Biofilm/Algae infestation in Softener

[Kevin Craig]

Hi all, I recently started noticing my water smelled musty, so I started to troubleshoot. I determined that my whole house carbon filter was not the culprit, so I ordered a replacement softener tank pre-filled with 10% resin and this solved the issue. However, I would like to know if anyone has insight into how I can avoid this in the future?

Here are the facts:
- I am on city water which feeds first into a whole house carbon filter. The media was replaced last year. I opened up the tank and inspected - no issues with the carbon.
- This of course means no chlorine is entering the softener. Good in the sense that it does not degrade resin. Bad that it appears this may have become a bacteria breeding ground.
- Valve is Fleck 5810 XTR2, it was set for upflow regeneration by the plumber
- At the time of infection, the 8% resin was about 7 years old
- I did not regularly sanitize the softener resin
- I live in Florida and the tank is outside and it does sometimes get direct sun. I am gone for two months in the summer so the water is not moving during that time

Questions
- Should I be regularly sanitizing the softener with bleach or something like res care? If so, how often?
- Should I be "summer-izing" my system somehow before leaving each summer?
- One idea I had was to occasionally have the carbon filter set to bypass mode so city water with chlorine is flowing through the softener?
- I have since adjusted the settings to regenerate using downflow with 2 backwashes. Is this better than the upflow? I am not so concerned about efficiency, more concerned with keeping green sludge out of our water.
- Any other tips?

Sorry in advance for the gross pictures but I am hoping someone else can learn from my mistakes. Luckily, I have an RO filter for drinking water so we were not consuming any of this. Just kind of gross that we were showering and washing clothes in it.

 

[Bannerman]

Algae growth inside the softener, is a common issue due to sunlight exposure passing through translucent walls of the media tank(s).

In addition, two months of no flow will result in the water within the tanks to warm and become stagnate.

While the plastic resin itself does not support bacteria growth, usually advisable when using a carbon filtration system to remove chlorine prior to a softener, to periodically (ie: 2X per year) bypass the carbon system for 1-day each time. This will permit chlorinated water to flow through the softener to sanitize not only the softener, but also downstream plumbing lines to fixtures. While constant chlorine exposure will negatively impact the longevity of any resin, 2-days exposure per year at the diluted strength supplied from a municipal water system, should have minimal effect.

To reduce the potential for algae growth, you could paint the outside of the media tank(s) to make the tank walls opaque, but a better solution would be to build an enclosure such as a 3 side + roof shed to enclose all of the equipment. Not only will an enclosure prevent sunlight exposure on the tanks, but will also prevent UV exposure on the control valve, brine tank and exposed piping.

Suggest programming a Day Override setting in the softener's controller. In this manner, the softener will undergo regeneration every xx days even when there has been no soft water use within that time period. While a softener should normally be regenerated and a carbon system backwashed at least 1x per month, due to your equipment being placed in an unconditioned location, likely advisable to ensure regeneration/backwashing is performed at least 2x per month during extended periods in which no water will be utilized.

Here's a photo showing algae growth within a sun exposed cartridge filter utilizing a clear housing.

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?attachments/dirty-filter-jpg.64266/

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Kevin Craig]

Algae growth inside the softener, is a common issue due to sunlight exposure passing through translucent walls of the media tank(s).

In addition, two months of no flow will result in the water within the tanks to warm and become stagnate.

While the plastic resin itself does not support bacteria growth, usually advisable when using a carbon filtration system to remove chlorine prior to a softener, to periodically (ie: 2X per year) bypass the carbon system for 1-day each time. This will permit chlorinated water to flow through the softener to sanitize not only the softener, but also downstream plumbing lines to fixtures. While constant chlorine exposure will negatively impact the longevity of any resin, 2-days exposure per year at the diluted strength supplied from a municipal water system, should have minimal effect.

To reduce the potential for algae growth, you could paint the outside of the media tank(s) to make the tank walls opaque, but a better solution would be to build an enclosure such as a 3 side + roof shed to enclose all of the equipment. Not only will an enclosure prevent sunlight exposure on the tanks, but will also prevent UV exposure on the control valve, brine tank and exposed piping.

Suggest programming a Day Override setting in the softener's controller. In this manner, the softener will undergo regeneration every xx days even when there has been no soft water use within that time period. While a softener should normally be regenerated and a carbon system backwashed at least 1x per month, due to your equipment being placed in an unconditioned location, likely advisable to ensure regeneration/backwashing is performed at least 2x per month during extended periods in which no water will be utilized.

Here's a photo showing algae growth within a sun exposed cartridge filter utilizing a clear housing.

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?attachments/dirty-filter-jpg.64266/

Thanks for taking the time to respond in such a detailed way. I replaced the tank with a black tank, and am building a structure around it.

I was also wondering if changing the regeneration cycle might help. It's currently set to upflow but the valve can be reconfigured for downflow. Any thoughts here?

Thanks

 

[Reach4]

Note with upflow regen, the injector would be a lower-flow unit. Also the BD time is set longer. If BD is 60 minutes, that is a bad sign. I am not sure where you would draw the line.

A blue or white injector would be too big for a 10 inch tank. Red maybe. I would have preferred violet or brown for upflow. What is your BD time? What is your injector color? And confirm a 10 inch tank.

Also protect your brine tank from the sun. That can grow stuff too.

 

[Reach4]

Note with upflow regen, the injector would be a lower-flow unit. Also the BD time is set longer. If BD is 60 minutes, that is a bad sign. I am not sure where you would draw the line.

A blue or white injector would be too big for a 10 inch tank. Red maybe. I would have preferred violet or brown for upflow. What is your BD time? What is your injector color? And confirm a 10 inch tank.

Also protect your brine tank from the sun. That can grow stuff too. The brine tank can be sanitized, perhaps with about 2 tablespoons of chlorine bleach.