Mike Swearingen
New Member
Well, I've been DIY plumbing for more than 50 years and had never heard of what happened to me this past weekend...an internal rupture of a water softener media tank that flushed tens of thousands of teeny tiny plastic beads into my home water supply system, plugging up virtually everything that was on when it hit, and thereafter when I was trying to "flush" it out.
The hot water heater was spared (no hot water on) and thus the hot water side was O.K.
However, plugged with various-sized teeny orange, black and white plastic media beads were the: cold side shut-off valves, every sink and tub faucet body, every aerator, both toilet tank water inlet valves, the washing machine tub water mixer, etc., etc. (I haven't checked the new $150 ice maker yet.)
Long story short...I bought my water softener in 1986 and the owner told me that it should last 40-45 years with proper maintenance. He is a friend of mine who owns the water softener company and he replaced the original media tank (leaking) for me Friday (free of charge) with a used one from a doctor's office.
Unbeknownst to him or me, the internal parts of the media tank apparently had been allowed to freeze and burst. As soon as I hooked it up Sat a.m and manually ran a regeneration, it flushed all of that plastic bead media into my cold side water lines.
Yet another interesting plumbing experience in my life that I didn't need. LOL
May you never.
Mike
The hot water heater was spared (no hot water on) and thus the hot water side was O.K.
However, plugged with various-sized teeny orange, black and white plastic media beads were the: cold side shut-off valves, every sink and tub faucet body, every aerator, both toilet tank water inlet valves, the washing machine tub water mixer, etc., etc. (I haven't checked the new $150 ice maker yet.)
Long story short...I bought my water softener in 1986 and the owner told me that it should last 40-45 years with proper maintenance. He is a friend of mine who owns the water softener company and he replaced the original media tank (leaking) for me Friday (free of charge) with a used one from a doctor's office.
Unbeknownst to him or me, the internal parts of the media tank apparently had been allowed to freeze and burst. As soon as I hooked it up Sat a.m and manually ran a regeneration, it flushed all of that plastic bead media into my cold side water lines.
Yet another interesting plumbing experience in my life that I didn't need. LOL
May you never.
Mike
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