Acid Netralizer backflused my calcite out

I was adding calcite to my acid netralizer. I shut off the water, draing the system and
unscrewed the cap off teh tank, I added 5 Gal of calcite to that tank, turned everything back on.
Within 30 minutes, the tak purged teh calcite to my draingage system backing up my
bathroom (it drains into the same sewer as my downstairs bath). I looked in the tank and all the
calcite I added was gone! It clogged up my drain, what did I do wrong?

Many thanks in advance!

You add pounds or X inches o fcalcite, not gallons.

"the cap", do you mean the control valve? That's what is on most filters, and has to be if the filter is a backwashed type. If so did you tape or block the distributor tube so the calcite didn't go down the distributor tube? If you did, then you couldn't pour it down the DT so you must have broken the DT when you screwed the control valve back on the tank.

By pass the filter before using more water.

kbrady said:

I was adding calcite to my acid netralizer. I shut off the water, draing the system and
unscrewed the cap off teh tank, I added 5 Gal of calcite to that tank, turned everything back on.
Within 30 minutes, the tak purged teh calcite to my draingage system backing up my
bathroom (it drains into the same sewer as my downstairs bath). I looked in the tank and all the
calcite I added was gone! It clogged up my drain, what did I do wrong? Many thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

When you say that the calcite ended up in the drain, was it through the backwash? or through the faucet? backwash would mean that the leavel was to high and that the flow control is missing, through the faucet would mean that the in is on the out and the out is on the in and the flow was reversed or down the dist tube and up though the media way to fast and maybe some air that was still in the media tank forced the media out ..

Re: Acid Neutralizer backflusehd

Yes, you are corrrect, I added a 5 gallon bucket of acid neutralizer. And to the secon response, it
ended up in the drain thru the backwash. I did not over fill the tank, there is a line the plumber who installed it left, , one for full adn one for needs refill. I dod not go over the full line.

kbrady said:

Yes, you are corrrect, I added a 5 gallon bucket of acid neutralizer. And to the secon response, it
ended up in the drain thru the backwash. I did not over fill the tank, there is a line the plumber who installed it left, , one for full adn one for needs refill. I dod not go over the full line.

Click to expand...

Ok, if calcite came out the drain line, then either the flow control is not there, or there was air (lots) in the tank and when the back wash started the air and water mix forced out the calcite.

Was this the first time that you have filled your system? What does the manual tell you to do?

I have an Aqua Pure system that I fill with PH Plus approximately every 4 months. I normally add a couple of 2 bottles ( I think they are around 2 pounds each but I need to check that). I use a tape measure pushed down through the top of the unit to determine the media level in the system. I then bring the still pressurised system up slowly in back flush mode by gradually opening the system bypass valve. I don't loose any media this way.

kbrady said:

Yes, you are corrrect, I added a 5 gallon bucket of acid neutralizer. And to the secon response, it
ended up in the drain thru the backwash. I did not over fill the tank, there is a line the plumber who installed it left, , one for full adn one for needs refill. I dod not go over the full line.

Click to expand...

You probably didn't slowly backwash the bed when you turned on the water to the filter. That trapped air in the tank and then when it went into backwash the air and water pressure filling the void caused the mineral to go up too high in the tank and out through the control valve and the drain line. You should take the control valve apart to clean the mineral out of it before you ruin seals etc..

Thanks, I think you are exactly correct, I did not flush the air out....live and learn. Well I will now go down and clean the valve as you suggest, and try again , this time flushing the air.....many thanks to all, this is a great resource!

Get into backwash before you turn on the water, and run the water at about a 1/4 of full and keep opening the valve watching the drain line for AN mineral, if you see some start going out the drain line, then decrease the flow some and keep at it until you get the mineral to stay in the tank and the valve full open and the water goes clear.

Thanks to All

I followed your instructions and it worked perfectly! I get it right the second time around..thanks

It is good to hear that you got it right, that is a leason that will stay with you as you take care of that unit... filling it when needed and doing that step after the new media is in it..

This is an old thread but I'm having the same problem. This is an amazing site and I'm hoping that someone can help me.

After some neglect, we realized that our backflushing AN had used up all its material (probably a year). The Culligan man came and put two bags of calcite in it. About one week later, our sewer pipe stopped working. Opening it up, it was clogged with white particles that look just like the calcite. I came to this forum and figured that the Culligan man must not have done the backwash and didn't slowly increase the water pressure afterwards, as suggested here.

So, after cleaning out the sewer pipe, I put in another 1/2 bag of neutralizer (the AN was mostly empty, so it must have been the calcite that was backflushed into the sewer pipe). I believe I followed the instructions here. I did a slow backwash, running water at 1/4 full, and watched the drain line for material. I didn't see any. I thought I had fixed it.

Five weeks later, the sewer pipe clogged again. I took it apart and it was the same reason as before. It appears to be the calcite material.

What could be the cause here? The AN is a Culligan, with the Mark 812 tank. That is an old system, but the tank (must have been refurbished) was only installed in 2013 according to Culligan's records.

Would there be some problem with the AN that would be causing this issue? The Culligan man suggested we might want to rebed the AN next summer, but I don't see anything on the internet saying this would cause the loss of material.

After the AN, we have a Culligan Softminder Twin. I don't believe there is a problem with the water softener, but the drainage tubes of the AN connects to the drainage tube of the water softener in a T connection, before entering the sewer line. Is there any chance that the water softener backflush could be drawing media out of the AN, particularly if they are both backflushing at the same time.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions or ideas.

Gonna move this to the softener forum where there will be more trained eyes on this.

I wanted to follow up. I received a suggestion from another member that the flow valve was either not replaced or was too big. Culligan came out and installed a smaller diameter flow valve. They also replaced the timer, as there was an issue with the backflush running too long. And they put in a heavier weight calcite. We're going to see if this fixes the issue. Thank you for your help!

The flow restrictor on the drain is based on water temperature. Colder water is more dense and therefore can backwash media out the top of the tank. Colder water requires smaller flow restrictors.