FLSkater
New Member
Hello, thanks for this great forum - I am learning a lot here!
We are replacing the Culligan Gold series water softener and R/O systems that the sellers so kindly left us. The R/O never seemed to work at all (water tastes horrible, even though it was supposedly serviced right before we closed) and the softener was working initially (I could feel the "softness" in the shower) and now it's not - no more soft "feel" plus water spots everywhere, might be a leak in the salt tank as there is dried up, crusted salt all over the garage floor underneath the salt and resin tanks. Don't feel like dealing with Culligan, plus it was installed in 2005 or 2006, and my husband would rather get something new installed rather than repair our existing ones. Although my neighbors don't seem to have softeners, I have seen what the calcium does to the fixtures, as I have replaced a shower handle here and have seen the white, crusted deposits on the parts.
After doing a lot of research, and having estimates from different companies, I'm almost ready to make a decision, but thought I'd get some insight here first.
Our info - just me and husband. 3200 sq ft house with 4 bathrooms (1 has jacuzzi tub), dishwasher, washing machine. Occasional overnight visitors, but I can see maybe just once a year or so where there would be two people showering at the same time.
I found out that our city water comes from 3 different sources. Hardness is usually 17-18, but if one of the sources is used, it can be a range of 4.9-16. When I had the water tested it came back as 20, but two others tested it inside the house as 17.
Other stats-
Iron- none
Manganese- none
Chlorine residual -1.7 ppm
Chloride - main source 85, other sources 90 or 12 ppm
Sodium - 86 (or 80 or 24)
pH = 7.9
TDS = 412
Diameter of plumbing at softener location - 1"
At this point I am debating between:
Fleck 7000 w/1.5cu ft tank, 10% crosslinked resin
PureGen ProQ r/o with 1 set extra filters
$1950 includes installation, tax. Also includes extra 5 year warranty on Fleck valve. (I might be able to get the rep to lower the price in lieu of this extended warranty)
Fleck 5800 w/1.5cu ft tank, 10% crosslinked resin)
PureGen ProQ r/o with 1 set extra filters
$1700 includes installation, tax
Other quotes I received:
Fleck 7000 w/2.0 cu ft tank, 8% crosslinked resin
PureT easytwist E3RO550-RETRO r/o
$1565 includes installation, tax
(Only in business 7 months & didn't know what warranty was on Fleck valve, plus did not even bother to test the water, so I don't entirely trust his knowledge.)
Fleck 5800 w/2.0 cu ft vortech tank, "high grade resin"
Watts W525-PWS r/o
$1996 includes installation, tax
(I've learned that vortech tanks are a great moneymaker for these guys, since it costs less to ship without the gravel- so I'm not entirely trusting this guy)
I guess my biggest questions are,
is there a huge difference in Fleck valves?
1.5 or 2.0 cu ft tank?
Is there a huge difference in water softeners that were recommended? I know we want one that has user-replaceable filters, and these all seem to fit the bill.
Any advice for us?
Thanks in advance!
We are replacing the Culligan Gold series water softener and R/O systems that the sellers so kindly left us. The R/O never seemed to work at all (water tastes horrible, even though it was supposedly serviced right before we closed) and the softener was working initially (I could feel the "softness" in the shower) and now it's not - no more soft "feel" plus water spots everywhere, might be a leak in the salt tank as there is dried up, crusted salt all over the garage floor underneath the salt and resin tanks. Don't feel like dealing with Culligan, plus it was installed in 2005 or 2006, and my husband would rather get something new installed rather than repair our existing ones. Although my neighbors don't seem to have softeners, I have seen what the calcium does to the fixtures, as I have replaced a shower handle here and have seen the white, crusted deposits on the parts.
After doing a lot of research, and having estimates from different companies, I'm almost ready to make a decision, but thought I'd get some insight here first.
Our info - just me and husband. 3200 sq ft house with 4 bathrooms (1 has jacuzzi tub), dishwasher, washing machine. Occasional overnight visitors, but I can see maybe just once a year or so where there would be two people showering at the same time.
I found out that our city water comes from 3 different sources. Hardness is usually 17-18, but if one of the sources is used, it can be a range of 4.9-16. When I had the water tested it came back as 20, but two others tested it inside the house as 17.
Other stats-
Iron- none
Manganese- none
Chlorine residual -1.7 ppm
Chloride - main source 85, other sources 90 or 12 ppm
Sodium - 86 (or 80 or 24)
pH = 7.9
TDS = 412
Diameter of plumbing at softener location - 1"
At this point I am debating between:
Fleck 7000 w/1.5cu ft tank, 10% crosslinked resin
PureGen ProQ r/o with 1 set extra filters
$1950 includes installation, tax. Also includes extra 5 year warranty on Fleck valve. (I might be able to get the rep to lower the price in lieu of this extended warranty)
Fleck 5800 w/1.5cu ft tank, 10% crosslinked resin)
PureGen ProQ r/o with 1 set extra filters
$1700 includes installation, tax
Other quotes I received:
Fleck 7000 w/2.0 cu ft tank, 8% crosslinked resin
PureT easytwist E3RO550-RETRO r/o
$1565 includes installation, tax
(Only in business 7 months & didn't know what warranty was on Fleck valve, plus did not even bother to test the water, so I don't entirely trust his knowledge.)
Fleck 5800 w/2.0 cu ft vortech tank, "high grade resin"
Watts W525-PWS r/o
$1996 includes installation, tax
(I've learned that vortech tanks are a great moneymaker for these guys, since it costs less to ship without the gravel- so I'm not entirely trusting this guy)
I guess my biggest questions are,
is there a huge difference in Fleck valves?
1.5 or 2.0 cu ft tank?
Is there a huge difference in water softeners that were recommended? I know we want one that has user-replaceable filters, and these all seem to fit the bill.
Any advice for us?
Thanks in advance!