farmboy101
New Member
I have been lurking here a while trying to learn as much as possible but need some input before I go crazy. I am in British Columbia Canada just above Seattle. This is kinda long so hear me out please.
History:
I had a Kinetico model 30 softener installed in 1997 on a new well & new house I built and wired and it has not worked properly ever.We would still have hard water and brine entering the house (always to me during a shower). I called the dealer who installed it and he came out and replaced the wheel(#5) to make it regenerate more often. That worked for a while but I needed a skid of salt on standby just to keep up with it. The water became very hard and started staining all of the fixtures. Dealer came out and replaced the resin beds and said they were exhausted after 3 years. We had a difference of opinion about who should pay for his labor myself or Kinetico he said me. I said no way I paid $3200 and it should deliver on his assurance of curing my water problems. So to makeup for it he said that I could only get ResUp from him for $75 a gallon . I did not know better so bought it from him for a few years. When I found out I could buy it at a local plumbing store for $17 a gallon I tried to find him to ask him WTF and he had moved or went out of business.
I called Kinetico to ask who could fix the softener now and they said they did not have a dealer in my area but the head needed to be sent to them for repair. I said no way and to send me the parts and I would rebuild it myself. I do not have a bypass plumbed for the softener. They sent me the rubber rings and a #3 wheel because they said thats what should be in there. Put it all together cleaned the brine tank, reset the float level to what they suggested and replaced the res up feeder wick. Still lots of iron taste and staining and brine in the house so I just gave up (2002).
Fast Forward>>>>>>>2010 started having water pressure problems so replaced the switch because the contacts looked pitted and burned. Decided to install a Pumptec and get rid of the manual lever style pressure switch as I had planned from the beginning. My well flows 2 GPM is 125 ft deep in a 4 " casing (water hit at 30 ft the rest is for storage) and would occasionally run out of water if we used it for watering the plants etc. Worked better but not right. Called my pump guy and said I need a new pump. He charges up the pressure tank and all is good now pressure wise. Water is still hard and tastes like iron but better since the pressure tank charged.
Called the new Kinetico dealer to either fix or trashcan the softener as we are putting in a new tile shower and dont want it ruined. I get a water test as he requested. The results show lots of Iron and Manganese. He says the softener cant handle that much iron and manganese and the resin was iron fouled (NFG) and I need a iron prefilter. I agree that is a good idea to prefilter and ask for a quote.
The Model 2060S is a 2 tank ceramic disk iron filter worth $3075.00, Rebed with std mesh hi capacity resin some tax = $4000+. He was also going to install some sort of vacuum switch to keep the 2 from regenerating at the same time. I like this dealer and believe him to be honest and straightforward.
I dont have a problem with the rebed or the labor $500 in total. I am afraid to go with Kinetico equipment and also think its way to expensive plus I cant service it myself without voiding the warranty.
I want to install a Iron filter myself. I am looking at this Iron Ox. http://www.aquatell.com/canada/iron-water-filters/aquatell-best-value-brands/iron-water-filter-whole-home
I emailed them today and they said that it would not work on any well with a flow of less than 6-7 GPM to backwash about 50 gallons in total. I asked if put a 60 gallon or better pressure tank in and the system could supply 6 GPM to the Iron Ox would it work? They said yes it should.
I have 2 bathrooms, 2 adults, no kids, no farm animals, Whirlpool HE washing machine, dont use dishwasher and no other water uses except for softener backwash. Well specs above.
Well Pump is a 5 GPM 1\2 hp, pressure set at 30-50, 3\4" copper to softener and from pump to tank.
I think its a 15 or 20 gallon pressure tank.
Water test results are:
Total Coliforms (DES) <1.0 MPN/100mL
E. coli (DES) <1.0 MPN/100mL
pH 7.6 pH
Total Dissolved Solids 290 mg/L
Fluoride <1.0 mg/L
Chloride 9.3 mg/L
Nitrate (N) <0.1 mg/L
Nitrite (N) <0.1 mg/L
Sulphate 6.9 mg/L
Sulphide 0.054 mg/L
Tannins & Lignins 0.2 mg/L
T-Aluminium <0.005 mg/L
T-Antimony <0.0002 mg/L
T-Arsenic 0.0034 mg/L
T-Barium 0.175 mg/L
T-Beryllium <0.00004 mg/L
T-Boron 0.114 mg/L
T-Bismuth <0.001 mg/L
T-Cadmium <0.00001 mg/L
T-Calcium 33.9 mg/L
T-Chromium <0.0004 mg/L
T-Cobalt 0.00005 mg/L
T-Copper 0.033 mg/L
T-Iron 1.91 mg/L
T-Lead 0.0019 mg/L
T-Lithium 0.001 mg/L
T-Magnesium 13.3 mg/L
T-Manganese 0.371 mg/L
T-Molybdenum 0.0003 mg/L
T-Nickel <0.001 mg/L
T-Phosphorus 0.251 mg/L
T-Potassium 1.1 mg/L
T-Selenium <0.0006 mg/L
T-Silicon 8.33 mg/L
T-Silver <0.00001 mg/L
T-Sodium 48.4 mg/L
T-Strontium 0.252 mg/L
T-Thallium <0.00001 mg/L
T-Tin 0.0004 mg/L
T-Titanium <0.0010 mg/L
T-Uranium <0.0004 mg/L
T-Vanadium 0.0002 mg/L
T-Zinc 0.026 mg/L
Hardness (CaCO3) 140 mg/L
Am I on the right track with the Iron Ox filter and installing a larger tank to ensure enough backwash water or am I guessing up the wrong tree???
