You are a very insulting little fellow. You wish to engage me yet again in pointless argument over a subject that you clearly do not have enough knowledge about in order to make a cojent argument. As for wanting folks to think I know more than I do my friend, you are the default master of that venue. You are quite mistaken in thinking that you can or will bait me into anymore of this pointlless twaddle, nor will I sink to your level of insulting behavior. You apparently have a problem with the Fleck 7000 series and that's fine. I understand that not everybody is necessarily enamored with certain products. We get it. Your stance on that product is documented and noted as is your rabid desire to save a bag and a half of salt every year. So........enjoy your evening, maybe you can find someone else to harass for a change because we've all heard it all before and frankly.........Could care less what you think.
Ahhhh there ya go getting all emotional again and personal.
You should study what Dittohead said.
He's saying the same thing I am with an exception of the 7000 being the only valve (which is not true)... and that over 17.1 ppm (1 gpg) of hardness is OK with most residential folks.
I can say it isn't OK because I've sold a lot of softeners to DIYers with hardness leakage due to their old softener being undersized for their peak demand flow rate.
I don't know that he has recently spoken to a DIYer that recently bought a softener based on your type advice of a 24K or 32K and has a gpg or more of hardness in his water. He certainly hasn't sold them equipment from what he has said here.
He gets more technical than I do. I don't get very technical because, based on me being online communicating with people online and personally on the phone or through email since Jan 1997, the average person that posts in a forum or the old usenet groups for advice doesn't need or want a lot of techno speak, just a simple explanation they can grasp.
He also doesn't identify who it is he is replying to, he's from overly PC California ya see and wanting to kiss up to most everyone but me I'm thinking but, still, he is saying what I said but in a much more technical way. Trust me, although I don't know if you realize it, he's taking you to school, and it isn't the first time, he just doesn't mention your name. He may mistakenly think he's taking me to school too
So go get all emotional with him now.
As to the 7000, my position is that is is over kill for many residential softeners, and it isn't all that easy for a DIYer to work on his or her self. Did I ever tell ya about the 2 4' 3" spinster twin sisters I sold to down in FL that, with the help of a step ladder, assembled, installed and programmed their softener? They put it outside in the yard along side the house. They sent me pictures and then a follow up a few months later raving about their soft water and the softener and how grateful they were for me telling them I thought they could do it themselves (with my help on the phone if needed). Never heard from them since. That was about 2005 I think.
AKdspvan... (and Dittohead) your figures for the gpm a 3/4" or 1" straight 50' pipe delivers at 30 and 50 pis (or average 40 psi) are a bit lower than a IIRC plumbing.org chart I have somewhere on my computer that I'm not going to go look up.
Now I used to have a gpm meter and gauge rig for testing well pumps, drop pipe and plumbing in real time on site. There was no arguing with it.
There's also no arguing with over the last 25 years larger houses being built up until the real estate market took a dive in 2007 or so. Many of my customers had 2.5 to 4.5 bathrooms (my record is a 6.5 bath, with two master bath showers with body sprays and two full kitchens with 9 people living there) with larger tubs with no mixing valves and up to 6 body sprays in two person showers. And those people, or a family of two, do not want 1 gpg or more hardness left in their softened water.
Most people also told me they used the washing machine most every day at various times and did 2 loads or more at a time every other day or so, the dishwasher, the large shower and a shower for the kids most every morning at the same time. And that 'she' liked to take a bubble bath in their HUGE jetted tub while doing a load of laundry on a Sunday afternoon while he was ignoring her while watching NASCAR, football or golf etc. etc..
Dittohead, BTW, you are right about the 8ft/sec but most home owners have never heard of it. MY guess is that plumbers don't pay much attention to it. Especially in remodeling an older smaller house when adding a dreamy new master bath.
And I always used a constant SFR of a couple gallons/minute less than you've mentioned. I used Cybron Chemical's C-246 for many years and then Purolite C-100, and at times SST-60.