First post from a home owner newbie....I've helped plenty of friends with home projects/builds, so I'm not totally green. I was a mechanic in my former life, now an engineer, and know that there's the right way/wrong way to do things....I want to do it right, which is why I'm posting.
Recently purchased a home that had a kinetico softener in it. It was foreclosed, and the previous tenant took it with them. That said, I need a softener before I start replacing appliances and actually living there because the water is so hard/irony.
I've had Culligan and a local (Wolverine) company out to check the water and throw their pitches, and the Kinetico guy is coming out Tuesday for the same. The problem with them is that they want 3k+ for softeners (Culligan man said 2300, but I don't want to get stuck with Culligan proprietary equipment that they bend me over on when it breaks). Based off the two visits, this is what I have for water specs:
Culligan man: Hardness of 25 gpg, iron of 2 ppm, iron bacteria (smell), no sulfur, no arsenic/ammonia, fairly high dissolved solids at roughly 300 (don't know the units on this).
Wolverine: Hardness of 37 gpg, Iron of 2 ppm, Iron bacteria, no sulfur, no arsenic/ammonia, 412 for dissolved solids.
I'll have a third sample to average against after Tuesday, but the bottom line is that it's very hard water and it's got some iron in it. We had the water tested for arsenic/nitrates/etc before we bought, so it's at least safe to drink (but not until softened IMO).
I've done plenty of research, and from what I've gathered the Fleck 5600 and Clack WS1 seem to be good softeners. The home has CPVC plumbing through out, and I need to verify what size it is (though I believe 3/4"...it may be 1"). As of right now it is myself and the better half, but we'll have children eventually, so I want to size for the future right now. That in mind, I'm thinking I need at least a 42k grain softener.
But, the reason I posted is because I'm not an expert. Any input here would be great...my budget isn't really limited, I just want to do it myself and not pay for the overhead/sales, and learn how it works as I'll be fixing it when it breaks down the road. I'm hoping to stay around 1500 though...
Thanks in advance,
Chris
Recently purchased a home that had a kinetico softener in it. It was foreclosed, and the previous tenant took it with them. That said, I need a softener before I start replacing appliances and actually living there because the water is so hard/irony.
I've had Culligan and a local (Wolverine) company out to check the water and throw their pitches, and the Kinetico guy is coming out Tuesday for the same. The problem with them is that they want 3k+ for softeners (Culligan man said 2300, but I don't want to get stuck with Culligan proprietary equipment that they bend me over on when it breaks). Based off the two visits, this is what I have for water specs:
Culligan man: Hardness of 25 gpg, iron of 2 ppm, iron bacteria (smell), no sulfur, no arsenic/ammonia, fairly high dissolved solids at roughly 300 (don't know the units on this).
Wolverine: Hardness of 37 gpg, Iron of 2 ppm, Iron bacteria, no sulfur, no arsenic/ammonia, 412 for dissolved solids.
I'll have a third sample to average against after Tuesday, but the bottom line is that it's very hard water and it's got some iron in it. We had the water tested for arsenic/nitrates/etc before we bought, so it's at least safe to drink (but not until softened IMO).
I've done plenty of research, and from what I've gathered the Fleck 5600 and Clack WS1 seem to be good softeners. The home has CPVC plumbing through out, and I need to verify what size it is (though I believe 3/4"...it may be 1"). As of right now it is myself and the better half, but we'll have children eventually, so I want to size for the future right now. That in mind, I'm thinking I need at least a 42k grain softener.
But, the reason I posted is because I'm not an expert. Any input here would be great...my budget isn't really limited, I just want to do it myself and not pay for the overhead/sales, and learn how it works as I'll be fixing it when it breaks down the road. I'm hoping to stay around 1500 though...
Thanks in advance,
Chris