Two main question--new softener

Have received new Aquapure CWS100ME which has the Clack valve. 1 cuft. 11gpm.

1. Need help with clack settings: Hardness 6.5-7. city water. Two people. Factor in for washing car/boat occ. and have 3 dogs that don't require a lot of water.

2. I was considering potassium salt since the water from boat washing will get on some of the grass. Since the hardness is low there should not be much sodium in the water after exchange, so does it really matter in my case??

Thanks a bunch. This forum has been very helpful.

The short and simple answer..
Effects of sodium with in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_softening#Effects_of_sodium

Out side of that be ready for this thread to go to the dogs...

which model clack valve do you have

WS-1 CS (which I understand is much easier to program)

I assume the amount of sodium in the water is proportional to the amount of hardness removed....therefore, with relatively modest hardness the amount of sodium released would be quite low.

This link will get you where you want to go

http://www.clackcorp.com/valve/Manuals/V3115_WS1_1.25.pdf

Why would you have to wash the boat with soft water? Usually the hose faucets are kept on the hard water system to reduce the load on the softener. If you have a "metering valve" then the only setting you really need is the amount of hardness, because it will automatically regenerate when the capacity of the softener is reached, regardless of how long it takes to do so.

To get reasonable salt efficiency you should NOT set capacity to the max (30,000) grains and regenerate with 15 lbs of salt. Using typical usage of 60 gal/day/person your daily capacity is 60 x 2 x 7 = 840 grains per day or about 6000 grains per week. It is desirable to regenerate the softener about once per week.

I suggest you set it up with 11,000 grains capacity, salt dose of 3 lbs, days override at 8, and P2.

I second Bobs Motion to set capacity at 11,000 grains and salt dose of 3lbs

606zpx said:

Have received new Aquapure CWS100ME which has the Clack valve. 1 cuft. 11gpm.

1. Need help with clack settings: Hardness 6.5-7. city water. Two people. Factor in for washing car/boat occ. and have 3 dogs that don't require a lot of water.

2. I was considering potassium salt since the water from boat washing will get on some of the grass. Since the hardness is low there should not be much sodium in the water after exchange, so does it really matter in my case??

Thanks a bunch. This forum has been very helpful.

Click to expand...

I don't know where they get the 11 gpm, or is that something you calculated? A 1.0 cuft has a constant SFR of 9 gpm, and if you exceed that flow rate, you'll get some hard water through the resin bed.

I suggest you use 2 * 60 = 120 * 7 = 840 * 8 days = 6720 rounded up to 7K of capacity per regeneration and 7000 / 3333 grains/lb salt efficiency = 2.1 lbs rounded up to 2.5 lbs/regeneration.

Then you must program both parts of the control valve (not in this order); P7, AUTO, Pre, normal + On 0, 7 gpg, day 8, and 2:00AM. If you use potassium chloride (salt substitute) instead of sodium chloride (regular salt) change the 2.5 lbs to 3.0 lbs.

I do not suggest potassium chloride, it usually is 2-3 times the cost of regular salt. You have to use more of it to get the same capacity. It can recrystallize in the salt tank and that reduces the volume of brine and the salt dose lbs used so you don't regenerate all the resin you should have and you'll start getting hard water from the softener. The longer that happens the more hardness gets through the softener. And too much potassium in your diet can be a serious health concern while your 7 gpg of hardness * 7.85 mg/l = 54.95 mg of added sodium per roughly a quart (a liter) of softened water. A slice of white bread usually has 120-160 mg of sodium (per slice). You can check the label of breads and other foods to compare the 55 mg caused by your softener. You get much more in foods and you only get the 55 in your softened water IF you drink a quart of it. So eat one slice of white bread less a day and drink a quart of your water and you cut your sodium intake way down. Looking at the sodium per serving of snack foods and eat some less and you could drink gallons of your water and seriously reduce your sodium intake.

606zpx said:

2. I was considering potassium salt since the water from boat washing will get on some of the grass. Since the hardness is low there should not be much sodium in the water after exchange, so does it really matter in my case??

Click to expand...

I think you were inquiring whether the sodium from the softener was going to hurt the lawn, right? Not whether it had health concerns or comparing it to a slice of Wonder bread? There will be so slightly an amount of sodium in the water (per gallon) and should not be a great concern for an occasional boat or car wash. Of course if you had a business and found yourself using thousands of gallons on a regular basis, then you would probably try find another location to wash boats. Moreover, by then, soaking ground into a muddy pit would cause far more damage. Soaps and detergents can also be a concern more than the sodium from softened water. I would not worry about it under normal, occasional use.

606zpx said:

I was considering potassium salt since the water from boat washing will get on some of the grass. Since the hardness is low there should not be much sodium in the water after exchange, so does it really matter in my case??

Click to expand...

I don't think it matters either, you won't be washing the boat that often as opposed to using the same water in the house.

That means you'd use sodium chloride and why I replied giving you more info about added sodium than was in the wiki article that doesn't cover a whole lot, and I mentioned the sodium content of bread as a comparison. Now as usual I see that someone has an opinion that there was something wrong with that...

well big guy, I'm gonna jump on in here and......wait for it.............agree with you. Not a fan of pot chloride either and If it was me, I'd have bypassed the sillcock and not allowed boat washing water to run through the sofetner. Hey, how much sodium is in like the 9 grain good for you bread?

