Hard Water Leaking

[shanlar]

Ok I am having an issue with hard water getting past my water softener. I have a Clack WS1 with the Clack Bypass. Riser tube is flush with the tank threads, 1.05" tube size, and the seal on the bottom basket appears bonded well. I do have a top basket as well.

At the faucet I have about 15 hardness and from a hose outside I have a hardness of 25 hardness. I decided to verify my water was truly soft by going straight to the source. Over the weekend I drained the resin tank and sampled the water at the bottom. Tested perfectly, 0 hardness. I reseated the riser tube by attaching a garden hose and pumping it full of water while pushing it down.

So it looks like some how hard water is mixing with the soft water. From what I have read here, the possibilities would be either the bypass or the valve itself. The bypass did leak a bit on top where the handle/arrows are, but that leak stopped within a few hours. Does anybody have tips of how to verify which one is leaking the hard water? I do not want to RMA the wrong part, just to turn around and RMA the correct one.

[Akpsdvan]

Have you talked with the company that you bought the unit from?

Another reason for untreated water at the faucet could be low flow and slippage through the resin.

The system could be over sized or under sized..

If it is an o ring or seal in the main body there is every chance that it is not under warranty ... as that is the water taking out the seals or o ring.

Now I might be wrong, but the above are just my thoughts on the matter.

[mialynette2003]

Put the unit in a settle/rapid rinse. Test the drain water. If you have soft water at the drain, the bypass is leaking by. If not, the valve or the sealing point at the distributor tube is at fault.

[shanlar]

Have you talked with the company that you bought the unit from?

Another reason for untreated water at the faucet could be low flow and slippage through the resin.

The system could be over sized or under sized..

If it is an o ring or seal in the main body there is every chance that it is not under warranty ... as that is the water taking out the seals or o ring.

Now I might be wrong, but the above are just my thoughts on the matter.

I bought the parts from out of state and had them shipped to me. If need be I will call a plumber out, but where is the excitement in a DIY project if you call in the pros to finish the job the moment it gets rough!

Can you explain how slippage through the resin works? Since the bottom of the tank had soft water, I would think that means slippage hasn't occurred? Could be my thinking is just wrong on this matter.

My system is a 2.0 cuft. House is 2,900 sq ft with 2 people using ~90 gallons per day each, according to my water bill. Hardness is 25.

[shanlar]

Put the unit in a settle/radid rinse. Test the drain water. If you have soft water at the drain, the bypass is leaking by. If not, the valve or the sealing point at the distributor tube is at fault.

settle/radid rinse, would this be the backwash mode you are referring to? If so, you are saying to go into regen mode, skip all the way to backwash, and then test the drain water for hardness?

[Akpsdvan]

Pressure loss or hardwater slippage usually indicates more frequent backwashes are required, another term that could be used for slippage would be the flow of water through a limited number of passages in a softener letting untreated water into the house.
Is that 180 gallons with or with out the out side hose hook ups?

[LLigetfa]

Is slippage the same as water softener channeling? Could media fouling lead to it?

[mialynette2003]

No. Backwash lifts the resin so hard water will definitly slip through. The settle/rapid rinse goes down through the resin packing it down. The raw water has to pass through the colum of resin which will soften the water. If you have partly hard water at the drain, then you have a leak by in the valve or distributor tube sealing point.

[shanlar]

Pressure loss or hardwater slippage usually indicates more frequent backwashes are required, another term that could be used for slippage would be the flow of water through a limited number of passages in a softener letting untreated water into the house.
Is that 180 gallons with or with out the out side hose hook ups?

If this was happening, wouldn't the water at the bottom of the tank have hardness? When I took the valve off, I used a PE tube all the way down the riser tube and drained the water out like a water bed. This water tested at 0 hardness.

We do not use the hose hook ups outside very much; maybe once a month. Our usage per day is really 95 gallons each, but I subtracted 10 gallons a day off the total for irrigation of my small lawn.

[shanlar]

No. Backwash lifts the resin so hard water will definitly slip through. The settle/rapid rinse goes down through the resin packing it down. The raw water has to pass through the colum of resin which will soften the water. If you have partly hard water at the drain, then you have a leak by in the valve or distributor tube sealing point.

I will attempt this tonight, I am assuming this is the rinse cycle on a Clack valve.

[water solutions]

Is slippage the same as water softener channeling? Could media fouling lead to it?

There are two types of channeling. One that occurs during backwash and one that occurs during service. Very often channeling happening long enough during the backwashing stage can cause channeling during the service stage. Channeling is the opposite of 'pistoning' for backwashing.

And yes, channeling can lead to fouling, but the opposite can also happen. Either way, it should be avoided and corrected.

[shanlar]

I will attempt this tonight, I am assuming this is the rinse cycle on a Clack valve.

Rinse cycle has 0 hardness. I am going to submit to RMA the bypass as it is only a month old and see if that fixes my issue.

Thanks and I appreciate all of the help in this thread!

[mialynette2003]

Please keep me posted. Could be a problem that would save time and money for me.