We have extremely hard water (150ppm with 2000 TDS) and we have had a softener since we moved in to our brand new home 6 months ago. We have had someone come out and test the softened water because we have had to replace a large portion of our brand new ice machine after 6 months because of a white and redish bildup in the pipes that we could not remove. The man explained that for each particle removed from the hard water it is replaced by sodium. The sodium problem is so bad that we have salt deposits all over our shower, dishwasher, dishes, everywhere you would have a problem with hard water stains. Our ice, once melted in a glass leaves LARGE amounts of visible white solid partlicles in the bottom of a glass, to the point where I refuse to use ice. He told us our only option to completely get rid of the problem is to invest in a whole house RO. We seriously resist spending $10,000 but I can hardly stand all the pointless cleaning. I sometimes question what is the point with the softener.. I mean what is worse calcium or sodium? My question is, Is there any other option to use instead of or in conjunction with our water softener to get rid of all this salt (and some iorn too 5-6ppm)? Thanks
You may be making an incorrect assumption thinking it is sodium without a sodium test to show how much sodium is in both the raw and softened water.
High TDS, sodium, chlorides and sulfates can cause all the problems you've mentioned. The 2000 ppm of TDS is sufficient for all but the 'salty' taste, and it is much more likely to be the cause of the ice cube problem.
High TDS and sodium will prevent a softener from being able to remove all the hardness in the water.
A softener removes the calcium, magnesium, ferrous iron, lead, copper, radium, manganese etc. in the water. That can raise the TDS content because...
Ion exchange softeners add 2 ions of sodium (or potassium if used instead of sodium chloride) for each ion removed.
The rate for added sodium is 7.85 mg/l (or ppm, same measurement) of sodium per grain per gallon (gpg) of ion exchange. Your 150 ppm of hardness is converted to gpg by dividing 150 by 17.1. The iron is converted to gpg by multiplying the ppm by 4 or 5 and calling the result gpg but... 5-6 ppm of iron is too much for 'regular' softeners. I use different resin and a special distributor tube and then tell the customer how to use a resin cleaner periodically.
A 1 gpm RO is a small RO when compared to some I've sold; like those with twin 200 gal/day TFC membranes and a booster pump. ROs producing .5 gpm are commonly sold everyday. Ten thousand is too high even though it was an estimate off the top of his head. AND... if he didn't tell you what I've told you, shame on him and I suggest you find someone else or install your own equipment by buying it online. Or hire a plumber to do it.
Another possible solution is to find a well driller and have the well examined for the possibility of closing off a section that is allowing the high TDS water to enter the well or, drill it deeper after blocking off the bad section or current depth.