Water Softener Issues (again / still)

[Florida_Jay]

Good afternoon,

a couple of weeks ago i posted a question in regards to a filter system / and a leakage on the filter tank.

I'm not a "Pro" per se - but do a lot of DIY around my home.

The water System drives me crazy i have to say / and the technicians around my area are not interested in helping in my case it looks like.

The System:
10 year old - 2 Tank Water softener System (with salt - like almost everybody has in FL on Well water). One Tank is for the softener, one tank is the carbon filter (at least that's what I believe). Both Tanks have Clack Valves. As far as for the piping / the main Well supply goes into the filter tank - from there into the softener, and from there into the main home supply line into the house.

I noticed, that the filter tank leaked from the backwash / overflow line....where the water normally comes out when it regenerates. I changed the piston of the clack valve on that filter bottle, problem of leaking has been solved.

Main Issue:

I also noticed almost at the same time, that the water in my house started to smell bad - like sulfur. (I know that smell, since i have a sprinkler system hooked up directly to the well / and that smells exactly the same - so nothing a Floridian on well water does not know.

I had that "sporadically once or twice a year / in the past 3-4 Years I own the home, and normally the issue has been solved by regenerating the filter.

Not this time:
The smell is getting worse and worse every day / even regenerating the filter (or softener) is not helping - on both hot and cold water, so i reached out to some professionals in my area.

All they did: Came to my house - took water samples from the well, and after the water system, told me they get back to me, and never heard anything back from them.

Even if I tried to reach back out to them, the only thing i have been told was: I send a message to the dispatch team and we will get back to you....
Another one offered me a complete new whole house reverse osmosis system / for almost $12k - and doesn't even bothered to check the current system (i am a 1 person (working full-time) household...

From my boss, who has a lot of investment homes in the area, I know that those 2 tank filter / softener systems are currently on backorder / probably one issue they have but they could have at least say something ....I would...

So I'm kind of lost now and my best (but uneducated !!) Guess would be, that the filter media (it should be active carbon) is not working properly anymore since the water system is almost 10 years old, and besides the regular Salt refill - that system has never seen any service or cleaning whatsoever.

I was almost at the point, to buy a new Filter Tank (around $150 online) and Media but I'm not sure if that solves my problem. I'm also not sure about the filter media amount and what type of media it should be.

Besides the smell, the water seems to be ok - only like "soft" from the softener...as it should be.

Any advice or someone with a similar issue - he got resolved?


All the best,

Jay o/

 

[Bannerman]

It sounds as though you have not replaced the carbon media in 10-years, and also have not been backwashing the media regularly.

Activated carbon media is fantastic at removing chemicals, odors and off colors, but it has a limited usable lifespan. Depending on the quantity of carbon, it is typically replaced every 5-6 years, and is backwashed at least monthly.

What size is the carbon tank? It is !ikely you will not need to replace the tank, only the media and gravel at the bottom. The tank dimensions will allow the appropriate quantity of media and gravel to be determined.

Carbon is available in 2 main varieties, granular activated carbon (GAC) and Catalytic Carbon. CC is more effective at reducing H2S compared to GAC so CC would be recommended for your sulphur issue.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Florida_Jay]

It sounds as though you have not replaced the carbon media in 10-years, and also have not been backwashing the media regularly.

Activated carbon media is fantastic at removing chemicals, odors and off colors, but it has a limited usable lifespan. Depending on the quantity of carbon, it is typically replaced every 5-6 years, and is backwashed at least monthly.

What size is the carbon tank? It is! likely you will not need to replace the tank, only the media and gravel at the bottom. The tank dimensions will allow the appropriate quantity of media and gravel to be determined.

Carbon is available in 2 main varieties, granular activated carbon (GAC) and Catalytic Carbon. CC is more effective at reducing H2S compared to GAC so CC would be recommended for your Sulphur issue.

Thank you for your Reply,

I did the manual "regeneration" at least every day in the past week. But as i said / its media is probably not good anymore - that was my first guess as well - and the smell was just getting worse and worse. I honestly don't know if there is a setting for the automatic regeneration on the Clack Valve - I can only see the Gallons remaining / and I was thinking, that the valve automatically starts the regeneration cycle one the gallons are depleted...

I measured the filter tank and it is 10" wide and 54" tall.

Thank you again - one light of hope at the end of the tunnel

 

[Bannerman]

A 10" X 54" tank is appropriate for 1.5 ft3 of carbon. The appropriate quantity of bedding gravel will be 15 lbs. When both are installed in the tank, the tank will be approx 2/3 filled to the top. The additional empty space is called FreeBoard which is needed to provide space for the media to expand during Backwash.

Filters are typically configured to backwash on a scheduled number of days as opposed to gallons. I will need to review the Clack WS1 manual to advise on the appropriate setting changes to program as a filter valve to backwash on a set schedule.

The purpose for backwashing is to flush away sediment and other debris that may have entered from the well. Backwashing will also lift, expand and reclassify the media. Water will always follow the path of least resistance and so over time, ongoing flow will tend to follow the same path and will therefore be mainly exposed to only the carbon along that path. This is called channelling. Since backwashing will reclassify or mix the media, any exsisting channels will be eliminated so the flow through the carbon following each backwash will be exposed to lesser utilized media, thereby improving and extending the performance and effectiveness of the media as a whole.

The attached short writeup details the startup proceedure for new carbon media.
https://view.publitas.com/impact-water-products/2018-catalog-final/page/36-37

 

[Florida_Jay]

Good Morning,

@Bannerman:

So i ordered a new Tank - for around $120, the "Top of Tank Seal" for the valve because i know it was bad anyways, the filter media + bed for around $200 last week - and the funnel ....to make things easy.

The total Parts came out for around $300 and arrived on Saturday.

I did the replacement step by step:

- removed the old tank
- removed the valve
- cleaned everything i use again
- filled the new tank with bed and media
- followed the instructions you posted last time

The whole repair took me around 2hrs and the part where i had the most problems was actually to remove the old tank from the spot where it was sitting. tried to drain as much water as possible with a hose..but it was still heavy for me alone XD but i made it somehow.

After the Media had soaked for a few hours - and backwashed until the water out of the backwash drain was clear, it felt it was a good occasion to drain the water heater as well...and did some "fill up" and "drain" cycles to get all the dirt out...

And what can i say, it worked. Problem solved.

Thank you very much Bannerman, i appreciate your Help ! Yay - nice water again

All the best,
Jay