Well water question

[jk-riley]

I live in southern PA with a 2.5 bath house on well water. I just went though the house replacing all the brass connectors that was connected to PEX tubing because they were leaking.
The well is only about 40 feet dep with a jet pump. We had the water tested and the ph level is 6.1 with a hardness of 10.
According to the local plumbing supply company they recommend that I get a filter system, followed by an upflow ph neutralizer then a water softner.
My questions are:
1) If the well was dug deeper with a submusable pump would that change the ph and hardness levels?
2) Any suggestions for a filter system, ph neutralizer and softer (is salt or non-salt better)?
3) To save space in the basement I was thinking of putting the filter system, ph neutralizer and softer in the well pit with the tank. Any comments?

Thanks

[Tom Sawyer]

I doubt that going deeper will make much difference in the PH or the hardness. The bronze fittings issue with your pex is a known issue called dezincification and is as much a result of your PH conditions as it is the fittings themselves which have for all intents and purposed been re-called by those companies that made them. The condition is exaserbated by PH and high flow rates which cause a rapid dezincification of the fitting ( it strips the zinc from the bronze alloy ) So, either way you probably want to Do the AN thing and a softener.

[Gary Slusser]

I live in southern PA with a 2.5 bath house on well water. I just went though the house replacing all the brass connectors that was connected to PEX tubing because they were leaking.
The well is only about 40 feet dep with a jet pump. We had the water tested and the ph level is 6.1 with a hardness of 10.
According to the local plumbing supply company they recommend that I get a filter system, followed by an upflow ph neutralizer then a water softner.
My questions are:
1) If the well was dug deeper with a submusable pump would that change the ph and hardness levels?
2) Any suggestions for a filter system, ph neutralizer and softer (is salt or non-salt better)?
3) To save space in the basement I was thinking of putting the filter system, ph neutralizer and softer in the well pit with the tank. Any comments?

Thanks

Drilling the well deeper probably will not help anything.

I would not use an upflow AN filter or it's disposable cartridge filter prefilter. I would go a properly sized backwashed AN filter with a 12 day Fleck 2510 control valve and then a correctly sized softener with the metered version of the 2510. Both bought online and installed yourself.

I have put equipment in a pit and do not suggest it. A filter and softener can be fitted in a 3' x 3' space if you use an 11"x11" or 15" x 17" salt tank set in front of the resin tank.

[ditttohead]

As Tom said, the brass pex fittings from several manufacturers have many lawsuits, recalls, etc. going on. This has been a major issue for many years.

The 2510SXT AN and softener combo would be ideal, or a 7000SXT. Both valves are excellent and will last a very long time.

Salt free conditioning that will actually work, guaranteed, is limited to traditional softeners for now. There are alternatives, but there effectiveness is hit and miss. TAC type medias occassionally work with great results, many times, they are completely inneffective. I only recommend them where tradtional softeners are not allowed by local codes. Pentair will be releasing a salt free technology by the end of the year that is working perfectly so far, but it will be fairly expensive and it will only be sold through dealers due to the annual service requirements.

[jk-riley]

Thanks for the informtion and suggestions. Being that I am a DIY kind of person, and after reading many thread on this site to gain knowledge of what I should be looking for I came up with this.

Fleck 12" X 48" 3 Cu. ft. pH Neutralizer with Fleck 7000SXT Digital Control Valve (1" connector)
Fleck 64,000 Grain Capacity Water Softener with 5600 Econominder Control Valve, 12" X 48" Tank (1" connector)
Pentek 10" Big Blue Filter Housing with 3/4" Inlet/Outlet Package

Any suggestions or comments would be appreaciated?
Thanks

[Tom Sawyer]

that will service your needs well

[ditttohead]

Excellent choice but I would recommend matchnig the valves. The 7000SXT filter and softener are identical except for the piston and some minor internal parts. The boards are flashed differently from the factory, but both are programmable for either application. The 7000SXT softener may cost you a few dollars more, but either way you go, you have made an excellent choice.