1. The GPM figure came from Aquapures specifications.

2. I noted that the instructions indicated to remove the salt grid for doses less than 6lbs.

3. big dripper hit my question on the mark....it wasnt the health consequence but the yard effects. I plan to do general watering with pre-softened water, of course. Whenever washing the boat and car will do so with soft. Since the sodium amount is small, will not use potassium.

4. I see that there are two sets of programming recommendations so I have to educate myself

Gary: 7000grains, P7, AUTO, Pre, normal + On 0, 7 gpg, day 8, and 2:00AM. If you use potassium chloride (salt substitute) instead of sodium chloride (regular salt) change the 2.5 lbs to 3.0 lbs.

Bob: I suggest you set it up with 11,000 grains capacity, salt dose of 3 lbs, days override at 8, and P2.



Edit: So now I have read. Why 11000 grains vs 7000 grains? Difference between P7 and P2, advantages/disadvantages of each. What is the factory set program?


BTW: I have bypassed water on all side of the house so I can wash or water on the outside with whatever I need to.

Wally Hays said:

well big guy, I'm gonna jump on in here and......wait for it.............agree with you. Not a fan of pot chloride either and If it was me, I'd have bypassed the sillcock and not allowed boat washing water to run through the sofetner. Hey, how much sodium is in like the 9 grain good for you bread?

Click to expand...

Shorty no sense in waiting... using softened water to wash vehicles, and everything else, is a good thing because they clean up much easier (faster too) and more importantly, they stay cleaner longer than with the use of hard water. So help your custromers out and tell them their need is to have soft water where they wash vehicles at home. And move the vehilce away from the grass or quit getting overspray on the grass or other vegatation because the sodium is not good for plants and can kill them done often enough.

For the sodium content in 9 grain whole wheat bread, or any other bread or food or beverages, may I suggest that you get up, find the loaf of bread and READ THE LABEL.

My label on my Great Value (Walmart) Wheat bread has 150mg of sodium, per slice. I eat few slices, rarely more than 4 a week.

And they say wheat bread is good for you... Ha.

Problem with soft water for washing cars and such is that usually that same sillcock gets used to water the flowere and the lawn. That be a whole lot o water to run through the softener and since most of that use is during the spring and summer months, unless you have a metered head, you really need to re-program a couple times a year which, naturally most folks forget to do and then they call me because they are getting hard water through the faucets.

Wonderful discourse....now, can either of you address the following questions:

Why 11000 grains vs 7000 grains? Difference between P7 and P2, advantages/disadvantages of each. What is the factory set program?

Isnt the Clack CS a metered valve (thus the normal + on 0 setting)?

Salt efficiency.

606zpx said:

Edit: So now I have read. Why 11000 grains vs 7000 grains? Difference between P7 and P2, advantages/disadvantages of each. What is the factory set program?

Click to expand...

11,000 grains is approximately the capacity that results from regeneration with 3 lbs of salt. Using this value, rather than a lower one, allows better salt efficiency if your usage is higher that the 120 gallons per day. P2 has a total backwash of 6 minutes (3 + 3) and is all that is necessary with clean city water. P7 has a total backwash of 10 minutes.

I don't know how your valve was programmed when you received it but it really isn't important if it wasn't programmed specifically for your situation.

Thank you Bob....makes sense now.

For those out there that really want a Clack valve set up but cant buy on line due to the policy change.....I bought my unit at Ferguson Supplies.....made by Cuno/3m under the name Aquapure.

When I called them a couple times asking questions I had folks on the phone within a minute or so.

606zpx said:

1. The GPM figure came from Aquapures specifications.

2. I noted that the instructions indicated to remove the salt grid for doses less than 6lbs.

3. big dripper hit my question on the mark....it wasnt the health consequence but the yard effects.

Click to expand...

I knew that from your original post..

4. I see that there are two sets of programming recommendations so I have to educate myself [/quote]
It is going to very difficult to learn about because the How To isn't published becasue each location or area has varying water quality.

606zpx said:

Gary: 7000grains, P7, AUTO, Pre, normal + On 0, 7 gpg, day 8, and 2:00AM. If you use potassium chloride (salt substitute) instead of sodium chloride (regular salt) change the 2.5 lbs to 3.0 lbs.

Bob: I suggest you set it up with 11,000 grains capacity, salt dose of 3 lbs, days override at 8, and P2.

Edit: So now I have read. Why 11000 grains vs 7000 grains? Difference between P7 and P2, advantages/disadvantages of each. What is the factory set program?

Click to expand...

I say my way gives you the correct K of capacity for your usage at very good salt efficiency while using the correct backwashing and final rinse times for your size softener, which relates to higher satisfaction of the softener and longer resin life for more satisfaction and a lower operational expense with longer service free operation. I've been in the business for like 24 years and I'm not sure that Bob is in the business at all, you'll have to ask him.

I can say that his 3.0 lbs of salt will not regenerate his 11K.

From the factory the default programming for the dealer side of the Clack WS-1 control valve is 24K, 9 lbs, Post, etc and then on the consumer side, 24 gpg IIRC and day 14 and 2:00, which does not 'fit' any size softener.