Purchasing new softener + GAC - help sizing and general advice?

[Gary Slusser]

Hi Gary, I prefer to keep the valves the same for both for ease of operation and maintenance. Since i'm looking at a carbon unit that's a 12x48" tank, I can't put a 5600 on it. Therefore, I've selected the 7000 for both GAC and softener.

Thank you for the help!

If I were you (or anyone else) I wouldn't be removing the chlorine on a POE/whole house basis, I'd remove it at the kitchen sink with an undercounter filter and at the shower head with a shower head filter.

Doing it that way saves a bunch of bucks and allows the chlorine to protect your water from bacteria due to contaminated faucet tips etc. which can be fairly common with young kids, or cats that get up on sink counters and/or in tubs.

A true 2.0 cuft tank is a 12" x 52" or you don't get proper (50%) bed expansion during backwash.

[Kent Leigh]

If I were you (or anyone else) I wouldn't be removing the chlorine on a POE/whole house basis, I'd remove it at the kitchen sink with an undercounter filter and at the shower head with a shower head filter.

Doing it that way saves a bunch of bucks and allows the chlorine to protect your water from bacteria due to contaminated faucet tips etc. which can be fairly common with young kids, or cats that get up on sink counters and/or in tubs.

A true 2.0 cuft tank is a 12" x 52" or you don't get proper (50%) bed expansion during backwash.

Hi Gary, I switched to 12 x 52. For some reason many of the online retailers are selling their kits with 12x48 tanks.

On POU, I have 4 shower heads, 4 tubs, ice/refrig and 9 faucets in the house. Protecting my family from 3ppm chlorine across that many POUs...I find that daunting without using a POE system. Any advice?

By the way, I'm working off one test from a guy that came in from a local Rainsoft installer. The city water supplier claims the chlorine levels are at .7ppm (from a 2011 QA report). The test from the local Rainsoft installer tested at 3ppm. My chlorine test strips I use on the pool (free chlorine levels) came up with 0-1 ppm. How can i get an accurate chlorine test? maybe I'm solutioning a problem I don't have!?

Thanks!

[Gary Slusser]

Going from a GAC at 2 cu. ft. to a 3 cu. ft. system is an expensive proposition (extra $2-300 up front costs).

On a side note, I had a local treatment company come out. Two installers came out (not the owner), which I'm very appreciative that they came out the day after Thanksgiving. They quoted me the following system: 2 * 2510, 1 CF carbon + 1 CF Softener, 18X33 brine well @ $2600. The system would set to cycle twice a week at 12 lbs per cycle. When I challenged them on the size of the unit and that I wanted to go with a lower salt efficiency system, they basically told me regen at 6.5 lbs wouldn't regenerate the resin sufficiently. It was such a poor presentation and representation, I didn't bother getting into the math and going over additional specs and price.

Although the 2510 is an excellent choice, it seems that Dittohead and his and other distributors aren't doing a very good job of training dealers and their personnel. Maybe Dittohead should concentrate on educating domestic folks more and quit disrupting this forum and flying around the world so much.

Clack Corp. got around their failure to educate and police their distributors and force them to do the same with their dealers by shutting down internet sales and preventing the use of their name...

[Gary Slusser]

Hi Gary, I switched to 12 x 52. For some reason many of the online retailers are selling their kits with 12x48 tanks.

On POU, I have 4 shower heads, 4 tubs, ice/refrig and 9 faucets in the house. Protecting my family from 3ppm chlorine across that many POUs...I find that daunting without using a POE system. Any advice?

By the way, I'm working off one test from a guy that came in from a local Rainsoft installer. The city water supplier claims the chlorine levels are at .7ppm (from a 2011 QA report). The test from the local Rainsoft installer tested at 3ppm. My chlorine test strips I use on the pool (free chlorine levels) came up with 0-1 ppm. How can i get an accurate chlorine test? maybe I'm solutioning a problem I don't have!?

Thanks!

Dealers sell the smaller tank to save themselves a few bucks on the price and the shipping cost.

Your 'fridge already has a filter or should. You could teach the kids and their Mom (possibly) what faucet to use and not use for drinking water, brushing their teeth isn't a problem. Test strips depend on your ability to see colors correctly and the age of the strip may cause an error in color. Your pool kit is sufficient IMO although you don't get total chlorine. Your family doesn't use all 4 showers now do they, so filter those that are used daily until later.

[Kent Leigh]

I'm looking at the Clack valve and besides the apparent ease of maintenance and rebuild, one feature is fairly attractive: dry salt storage. I would imagine this would cut down on salt use by flushing the soft water through the brine well as part of the regen cycle instead of storing the water in the brine well that Fleck does. Question: does this have a measurable difference in terms of operation or salt usage? Is it worth spending more on the Clack valve (through a local distributor)?

