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vpi144
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Water Softners (Recommendations?)
09/17/02 11:22 AM
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Due to the hardness of our well water we need to get a softener. Are they all pretty much the same or are certain brands/suppliers with a better reputation than others?
Any advice appreciated.
thx
vin
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wombat12
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: vpi144]
09/17/02 02:50 PM
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We had one from Agway,but never liked it Took too much water to regenerate. Haveseen one called The Boss,or something like that at Lowes seems like a good buy
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gator
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: vpi144]
09/17/02 05:09 PM
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I have a BigBoss by Water Boss. Follow THIS LINK to their site.
These softeners are 3 in one (softener, sediment, and iron filter). They make them in different sizes depending on your needs. It can be set for demand regeneration or you can set when you want it to regenerate. The best thing is their size, they are alot smaller then the other brands, but equal, if not more capable then the bigger ones.
I highly recommend them as they are a piece of cake to hook up,come with the hookup hoses and a video.
As mentioned in a previous post, you can get them at Lowes. Hope this helps.
Wally "GATOR"
Edited by gator (09/17/02 05:10 PM)
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rlw
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: vpi144]
09/18/02 06:57 AM
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Definitely get an "on demand" type softener. For these types, you enter your water hardness and the softner only regenerates when it needs to. These are much more efficient than the ones where "you" set the regen cycle.
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WVBill
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: vpi144]
09/18/02 07:44 AM
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We have a Sears water softener. Have had it for 4 years now and it has worked without problem
(knock on wood). We put a dual whole-house sediment filter in front of it to get rid of sediment.
I think that's important for the longevity of the softener - to get rid of sediment before it gets to
the softener.
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PhilNH5
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: vpi144]
09/18/02 04:20 PM
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I had a Culligan water softner. Used to regenerate every 5th day for 50 minutes. At 5 gpm that was 250 gallons of water. I would definitely look at some of the other suggested systems.
I am assuming that since you have a well you also have a septic system. whatever type of softener you get be sure to dump the recharge salt water to something other than your septic field.
250 gallons of brine is not good for the septic.
Phil
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BrianP
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: vpi144]
09/19/02 12:14 PM
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I got & installed a GE (smartwater ?) I bought at home depot. Works real good and was quite inexpensive - about C $900 or US $500. Uses very little salt. I have my brine wash or whaterver you call it go out to a field in the same place as my sump pump. Doesnt seem to harm the vegitation. I can't believe its good for the septic.
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rmonio
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: BrianP]
09/19/02 10:11 PM
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I have always had Culligan Units. The one that we have is an Aqua sensor unit with a the oversized brine tank. I use solar salt and based on usage, fill it with one 80lb bag ever 2 weeks. Our well water is pretty hard but this unit handles it very well. The only thing that I suggest one do if you're using well water is to bleach the well line (and internal pipes) once per year to get rid of the iron bacteria.
-Bob
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BrianP
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: vpi144]
09/20/02 08:53 AM
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You really should have a sediment filter in from of the water softener to stop sludge & crud from building up inside it. Do this even if there isn't an apparent problem because a tiny amount of dirt adds up. Watch out, though because most filters only have a 1/2 hole, even if they have a 3/4 thread, so they'll reduce the water flow. So I used 2 filters in parallel, which is almost as good as a 3/4" pipe which you should use to and from the softener, heater, etc..
Take water hose water off before the filter.
You have to find out the actual hardness of the water. The best way of doing this is via a chemical analysis. In my area you have to have a certified lab test the water for chemical safety (bacterial should be done often). There is a way to convert the calcium and magnesium numbers they give into the actual hardness. Don't trust hardness test kits from Culigan or anybody who sells softeners or salt. As an alternative, before I discovered I already had the data in my analysis I bought a hardness kit for aquarium fish. This turned out to be very accurate but redo the test several times and take the average.
I get by with about a 40 kg (about 100lbs) bag every month, which is pretty good because I have very hard water. I actually buy the 20kg bags beacause they are lighter and I can afford the $0.17 difference in price. We save more than the cost of the salt in laundry soap every week. Hardness kills the effect of soap.