So if you made it down to here fire away. Thanks
History:
I had a Kinetico model 30 softener installed in 1997 on a new well & new house I built and wired and it has not worked properly ever.We would still have hard water and brine entering the house (always to me during a shower). I called the dealer who installed it and he came out and replaced the wheel(#5) to make it regenerate more often. That worked for a while but I needed a skid of salt on standby just to keep up with it. The water became very hard and started staining all of the fixtures. Dealer came out and replaced the resin beds and said they were exhausted after 3 years. We had a difference of opinion about who should pay for his labor myself or Kinetico he said me. I said no way I paid $3200 and it should deliver on his assurance of curing my water problems. So to makeup for it he said that I could only get ResUp from him for $75 a gallon . I did not know better so bought it from him for a few years. When I found out I could buy it at a local plumbing store for $17 a gallon I tried to find him to ask him WTF and he had moved or went out of business.
I called Kinetico to ask who could fix the softener now and they said they did not have a dealer in my area but the head needed to be sent to them for repair. I said no way and to send me the parts and I would rebuild it myself. I do not have a bypass plumbed for the softener. They sent me the rubber rings and a #3 wheel because they said thats what should be in there. Put it all together cleaned the brine tank, reset the float level to what they suggested and replaced the res up feeder wick. Still lots of iron taste and staining and brine in the house so I just gave up (2002).
Fast Forward>>>>>>>2010 started having water pressure problems so replaced the switch because the contacts looked pitted and burned. Decided to install a Pumptec and get rid of the manual lever style pressure switch as I had planned from the beginning. My well flows 2 GPM is 125 ft deep in a 4 " casing (water hit at 30 ft the rest is for storage) and would occasionally run out of water if we used it for watering the plants etc. Worked better but not right. Called my pump guy and said I need a new pump. He charges up the pressure tank and all is good now pressure wise. Water is still hard and tastes like iron but better since the pressure tank charged.
Called the new Kinetico dealer to either fix or trashcan the softener as we are putting in a new tile shower and dont want it ruined. I get a water test as he requested. The results show lots of Iron and Manganese. He says the softener cant handle that much iron and manganese and the resin was iron fouled (NFG) and I need a iron prefilter. I agree that is a good idea to prefilter and ask for a quote.
The Model 2060S is a 2 tank ceramic disk iron filter worth $3075.00, Rebed with std mesh hi capacity resin some tax = $4000+. He was also going to install some sort of vacuum switch to keep the 2 from regenerating at the same time. I like this dealer and believe him to be honest and straightforward.
I dont have a problem with the rebed or the labor $500 in total. I am afraid to go with Kinetico equipment and also think its way to expensive plus I cant service it myself without voiding the warranty.
I want to install a Iron filter myself. I am looking at this Iron Ox. http://www.aquatell.com/canada/iron-water-filters/aquatell-best-value-brands/iron-water-filter-whole-home
I emailed them today and they said that it would not work on any well with a flow of less than 6-7 GPM to backwash about 50 gallons in total. I asked if put a 60 gallon or better pressure tank in and the system could supply 6 GPM to the Iron Ox would it work? They said yes it should.
I have 2 bathrooms, 2 adults, no kids, no farm animals, Whirlpool HE washing machine, dont use dishwasher and no other water uses except for softener backwash. Well specs above.
Well Pump is a 5 GPM 1\2 hp, pressure set at 30-50, 3\4" copper to softener and from pump to tank.
I think its a 15 or 20 gallon pressure tank.
Water test results are:
Total Coliforms (DES) <1.0 MPN/100mL
E. coli (DES) <1.0 MPN/100mL
pH 7.6 pH
Total Dissolved Solids 290 mg/L
Fluoride <1.0 mg/L
Chloride 9.3 mg/L
Nitrate (N) <0.1 mg/L
Nitrite (N) <0.1 mg/L
Sulphate 6.9 mg/L
Sulphide 0.054 mg/L
Tannins & Lignins 0.2 mg/L
T-Aluminium <0.005 mg/L
T-Antimony <0.0002 mg/L
T-Arsenic 0.0034 mg/L
T-Barium 0.175 mg/L
T-Beryllium <0.00004 mg/L
T-Boron 0.114 mg/L
T-Bismuth <0.001 mg/L
T-Cadmium <0.00001 mg/L
T-Calcium 33.9 mg/L
T-Chromium <0.0004 mg/L
T-Cobalt 0.00005 mg/L
T-Copper 0.033 mg/L
T-Iron 1.91 mg/L
T-Lead 0.0019 mg/L
T-Lithium 0.001 mg/L
T-Magnesium 13.3 mg/L
T-Manganese 0.371 mg/L
T-Molybdenum 0.0003 mg/L
T-Nickel <0.001 mg/L
T-Phosphorus 0.251 mg/L
T-Potassium 1.1 mg/L
T-Selenium <0.0006 mg/L
T-Silicon 8.33 mg/L
T-Silver <0.00001 mg/L
T-Sodium 48.4 mg/L
T-Strontium 0.252 mg/L
T-Thallium <0.00001 mg/L
T-Tin 0.0004 mg/L
T-Titanium <0.0010 mg/L
T-Uranium <0.0004 mg/L
T-Vanadium 0.0002 mg/L
T-Zinc 0.026 mg/L
Hardness (CaCO3) 140 mg/L
Am I on the right track with the Iron Ox filter and installing a larger tank to ensure enough backwash water or am I guessing up the wrong tree???
So if you made it down to here fire away. Thanks