Acurax04
New Member
I’ve been searching for a water softener and would appreciate if you guys would check my work and give me feedback before I make a purchase. Any problems with my thinking or anything else I need to consider?
I found a local dealer that offers this model:
Hellenbrand ProMate 6.0
Clack WS1 valve
10% cross linked resin
Can choose from 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 cu ft resin size
(more specs attached below)
Most dealers in my area seem to just throw a 1.0 cu ft softener out there for everyone, but reading this forum I am thinking a 1.5 cu ft may be better for me.
Details:
City water supply, contains chlorine. No iron.
Measured hardness: 17 gpg (Hach 5B)
# of people in home: 5 (2 adults + 3 young kids [10, 4, 1 year old])
Water usage (last 15 months): Average 125 gallons/day; several months peaked at 150 gallons/day (Yes, I excluded irrigation). I do expect this to increase as kids grow up; however, I will be surprised if we exceed the 60 gallon/day/person.
Here’s are the calculations I did ranging from our currently very low peak 30 gal/person/day usage up to presumed max 60 gal/person/day. Highlighted the values that changed.
Link to the above Google spreadsheet I made:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mh0Ne4e4CHqZhBXwDl_qM7CccQ3Wa_8K4Mb0ntxruBE/edit?usp=sharing
Link to Resin capacity chart posted elsewhere on the forum:
https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?attachments/resin-chart-jpg.54819/
The 1.0 cu ft looks undersized to me. It would need to regenerate every 4-5 days at 50 gal/person/day usage.
The 1.5 cu ft size would handle my estimated max water usage @ the 8 lb/cu ft of salt regenerating every 6 days. If usage remains lower, could use the 6 lb salt setting and/or a few days longer regeneration frequency. I think it makes sense to have the added flexibility of the larger size.
A 2.0 cu ft seems overkill for my needs.
Below are a few more things I decided when researching softeners. Maybe this will help somebody else.
- Useful place to start learning here: https://www.aquatell.ca/pages/learn
- Chose a local dealer over online retailers to ensure a high quality product and warranty service.
- Looked only at units with Clack, Fleck, or Autotrol valves.
- Chose 10% cross linked resin (this seems to be fairly standard recommendation, especially if chlorine in water)
- Opted against a dual softener setup for simplicity and hopefully less potential issues.
- Did not go with the Hellenbrand “EcoMax” model which claims better efficiency (supposedly better resin), but costs more and uses upflow regeneration which I read can be finicky.
I found a local dealer that offers this model:
Hellenbrand ProMate 6.0
Clack WS1 valve
10% cross linked resin
Can choose from 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 cu ft resin size
(more specs attached below)
Most dealers in my area seem to just throw a 1.0 cu ft softener out there for everyone, but reading this forum I am thinking a 1.5 cu ft may be better for me.
Details:
City water supply, contains chlorine. No iron.
Measured hardness: 17 gpg (Hach 5B)
# of people in home: 5 (2 adults + 3 young kids [10, 4, 1 year old])
Water usage (last 15 months): Average 125 gallons/day; several months peaked at 150 gallons/day (Yes, I excluded irrigation). I do expect this to increase as kids grow up; however, I will be surprised if we exceed the 60 gallon/day/person.
Here’s are the calculations I did ranging from our currently very low peak 30 gal/person/day usage up to presumed max 60 gal/person/day. Highlighted the values that changed.
Link to the above Google spreadsheet I made:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mh0Ne4e4CHqZhBXwDl_qM7CccQ3Wa_8K4Mb0ntxruBE/edit?usp=sharing
Link to Resin capacity chart posted elsewhere on the forum:
https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?attachments/resin-chart-jpg.54819/
The 1.0 cu ft looks undersized to me. It would need to regenerate every 4-5 days at 50 gal/person/day usage.
The 1.5 cu ft size would handle my estimated max water usage @ the 8 lb/cu ft of salt regenerating every 6 days. If usage remains lower, could use the 6 lb salt setting and/or a few days longer regeneration frequency. I think it makes sense to have the added flexibility of the larger size.
A 2.0 cu ft seems overkill for my needs.
Below are a few more things I decided when researching softeners. Maybe this will help somebody else.
- Useful place to start learning here: https://www.aquatell.ca/pages/learn
- Chose a local dealer over online retailers to ensure a high quality product and warranty service.
- Looked only at units with Clack, Fleck, or Autotrol valves.
- Chose 10% cross linked resin (this seems to be fairly standard recommendation, especially if chlorine in water)
- Opted against a dual softener setup for simplicity and hopefully less potential issues.
- Did not go with the Hellenbrand “EcoMax” model which claims better efficiency (supposedly better resin), but costs more and uses upflow regeneration which I read can be finicky.