Help-About ready to jump off a Bridge!!!

[farmboy101]

My understanding is that the poster asked for advice whether to buy a 1 or 1.5 cubic foot softener--either with the Clack WS1 head. He noted that the price difference was only $61 different from the source he was considering using.

I use 8 gal per minute per cubic foot of resin in sizing so if maximum water flow is greater than 8 gpm I would recommend the 1.5 cubic foot unit. Given the very limited water supply I don't see that it is reasonable to size for more that 12 gpm so I don't see much basis for going larger than 1.5 cubic foot. The final consideration, in my view, is whether 1.5 is too large given overall water use. My view is no given the planned installation of the ensuite facility.

Thing is, if you want to really go deep into the subject, ( Uggggg) technically the plumbing code probably will call for a valve with an SFR large enough to handle the total load on the system. IE. full, flow at all fixtures at once, but the chances of that ever happening are pretty slim. Possible, but slim. Then when he puts in the big shower a sharp inspector would tell the plumber that he had to upsize the piping to handle the load. It makes no sense to install a huge valve when you don't have the piping to carry the load. And yes if the well recovery is only 2gpm there is a limiting factor also. Anyway unless we are just jabbering to hear ourselves jabber we should really be about giving the best advice possible and in that case I'm gonna go with a Clack WS-1 wit da 1" valve.

I would go with 1.5 cubic foot unit.

Cleaning at 2am should help in the cleaning if your house ends water usage for the most part around 10pm... there should be time for the well to recover some water.....

Thanks everybody. I am going with the 1.5 cuft with the clack ws1 cs from Aquatell Canada. They offer free shipping, preloaded tank, Plumbing connectors etc. I will choose the shower heads based on low flow gpm.

The pressure tank Tee is 1" pipe then it is reduced to 3\4 to the softener. Should I run 1" from the Tee to the new softener??

I have less than a tablespoon of sediment in my existing filter cartridge housing in the past year and have no filter in it. Should I get rid of it and all of the bends and elbows it has??

Here are a few pictures of my setup including the UV housing.

Wally, As far as the inspector goes I know her quite well. I feed her every night. Shes my dog. I do not have building inspections up here in the great white frozen north part of Canada, only Electrical and Septic.

[Wally Hays]

Good choice. Understand that I was never recommending that you re-pipe your house, I was trying to explain the difficulties that one can run into when doing that kind of remodel. We run into it often as folks decide to install the "super shower" and think their only expense will be the construction and the cost of the shower and valve. Very often we have to give them the unhappy news that the dream shower they want will not be possible with the pipin and or pressure/volume available to the new bathroom. It can and often does run into considerably more than they expected.

Thanks everybody. I am going with the 1.5 cuft with the clack ws1 cs from Aquatell Canada. They offer free shipping, preloaded tank, Plumbing connectors etc. I will choose the shower heads based on low flow gpm.

Low flow heads will certainly help the situation

The pressure tank Tee is 1" pipe then it is reduced to 3\4 to the softener. Should I run 1" from the Tee to the new softener??

If the run is pretty short, don't bother.

I have less than a tablespoon of sediment in my existing filter cartridge housing in the past year and have no filter in it. Should I get rid of it and all of the bends and elbows it has??

Definitely !

[Bob999]

Sounds good. I agree with Wally's comments.

One other thought on the multiple shower heads that you may want to check out before buying your new fixtures--in most installations a limiting factor is the amount of hot water available. It of course varies depending on the size of the hot water storage tank, the recovery rate of the water heater, the temperature of the incoming water, and the temperature of the shower water.

[farmboy101]

I ordered the softener yesterday from Aquatell Canada. I decided to get the 60,000 grain 2 cuft Clack WS1 CS. I also have a Res Up dispenser coming with it. The total cost delivered to my door is $893 . I could buy 3 of them for less than 1 Kinetico. I paid over $3200 for the one that will be taken out.

I plan on running 1" from the pressure tank to the valve and then reducing to 3\4" from the valve outlet to the Sterilizer. I chose the 1" copper plumbing adapters that are included in the price as is the byass valve. I want to adapt to pex and sharkbite (new to me as Im a solder copper guy) to simplify the hookup. Any tips Wally??

The hot water tank I have is a standard 60 gallon electric one so size might be a factor for the new shower. I did not consider that before you mentioned it bob999, Thanks

[jadnashua]

You can only drain a WH to about 75-80% before the incoming water dilutes the temp so much, the output temperature drops noticably. There are a couple of way to make the existing WH look bigger: run it hotter and put on a tempering valve to keep it safe; drain water heat recovery to preheat the cold, meaning the hot doesn't have to be as hot for the same effect. The later only works on a shower, not a bath, since you aren't dumping that water down the drain while filling the tub.