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rmonio
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: BrianP]
09/20/02 11:58 AM
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I agree with your assessment on filters - however, our situation here doesn't warrant that much pre-water management. Between the flushing our softner does and the well flushing that I do, we manage to nail a good majority of the sediment issue. If it were worse then I would put in a filter or filter(s) in a similar fashion.
I still encourage the bleaching of the well. No filter will help address that.
-Bob
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vpi144
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: rmonio]
09/20/02 01:21 PM
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Thanks for the info. 
What procedure and materials do you use for bleaching the well for iron bacteria?
thanks
Vin
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rmonio
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: vpi144]
09/20/02 01:35 PM
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Vin -
We use standard laundry-grade bleach. The process is done at first once a year (commercial dairys and farmers do it sometimes twice per year) if you have an old, non-treated system. I do it ever other year myself.
Here are the steps that I follow:
1. Get 2 5-gallon pails
2. Get 6 gallons of Bleach
3. Put Water softener on by-pass
4. Take cover off of well
5. Fill pails with water
6. Pull wires aside - pour pail of water into well
7. Pour gallon of bleach into well
8. Use empty pail & fill with water
9. Pour into well
10. Repeat steps 7-9 for the other 5 gallons of bleach
11. Pour clean pail on top to clean it up
12. Cover well
13. Turn outside water on until you smell bleach
14. Open each cold water faucet until you smell bleach
15. Flush toilets
16. Let sit for 6-8 hours - some water can be used (not for drinking)
17. Run outside water for 1 hour afterwards
I got this information from the local well management company and it compares favorably to what the local farmers, etc., do with their wells. The first time I did it, the water in the lines/toilets/sinks/etc. was really black. Even with the flushing it still took time to get it all out. In subsequent flushings I left the bleach in longer (more than 8 hours - almost 24) and it wasn't as bad. Now when I do it I don't get much at all - in fact, we now rarely see any bacteria buildup in the water.
If in doubt, talk to you local well management company. They won't charge to do it as this is something you can do yourself - but they will reinforce what I just detailed above. Good luck!
-Bob
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vpi144
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: rmonio]
09/23/02 10:44 AM
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Bob,
Thanks we'll give it a try.
vin
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AndyF
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: vpi144]
09/23/02 05:00 PM
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If your water is really hard, I'd recommend a Kinetico brand softener. The Kinetico is a twin tank all mechanical system which regenerates based on usage. The two tanks ensure that you have always have soft water available.
Most of the cheaper softeners have a timer which controls the regeneration cycle. This works OK if your demand is relatively constant, but if you have spikes in demand, you'll run out of soft water and when you go away for awhile the softener will continue going through regeneration cycles even though no water is being used. Most softeners which use a time clock are set up so that the regen cycles will be slightly more frequent than your average usage. This ensures that you almost always have softened water, but also increases your salt consumption slightly.
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hagadoan
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: AndyF]
03/20/03 08:48 AM
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I put in a GE demand softener I bought over the internet for about $400. It was their top of the line at the time.
Prior to that, I had Culligan come out, and they quoted me over $1200 for a mechanical timer unit. The demand unit was over $2000!
Im very happy with the GE. All I do is feed it salt every couple months, and forget it. It even keeps it's settings (including the clock) through extended power outages.
Andy
Saratoga County, NY
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chrisjbell
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Re: Water Softners (Recommendations?)
[re: vpi144]
03/20/03 02:08 PM
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I have hard well water with lots of iron. There is a sediment filter on the incoming line, which helps. We also have a Hague softener, which is a two tank on-demand unit. I can tell you that the difference between just the sediment filter and the softener is like night and day.
The Hague unit can be filled with a number of different compounds, depending on your needs. We filled ours up with a combination of softening agents and iron removal agents. It works great. One of the nice things about it is that it treats all of the water coming into the house. A lot of softeners only treat the hot water.
It is expensive (don't remember exactly how much), but I figure that the protection it provides to our appliances, pipes, and health is worth it. I've heard that depending on who you buy one through that you can get really suckered on the prices. Don't think I was, but you never know...
But it works really well and the guy that provides the service is top notch. Got lucky there. (He replaced the line from our reverse osmosis system to the refridgerator under warranty at no charge - when it was chewed through by a mouse. Mouse was quickly dispatched, no problems since.)
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