paul8028081
New Member
Apologies for the detail here
When we bought our house (built in early '70s) I had a separate water inspection by a reputable water/pump company completed as we are on a private well. They determined the system needed an iron filter and a new softener (it was original). They spec'ed:
1.5 cubic ft. Birm Iron filter w/Fleck 5600SXT
32000 grain softener
and to complete the install at $4,200. That was very effective in reducing my purchase price but I said no thank you to the install and bought both on my own and installed for a fraction of the cost. Problem is, I didn't do enough research with the softener.
I bought the Lowes/Whirlpool/Sears softener which after further research here seems like it should have self destructed 3 months after installation. Well 4 years later and I think it's getting there. It no longer regenerates on it's own (probably a flow sensor?) and it's on a manual 2-3 day regen.
So my questions are...
1.) Is the fleck 1.5 Birm still a good solution? I believe my water test during the inspection was 7 ppm for iron. PH was 7 I remember. Our water has a LOT of iron in it...but it does not smell foul so no bacteria. Right now it's set to backwash everyday as anything less and you can still sense iron in the water even after the softener takes care of it.
2.) Should I bother replacing the junko brand softener now or wait until the whole thing fries? Online calculator says I need about 10000 grains per day and our hardness is 50 ppm.
I'm a pretty experienced DIY'er and grew up in the trades but there are so many filters, products, pumps, it has my head spinning. Thank you for the advice and insight!
When we bought our house (built in early '70s) I had a separate water inspection by a reputable water/pump company completed as we are on a private well. They determined the system needed an iron filter and a new softener (it was original). They spec'ed:
1.5 cubic ft. Birm Iron filter w/Fleck 5600SXT
32000 grain softener
and to complete the install at $4,200. That was very effective in reducing my purchase price but I said no thank you to the install and bought both on my own and installed for a fraction of the cost. Problem is, I didn't do enough research with the softener.
I bought the Lowes/Whirlpool/Sears softener which after further research here seems like it should have self destructed 3 months after installation. Well 4 years later and I think it's getting there. It no longer regenerates on it's own (probably a flow sensor?) and it's on a manual 2-3 day regen.
So my questions are...
1.) Is the fleck 1.5 Birm still a good solution? I believe my water test during the inspection was 7 ppm for iron. PH was 7 I remember. Our water has a LOT of iron in it...but it does not smell foul so no bacteria. Right now it's set to backwash everyday as anything less and you can still sense iron in the water even after the softener takes care of it.
2.) Should I bother replacing the junko brand softener now or wait until the whole thing fries? Online calculator says I need about 10000 grains per day and our hardness is 50 ppm.
I'm a pretty experienced DIY'er and grew up in the trades but there are so many filters, products, pumps, it has my head spinning. Thank you for the advice and insight!