[ditttohead]

Hi Dittohead, just picking up on your last comment regarding service flow rates on the GAC. Today I have assumed a 2 cu ft GAC would meet my needs, but with the chart you provided, that will give me a 6 GPM service flow rate. This should be adequate for normal use, but in the cases where i have a peak flow rate exceeding the 6 GPM, would i expect chlorine bleed? Again, assuming peak flow rates at 12 GPM (more like 7 GPM but sizing for future visitors or changes to the house that would increase our normal peak).

Going from a GAC at 2 cu. ft. to a 3 cu. ft. system is an expensive proposition (extra $2-300 up front costs).



On a side note, I had a local treatment company come out. Two installers came out (not the owner), which I'm very appreciative that they came out the day after Thanksgiving. They quoted me the following system: 2 * 2510, 1 CF carbon + 1 CF Softener, 18X33 brine well @ $2600. The system would set to cycle twice a week at 12 lbs per cycle. When I challenged them on the size of the unit and that I wanted to go with a lower salt efficiency system, they basically told me regen at 6.5 lbs wouldn't regenerate the resin sufficiently. It was such a poor presentation and representation, I didn't bother getting into the math and going over additional specs and price.

In regards to the service flow rate of carbon, the 6 gpm is for certified removal of certain organic chemicals, including thm's, chlorine, certain pesticides, etc. Once you exceed the service flow, the system will remove less of the chemicals the medias are designed to remove. That being said, chlorine is easily removed by GAC and exceeding the service flow will pose no problem. If it did, then a refrigerator filters actual service flow would be approximately .09 GPM, there chlorine removal flow rate is closer to .5 GPM.

Water softener resin has similar service flow rate considerations. Exceeding this flow rate on a rare occassion, guests in the house during the holidays is a good example, will have vitually no negative affect on the life of the resin. Exceeding these flow rates regularly will cause damage to the resin, but this is really only prevalant in commercial applications. The vast majority of residential applications only see a couple hundred gallons per day, a small restaurant can see 20X that.

The 2510 is an excellent valve, but a 1 Cu. Ft. system for a 4 bedroom house... not sure why any reputable company would recommend that. As to fixture counts etc, the actual code compliance (according to UPC) is quite simple, and the plumbing size is dictated by that as well. The actual calculation is determined by flow velocities, something many people have a difficult time grasping. These same people also cant figure out the 7000 valve, a valve that has been a huge seller for Pentair, both residentially and commercially. The 7000 is a very high flowing valve that cost minimally more than the 5600, less thean the 2510SXT, has far fewer parts than any other Feck valve. The simplified drive train has proven to be nearly bullet proof, and it has far less potential of causing any flow loss compared to other controls available. The "difficult" to repair 7000 has been completely debunked by the video that was posted earlier, it is no more difficult than the 2510. It is slighly more difficult than the WS1 and 5600, but since these high end controls only need to be rebuilt every decade or more, I am not sure why this is such a huge deal to certain people.

I would highly recommend removing the Chlorine at the POE as opposed to the POU. Again, strange ideas abound how well water is ok to be dechlorinated, but municipal should not, when much of the municipal water is from wells anyway. Why would it be ok to have dechlorinated water at a well, but not on city water. The idea is control. Occassional sanitization of the plumbing should be done regardless, especially for thos who do not have copper plumbing.

[Gary Slusser]

Since you say much of the city water today is from wells, why does it, city water, have to have chlorine added to it? Could it be due to open air treatment and/or adding surface water to the well water in the non sanitary treatment process? Private residential wells do not have that problem.

You keep going on about velocity.... Velocity is a product of pressure and usually the code calls for a max of 8ft/sec for copper tubing in most cases. No one, including plumbing inspectors, measures it and if it is exceeded occasionally (as in a 5600 on 1" plumbing), it doesn't cause a problem for many years, like decades, and then you would have an erosion caused leak usually at an elbow IF there is some property in the water to cause that erosion to occur. To my knowledge there are no elbows in a softener and we are not dealing with copper control valves, copper distributor tubes or copper distributor tube baskets. And yes, the velocity is reduced slightly for plastic water line/plumbing but none of the same type plastic is used in control valves except some big box brands and I've never heard of any erosion leaks in any of them over my 25 years in water treatment.

[Tom Sawyer]

I have never sold, installed or serviced any water treatment where I was required to have any license other than a driver's license. The same for the well pump work I did.

So what exactly is that telling us other than you worked in states that didn't require a license but most do now. The times they are a changin.

As to the "advice givers" here... you are not a dealer and do not sell to the end user/consumer and IMO you are here to 'police' the only forum I post in.

Ah yes, the only forum left that still ALLOWS you to post in LOL

"Tom" is/was a retired plumber and codes guy and part time high school plumbing teacher that until recently always said he wasn't into softeners much but now says differently. He has been banned here numerous times using numerous names, starting with NHmaster and gets into adult beverages at times (or not) and then gets into nit picking like now. So there aren't many (not counting you two, I count only 3 of us) advice givers here that are here solely due to having the best interest of the DIYers at heart.

