Questions about Reverse osmosis

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Primer

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Building a house and new to much of this. We've learned that we may need a water softener. I have memories of helping my father fill our softener with salt as a kid. And of him spending a lot of time getting it to "cycle" and recharge correctly. I can deal with that. My biggest concern is where I would put the darn thing. We really didn't plan sufficient space for a large tank. I don't really want it out in my garage.

I've done some research - much of it here. Thanks for this informative site. I know that the magnetic stuff is probably snake oil - or at least so controversial that I don't want to go that route. I read about reverse osmosis. At times it is discussed as though it is an alternative to a regular softener with a tank. Most often people refer to it in ADDITION to a regular softener. One other concern I have regarding RO is waste water. From what I read the amount of waste water FAR exceeds the amount of usable water with these household systems. I fear that could overwhelm our septic system.

FYI - it is a 4K foot home with 4 baths. Just the wife and I much of the time - but family stay periodically.

Any advice would be appreciated. I'm sure this is not a new problem, but I've not found a good discussion of the alternatives so far. Is there a practical tankless solution?

Thanks

TL
 

LLigetfa

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A whole house RO system would waste a lot of water. That said, why would you pipe the waste water to the septic tank? Mine dumps into the sump pit.

In a former home I buried the softener in my crawlspace, leaving only the top half sticking out.
 

Primer

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Burying sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately we are on a solid foundation and going down isn't an option.

I must confess that I don't know the exact definition of a sump pit - or if our septic system will have one. I'll see if I could divert that water elsewhere but I doubt it. Again, with the solid foundation and everything already plumbed - I suspect there is only one outlet I could dump into and it will all go to the same place.

I do appreciate the ideas - thanks.

TL
 

LLigetfa

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I doubt the builder would have routed the perimeter foundation drain into the septic tank. I least I hope he had the sense not to.
 

Mialynette2003

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Install the softener on the side or behind the house. They do not have to be installed indoors. Bury a 55 gal drum and fill with gravel. Run the discharge into it. Be sure to poke holes all around the drum.
 

Gary Slusser

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You have to protect all types of water treatment from freezing, especially an RO.

RO water can not be run through metal pipes of any kind.

You don't want to use RO to remove hardness, use a regular softener; hardness is not good for an RO membrane. And whole house RO is cost prohibitive and ends up talking up a lot of floor space due to you having to have a large storage tank (hundreds of gallons). Plus the RO would have to be high pressure to service an entire house.

You can't have any iron in the water to an RO.
 

Jimbo

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Install the softener on the side or behind the house. They do not have to be installed indoors. Bury a 55 gal drum and fill with gravel. Run the discharge into it. Be sure to poke holes all around the drum.

Most places have RULES about dumping brine or RO waste into the ground! Not a good idea!
 

Primer

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Based on the responses I'm going to infer that there is NO reasonable tankless solution to softening my water.

Thanks for the ideas. I'll look into these solutions.

Much appreciated.

TL
 
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