Awesome thread. I would like to replace a rental unit with one I purchase. The 5600Xt recommended above looks great, however, I noticed in browsing amazon there are others that are "bigger", a 64k and an 80k.

Is "bigger" better in this situation?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075XY2SWL/ref=psdc_6810592011_t3_B077BGLP29?th=1

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Is "bigger" better in this situation?

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No, you need to do the math. It's a function of water usage and water hardness, so it is dependent on your situation. I've also been told that 80K and above is often not possible in most residential settups due to drainige requirements.

I have a big family and pretty hard water, and the math says I need an 80K system but will probably have to go for 64K, which mean it will have to recharge a little more frequently than idea....

... and if your wondering, I'm just parroting what I've read, I don't fully understand what I'm saying.

Bluecat_Aggie94 said:

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Quote:

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Is "bigger" better in this situation?

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No, you need to do the math. It's a function of water usage and water hardness, so it is dependent on your situation. I've also been told that 80K and above is often not possible in most residential settups due to drainige requirements.

I have a big family and pretty hard water, and the math says I need an 80K system but will probably have to go for 64K, which mean it will have to recharge a little more frequently than idea....

... and if your wondering, I'm just parroting what I've read, I don't fully understand what I'm saying.

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No that helps. I have a moderately sized family and wanted to limit the time before regeneration. Right now, it regenerates every night at 3AM and seems like it runs for an hour. I like the idea of the digital controller based on actual usage.

I dont know how hard my water is. Need to figure that out as well. Luckily i have a pool and should be able to run that test with my pool equipment on my tap water before and after softener.

One more question for you guys: with the rental water softener that I currently have, I also have a sand filter.

Do any of you have any kind of sand filter or prefilter for the softener?

I couldnt find anything like the sand filter i have on amazon???

I installed an Aquasana Rhino 1000 plus their Simply Soft system a couple of weeks ago.

Had the plumber that ran the pipe in my house when it was built not been a moron, installatin would have been a lot simpler and cleaner. As it was, I had to dig about 40 feet of trench and install two sleeves under a sidewalk. But once I got that part out of the way, installation was pretty straight foward - pre-filter, descaler/softener - Rhino conditioner - post filter and back to the house.

Huge difference in water quality and noticeable reduction in hard water stains already. What I like about this system is that it is completely self contained, the Rhino 1000 conditioner is good for 10 years/1MM gallons and the softener/descaler doesn't require salt or regens or power. No tangible loss in pressure - 62psi coming in, 61.5 psi going out at the moment.

Still have some tweaks to do on supports for the filters (pretty crappy design by Aquasana on that front), but overall very pleased with the system and it fits my needs of not having any power requirements or using a salt based system to soften the water.

I've been mulling over a water softener for a while and decided that I should bite the bullet and pick one to install.

I've been looking at the Fleck 5600 that everyone seems to endorse, but wish it had some of the Newer features as one like the GE below: WiFi flow rate etc to see if anything is leaking or running while away. Just had a friend have a toilet tank break and flood his upper floor.

The GE units also have the resin tank built within the salt container so it's more streamlined.

Thoughts?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-Smart-40-000-Grain-Water-Softener-GXSHC40N/309747831

I have a well with a pressure tank in the garage so that is where I would put the softener. Now my question is this, which side of the pressure tank do I put the softener? I would think having softened water run through the pressure tank would be better but every time my irrigation system kicks on my pressure tank does as well. So does that mean I would then be irrigating with softened water?

No. There should be nothing between your well and tank except pipe and a check valve. Neverind the functional problem of having softened water everywhere. I have softened water to my home and one hose bib for washing cars. All irrigation and animal water get unsoftened.

To best of my knowledge, my system is setup as follows: It comes out of the well head and splits with one leg supplying the irrigation system and the other going to the pressure tank. My question is, if there is a check valve between well and pressure tank, why does the pressure tank kick on when the irrigation system is turned on? In my mind that means that water is being pushed out of the pressure tank and into the irrigation lines.

Edit: I think I have it figured out now, the check valve has to be between the well head and the T. So I would think I should put a check valve after the pressure tank and between the new softener should I add one.

Looking at going with a traditional "salt" softener, but using Potassium Chloride... the bags are 3-5x more expensive but won't kill plants / grass...

I just need to figure out how to drain it outside... (I will build a small enclosure around it to protect it from Sun Damage and make it look "less ugly")

After just having to replace all the guys to our toilets due to hard water, this interests me.

However because of where our water line comes into the house, unless I run a line away from there, I'm very limited on space, and it's right in view when you walk up the driveway.

I've looked into the Aquasana system in the past and need to look at it again. I thought however it just conditions the water but doesn't actually remove the minerals that cause hard water? Need a salt system for that?

I have a Kinetico softener and an under sink RO for 25 years. Absolutely zero maintenance.
Excellent investment cleaning up our well water.
Drinking water is superb.
I bought it from AquaTex in Angelton.
I use salt sold at McCoys.

My water line comes into the house behind the wall to my kitchen sink and the whole house shutoff is right outside there in my side yard. I assume none of these softeners can be placed outside due to possible freezes. My tankless water heater is in my attic, is there an option the put the softener there? I understand that is not ideal. I also assume I could not fill my pool for water my yard with the water? Older home, built in 1982, Sugar Land.

Anyone ever used an "electronic water softener"?

We used one in our previous home and saw marked improvement as far as calcification. We are building a new home (supposedly will be done in 3 weeks) and we already have one purchased. Just curious if we should plumbing a water softener in my shop (where all of the pump controls are or just go with the electronic.

WOW
Galv.stl.pipe??? Really?
Must not be Brazos County or pre-70's built?

Does College Station have soft water?


College Station's water contains 8.07 mg/L Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3), as noted in the table on page 9, and is considered "soft." Water hardness is sometimes expressed in grains per gallon, and College Station's water has less than one grain per gallon hardness.


2020 Drinking Water Quality Report - City of College Station
[url=https://cstx.gov/UserFiles/Servers/Server_12410832/File/Departments/CSU/Water/2020DrinkingWaterQualityReport.pdf][/url]

Although electrical scares me, I will DIY simple outlets, etc. but older now, prefer even simple done by Master.Elec friends.

Plumbing has never been fun and our septic pump replacements took whatever fun & ego-accomplishment memories to a dark place, so ALL of this is now Master.Plumb done in 1/3 the time, x2 the quality and MOST important, someone to call/fix it again if required.
So from THAT viewpoint, my first thoughts turn to someone the the biz that knows what/where/how/etc.

https://bcsculligan.com/water-softeners/

Good luck & always remember
It's the cheapest guy that spends the most.

Well, I never got around to this and now it's come up again...

Going to have to figure out how to get power to the unit and separate my hose bibs from the main loop.