You never get it right do you I am most certainly NOT retired for one. I teach full time for two, I am still the CEO of my plumbing company for 3 and I have been selling, installing, servicing and repairing water filtration and water pumps for almost 40 years now. Oh yes and finally, though your ignorance does indeed draw me in the direction of alcoholic beverages, you have not pushed me off the wagon yet. LOL

You neve

[Kent Leigh]

Hi all, I had someone come out again and run some new tests. Chlorine is at .7 ppm (consistent with my own tests using a pool test dip stick), and hardness at 3 gpg. He ran the hardness test twice! I think the guy who originally did it was a crook, considering he also wanted to sell me a $7200 Rainsoft system.

Now i'm a bit confused. I still want to pursue some treatment, to get the softness down below 1 gpg (personal preference), but I don't think i need a 2cu ft system any longer. Even at 1 cu. ft., and with revised usage in house at 50 gallon average per person (200 gallons a day), the system is oversized and I'd likely have to force a recycle every 14 days.

Help?

[ditttohead]

I agree with you Tom, some people just dont get it. The reason that municipalities chlorinate is a legal issue, a residual chlorine level must be maintained up to the residence. That darn pesky code again. After that, it is up to the homeowner to decide how they want to treat their water. And velocity is what it is all about when it comes to pipe size and code, it is the basis for sizing pipes. It determines the correct pipe size for an application. That is why a small resaurant may need a 2" copper feed pipe, when the restaurant next door may only need a 1" pipe. Excessive velocity needs caused by the use of Sloan toilets, solenoid filled dish washers etc all have to be calculated properly otherwise excessive velocity can occur. Noise, whining, pipe clamps falling off due to excessive vibration etc are all common problems when velocities are not addressed. That is why velocities can exceed 8 FPS inside of the softener tank otr water heater dip tubes without causing these problem, being cushioned and surrounded by water limits these issues. Other times, we intentionally design systems in excess of 15 FPS to ensure turbulence inside the piping systems. These systems are engineered for this with long radius elbows, welded seems that are done robotically to minimize imperfections etc. Your understanding of code and velocities is strangley weak for someone who claims to be able to size equipment properly. And you are correct, we do not "measure" velocities, we calculate it. It is really a very simple calculation. It is also one of the most important calculations to consider when sizing equipment. That bein said, if we keep to the recommended flow rates of the equipment as I have posted, we know that we will be within specs. You are also the one who recommends against the Hach 5B test kit and recommend test strips that give you barely adequate estimates on harness. Its not surprising that you consider velocity unimportant.

[Gary Slusser]

I agree with you Tom, some people just dont get it. The reason that municipalities chlorinate is a legal issue, a residual chlorine level must be maintained up to the residence. That darn pesky code again.

LOL a code that water companies must add chlorine... Actually it is a liability issue but not all municipal water systems are chlorinated.

BTW, "Tom" has told so many stories he can't keep them straight but notice there are still some states that no license is required.

.... And velocity is what it is all about when it comes to pipe size and code, it is the basis for sizing pipes. It determines the correct pipe size for an application. That is why a small resaurant may need a 2" copper feed pipe, when the restaurant next door may only need a 1" pipe.

That is why velocities can exceed 8 FPS inside of the softener tank otr water heater dip tubes without causing these problem, being cushioned and surrounded by water limits these issues.

And you are correct, we do not "measure" velocities, we calculate it. It is really a very simple calculation. It is also one of the most important calculations to consider when sizing equipment.

Softeners and filters are sized based on what gpm they have to be capable of treating and they are installed on plumbing that already exists that should have been sized for the proper velocity.

That bein said, if we keep to the recommended flow rates of the equipment as I have posted, we know that we will be within specs.

And if we use a 3/4" control valve the increased velocity through the valve and softener is not a problem, as I said and you are now agreeing with.

I think you should have gotten into water hammer somewhere in all your bluster but, since I say your flow rates are higher than what resin manufacturers suggest and I use slightly lower flow rates than you do (you say a 2.0cuft has 18 gpm and I say 13 gpm and resin guys suggest a 5gpm/cuft for much higher quality water than is required in residential applications, and the plumbing is already sized and installed, meaning the velocity is good to go where the softeners are to be installed, I must be sizing without exceeding acceptable velocity.... ya think? Or do you want continue to make yourself look worse than you are already?

Water line size is determined so as to provide/deliver the amount of water in gpm that will cover the peak demand gpm need of the building and you don't do that with velocity alone.

You first find the gpm needed for the peak demand and then the size of the pipe that will allow the correct gpm at an acceptable velocity for the material of the water line, at whatever pressure the system is run at. Not the other way around as you are claiming.

IOWs, the restaurant with the 2" line has a much higher peak demand gpm than the one with the 1" line and if copper is used, both sizes will deliver the peak demand gpm each building requires, at whatever pressure the systems run at and, keep the velocity under or to not exceed the max velocity of 8ft/sec. while preventing most water hammer.

[ditttohead]

LOL, all my bluster? Wow keep on trolling!

[Tom Sawyer]

I call it pseudo bullshit. Lol