a LOT more than what a Kenmore or HD unit could provide.

You won't know what you need, till you know what you're dealing with. Sometimes you can get your water tested at the county offices, for a fee.

As a Certified Water Technologist and over 22 years experience in industrial water treatment, the best place to look is the Association of Water Technologists website and find a member in your area that will test your water and make a recommendation for a softener and filtration. They may or may not charge for the service and their company may or maynot sell softener and filter systems. next best is the county extension service or county health dept. and ask for testing and advice and recommendations of an indepent lab.
Depending on test results you may only need a simple softener, if you use a lot of water and the water is very hard also, you may exceed the "grain capacity" of a single tank timer controlled unit, and need to go to the twin tank water meter control unit. If your TDS "total dissolved solids" are more than 500 ppm you almost have to put a 20 to 50 micron filter before the softener to prevent solids or sediment from clogging the resin bed in the softener and reducing its capacity. If you have sulfur or iron taste you may need a chacoal after filter.
If you have a high enough iron content ie;"the iron is staining things", then you will need to use a salt with an iron cleaner in it or a separate iron cleaner additve. Other wise the iron will attach to the resin and prevent the ion exchange from taking place, the normal regeneration process will not remove the iron once it's attched.
Sears and Graingers both have good tech help and explanations of softener systems in their catalogs ,on line and on the phone, how to test, how to calculate and size a softener, along with filter systems. Again I still recommend a professional be consulted.
Good luck, if you need more help PM me. Joe

 

[joe48]

PS;
Also talk to local people and see who they recommend, check with local plumbers and well installers, they may be pretty knowledgeable of local conditions and be reasonably priced.
But always get more than one source/price.
Joe

 

[grsthegreat]

As a Certified Water Technologist and over 22 years experience in industrial water treatment, the best place to look is the Association of Water Technologists website and find a member in your area that will test your water and make a recommendation for a softener and filtration. They may or may not charge for the service and their company may or maynot sell softener and filter systems. next best is the county extension service or county health dept. and ask for testing and advice and recommendations of an indepent lab.
Depending on test results you may only need a simple softener, if you use a lot of water and the water is very hard also, you may exceed the "grain capacity" of a single tank timer controlled unit, and need to go to the twin tank water meter control unit. If your TDS "total dissolved solids" are more than 500 ppm you almost have to put a 20 to 50 micron filter before the softener to prevent solids or sediment from clogging the resin bed in the softener and reducing its capacity. If you have sulfur or iron taste you may need a chacoal after filter.
If you have a high enough iron content ie;"the iron is staining things", then you will need to use a salt with an iron cleaner in it or a separate iron cleaner additve. Other wise the iron will attach to the resin and prevent the ion exchange from taking place, the normal regeneration process will not remove the iron once it's attched.
Sears and Graingers both have good tech help and explanations of softener systems in their catalogs ,on line and on the phone, how to test, how to calculate and size a softener, along with filter systems. Again I still recommend a professional be consulted.
Good luck, if you need more help PM me. Joe

Sounds like great advice. All i know about this is a house i worked on last year. The owners put in some kind of high end ion exchange gizmo with ultraviolet prefilters...the whole shebang. cost him 1000's.

The water still came out brown and smelly. Id advise low tech tanks and salt, with a bypass for landscape plants (they hate the salt) and an RO system for icemaker and drinking.

 

[stl]

So oddly, our water is NOT high in iron. Yellow staining in toilets is actually thick mineral deposits that do come off with scrubbing.
We had the water tested, and it was 36 gpg of hardness. They told me that was high. The kinetico was installed and there is a noticable difference.