water softener & home water filtration
Last Post 24 Jun 2014 01:31 AM by slenzen. 11 Replies.
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slenzenUser is Offline
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07 Jun 2014 11:24 AM
How do you make heads or tails out of water softener systems and home water filters? I'm in MN and we have high mineral content. i got bids from local plumber on more generic equipment, culligan system and up to kinetico that costs 3k +. Is there much of a difference in real performance/longevity/total cost of ownership? Even the local plumber was talking 1,000 bucks for a 30,000 grain when they are i think 3-500 to buy retail. whole home filter? or just stick w/ undersink/fridge filtered for drinking/cooking? any advice here?
jonrUser is Offline
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07 Jun 2014 01:37 PM
I would avoid proprietary systems and get a generic system with a Autotrol, Clack, or Fleck valve. Soft water is better for use in the washer, dishwasher and even the shower.
ChrisJUser is Offline
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08 Jun 2014 09:03 AM
I got my iron filter from budget water.com, they have softeners also.

Chris
slenzenUser is Offline
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12 Jun 2014 10:10 PM
thanks for the input!
ba_icfUser is Offline
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13 Jun 2014 08:05 PM
Is it okay to drain the back wash into the sewer system?
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16 Jun 2014 03:45 PM
jonr is right as usual.

You pay to have the softener sized and installed correctly. We have hard water and iron here in Minnesota and a properly sized ion exchanges system will take care of both in many areas. Don't pay extra for big names with expensive parts and service.

You may discharge salts to a public sewer but avoid private septic systems.
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ba_icfUser is Offline
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16 Jun 2014 04:10 PM
Posted By BadgerBoilerMN on 16 Jun 2014 03:45 PM
jonr is right as usual.

You pay to have the softener sized and installed correctly. We have hard water and iron here in Minnesota and a properly sized ion exchanges system will take care of both in many areas. Don't pay extra for big names with expensive parts and service.

You may discharge salts to a public sewer but avoid private septic systems.

thanks for the info
strategeryUser is Offline
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20 Jun 2014 02:34 AM
I bought a generic water softener from a local guy back in 2010 and I love mine. I paid 1/3 of what I would have paid to buy from the big box store. A friend of mine who lives a mile away from me bought one from one of the major box stores and I was blown away by how much more she paid.

Performance-wise, my generic system hasn't skipped a beat. Another cool thing about my set up is that I had a cubic foot of carbon in the softener to help remove chlorine and other unwanted things. It's worked well. I have a reverse osmosis filtration system for drinking but I really don't think I NEED it.
jonrUser is Offline
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20 Jun 2014 01:31 PM
I also use a carbon filter - for shower water. Do a search on "shower chlorine". And I drink RO water based on the fact that around here they only test for 8 chemicals in water (out of thousands that could exist).

I might be way overcautious (or crazy), but I think there is enough data to make it worth the minimal effort to avoid these things.
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20 Jun 2014 04:07 PM
And essential mineral commonly found in most hard drinking water. You think if they don't test for it, it may not reach a level of risk worth the effort?
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22 Jun 2014 02:53 PM
If you are pulling your water out of a well, you really should have it properly tested so you at least know what you are dealing with. Without knowing what you are dealing with, you could make things worse. There can also be some naturally occurring elements in well water that even the best RO system won’t remove, like arsenic. You either need to use a granular ferric adsorption system or an anion exchange system followed by a RO system to reduce arsenic levels to acceptable levels (and the EPA keeps reducing the arsenic level that is considered acceptable as they study the fatality data). We had a neighbor die from multiple different types of cancer from long-term exposure to what was once considered a very low level of arsenic in his well water. If you don’t have good local water test companies, you can certainly send a sample to a good company and have a top 20 or 40 element analysis done for a couple hundred dollars. Chemical pollution is also a problem in some areas and sorting that out can get quite expensive. You certainly don't need to purchase the most expensive name brand system, but you do need to purchase the right system(s) to properly deal with the specific issues of your well water.
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slenzenUser is Offline
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24 Jun 2014 01:31 AM
its city water in my case. my local plumber quoted what i thought was high for 30,000 grain softener. I doubt install should be that much. His price(did include install) but more than twice big box store
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