[Gary Slusser]

Thanks for the informtion and suggestions. Being that I am a DIY kind of person, and after reading many thread on this site to gain knowledge of what I should be looking for I came up with this.

Fleck 12" X 48" 3 Cu. ft. pH Neutralizer with Fleck 7000SXT Digital Control Valve (1" connector)
Fleck 64,000 Grain Capacity Water Softener with 5600 Econominder Control Valve, 12" X 48" Tank (1" connector)
Pentek 10" Big Blue Filter Housing with 3/4" Inlet/Outlet Package

Any suggestions or comments would be appreaciated?
Thanks

I guess the pros here missed it but...

A 3.0 cuft filter requires a larger than 12" x 48" tank.

And no jet pump, especially a shallow well type as I suspect you have, can properly backwash that size heavy mineral filter like an AN filter. For your pH and 2.5 bathrooms, without any large tubs or body spray type showers, you only need a 1.0 or 1.5 cuft AN filter. And unless you have a larger than normal jet pump, and with a 40' deep well I doubt you do, you will have trouble successfully backwashing a 1.5 cuft.

And you should run 1" pipe from the pressure tank to the filter if at all possible and run the pump at 40/60 with the pressure tank air pressure set at 39 psi with no water in the tank.

I say the 7000 is overkill for your needs and the 5600 would be a very good choice for the softener because it is much simpler for a DIYer to work on than a 2510 or 7000.

[jk-riley]

Here are the exact numbers of my system and test.

Well - 40' to 50' deep
Goulds double nose Jet Pump - 3/4hp #J05853L
4 people
3 & 1/2 baths (1 bath with a deep soak tub)

Test results #1
Hardness - 10
Iron - 0
pH - 6.0

Test results #2
Hardness - 51.3 mg/l
Alkalinity - 19.0 mg/l
Calcium - 13.2 mg/l
Magnesium - 4.46 mg/l
pH - 6.01 s.u.


Based on information above will the following system work:
Pentek 10" Big Blue Filter Housing with .5 Micron Sediment filter (1" FPT Inlet/Outlet)
Fleck 10" X 54" 2 Cu. ft. pH Neutralizer with Fleck 5600 SXT Digital Control Valve (1" FPT Inlet/Outlet)
Fleck 48,000 Grain Capacity Water Softener with 5600 SXT Control Valve, 10" X 54" Tank(1" FPT Inlet/Outlet)

Thanks for any responses.

[Gary Slusser]

Here are the exact numbers of my system and test.

Well - 40' to 50' deep
Goulds double nose Jet Pump - 3/4hp #J05853L
4 people
3 & 1/2 baths (1 bath with a deep soak tub)

Test results #1
Hardness - 10
Iron - 0
pH - 6.0

Test results #2
Hardness - 51.3 mg/l
Alkalinity - 19.0 mg/l
Calcium - 13.2 mg/l
Magnesium - 4.46 mg/l
pH - 6.01 s.u.


Based on information above will the following system work:
Pentek 10" Big Blue Filter Housing with .5 Micron Sediment filter (1" FPT Inlet/Outlet)
Fleck 10" X 54" 2 Cu. ft. pH Neutralizer with Fleck 5600 SXT Digital Control Valve (1" FPT Inlet/Outlet)
Fleck 48,000 Grain Capacity Water Softener with 5600 SXT Control Valve, 10" X 54" Tank(1" FPT Inlet/Outlet)

Thanks for any responses.

You have a 2 line/deep well jet pump. It should be capable of backwashing up to a 1.5 cuft AN filter but I wouldn't go larger than that.

A 2.0 cuft filter or softener requires a 12" x 52" tank, not a 10" x 54" which is used for a 1.5 cuft filter or softener.

You do not need the disposable cartridge filter and if I were the dealer I wouldn't sell you one because .5 mic is way too much filtering when we can't see particles less than about 50-45 microns in size and your AN filter will filter to about 20 mic.

I would not use a 5600 for the AN filter, a 2510 is a much better choice. Without me doing the math, you can do it by going to the link in my signature, I think you'd get better salt efficiency with a 2.0 cuft softener (with the 5600) and that also gets you a higher constant SFR.