Bob:
I hope Junkman don't chastise me for this but, here goes:
First off, do what Andy suggests. Get you water tested. Here in Michigan, most counties will test your water for a nominal fee, sometimes for free. You need to know the amount of calcium, lime, sulfur and Iron. If you are in an agricultural area you also need to know the amount of phosphorus and the bacteria level. Then talk to a competent system installer and ask for references and check those references out.
If your water isn't too "hard", that is it don't contain too much dissolved lime and calcium, I'd advise against a softener and if you do decide to get one, LEASE the equipment with a service contract. The resin bed as well as the valving will eventually go south and if you own it, it's your cost.
The problem with "softening" the water is that you exchange one substance for another, like sodium for calcium and lime. When you regenerate the resin bed, the sodium reacts with the green sand (resin) and strips the calcium/lime from it. Even though the unit backwashes itself, a certain amount of sodium remains in the resin bed and goes in your water. The backwash water is as it was said is hard on a concrete septic system as well as your leach field. For that matter, so is the Grey water that comes from you washing machine and the drain from your kitchen sink. Grease is a mortal enemy of the microbial bacterial action in a septic system.
I have lived in a rural setting about all my life, with no city sewers or city water. I was always told by old timers, even though I am getting to be an old timer myself is: Nothing goes in a septic system but human waste. No detergent, no grease, no kitchen waste from your garbage disposal, no tampons, nothing synthetic.
I am going to post something that I presume most folks don't know and that is, you can buy commercial "Septic Tank Rejuvenating" concoctions like Rid-Ex. Actually, the best thing to keep your septic system and leach field working properly is the above guidelines and the introduction of an occasional ROAD KILL. No, I don't mean a deer, I mean a raccoon, squirrel, rabbit or a few birds, preferably ones that have been at the side of the road a while and are good and RIPE. I am sure you have seen the opossum or raccoon on the side of the road, all bloated up with it's legs sticking up in the air, GRAB IT. Use rubber gloves and a plastic bag. Take it home and open the inspection cover and drop it in. I know it sounds disgusting, but, the microorganisms that are busy eating the carcass are the same ones that reduce human waste to a liquid. They are right at home in your tank. Besides, you removed the stinking mess from the roadside.
In the years I have lived on this farm, my wife and I have spent thousands of dollars on equipment that eventually failed and went to the landfill. My present system is a Culligan softener (leased), set on the minimal cycle and salt usage and H2O2 injection/particulate after filter. I like others, discharge the softener backwash to the road in the front of our homestead.
I had a RO unit, but I prefer bottled water for drinking because we have about 12 ppm sulfur dioxide and even though I strip the sulfur from the raw water using H2O2 injection, it still makes my coffee taste bad.
Reverse Osmosis does get the heavy metals as well as phosphorus and microbes out of the water, but an RO will only provide water for drinking as the capacity of even expensive units is not very much. The drawback to an RO unit is that if the membrane isn't cleaned by back flushing regularly, it can become contaminated and the microbes that it will filter out can begin growing on the surface and your RO can become deadly. I had a Kinetco unit which is about 3 times as large as the ones the box stores sell. The input pressure across the membrane was 300 psi and the output was about 7 gallons per day. If you want it, I have it in the basement. Bottled water is more practical for coffee and cool aid.
There are various systems for removing sulfur. Besides Hydrogen Peroxide injection, there are Potassium Permagnate filters and aerators. I would caution against any type of chlorination. Sodium Hypochlorite is a known carcinogenic. Potassium Permagnate is poison so the 2 systems that would be my choice is either aeration or H2O2 injection.
H2o2 injection is used by most commercial water entities in municipal water as it will kill all microorganisms. The added benefit is that it will precipitate sulfur dioxide into a solid that can be filtered from the water.
Hard water can be dealt with by softening, but as I said, LEASE the equipment. It has a very definite working life. Let the lease company absorb it. There is no "pride in ownership". Sooner or later, probably sooner, your unit will malfunction and require rebuilding.
Iron oxide, has to be filtered from the water, either with a centrifugal type filter or cartridge filter and if you have dissolved salt, put in a holding tank.
I can't ( for liability reasons) get into the dynamics of H2o2 injection on a public forum. If you do indeed have sulfur in your water, you need to consult a local water specialist about the necessary equipment to remove it.
If you desire more information about the above, please e-mail me privately.
