Did I make the right purchase? 9100SXT vs 5600SXT

[jaysen]

After a few big named companies came out and gave me quotes, I've decided to look online for a cheaper system. My family is tired of the hard water build up and have decided it is time for a softener. Found this forum and read many rave reviews RE: Fleck and Clack systems. I found qualitywaterforless.com and ended up purchasing the 9100SXT Twin 48K grain system thinking that would suit my needs.

Of course after making the purchase (yesterday), I am second guessing my selection.

Here's the rundown;

2900 sq ft. home
1 Child (with hopes of adding 1 more in the future)
1 Teen
2 Adults (occasionally our babysitter sleeps over so we may have an extra adult in the house for a total of 3)
2.5 baths - each shower as a 2.5GPM head. My youngest rarely takes baths any more, however if we do have another child that may very well change.

Our home was built in 2006 in Southern California and on City (Beaumont, CA) water. The city's hard water testing in 2013 - Link Here - states hardness was at 173.3ppm. I had the company Costco contracts with (can't remember the name at this time) who measured 18GPG for hardness. I am almost certain there was no iron or other chemicals in the water at the time of testing. Using a couple "online calculators" I measured our usage to approx. 6730 Grains per day - am i wrong so far?

What that translated to essentially was a 48K Grain capacity system, thus my reason for purchasing the 9100SXT believing the TWIN take was essentially 96K grain (more than adequate).

I recently read a post by a well regarded member who, at least from my interpretation, said a twin tank system is pointless.

Was I wrong in my purchase? or should I have went with a different system?

 

[ditttohead]

Twin alternating is ideal but often overkill. You did just fine. But... get yourself a Hach 5B test kit if you want to be a DIY softener guy. And... I doubt the person who said it was pointless is well regarded, probably an old post.

LOL, UPS store...

 

[Sponsor]

 

[jaysen]

Twin alternating is ideal but often overkill. You did just fine. But... get yourself a Hach 5B test kit if you want to be a DIY softener guy. And... I doubt the person who said it was pointless is well regarded, probably an old post.

LOL, UPS store...

UPS store... ? I'm not hip to the Water Softener-dis terminology. Can you help?

 

[Reach4]

Using a couple "online calculators" I measured our usage to approx. 6730 Grains per day - am i wrong so far?

That seems like a high estimate based on use by people. If you used your water bill to estimate gallons per day, remember the outside faucets are not on the softener. Besides, you may be ceasing irrigation based on news reports. If you use too much water, you might be on the news. :-(

What that translated to essentially was a 48K Grain capacity system, thus my reason for purchasing the 9100SXT believing the TWIN take was essentially 96K grain (more than adequate).

So you have two tanks each containing 1.5 cubic ft of resin. Try to limit the flow of softened water to under 12 gallons per minute. That does not sound that hard-- no pun intended.

You should be really good. You will not want to try to get that 96000 capacity from your system, because it is very salt inefficient. It depends on 15 pounds of salt per cubic foot of resin each regeneration. Instead you will want to use 6 pounds per cubic foot which gives 20000 grains per cubic ft, or maybe even or 4 pounds per cubic ft.

Get that Hach hardness test. Post results.

 

[Mikey]

If you use too much water, you might be on the news. :-(

I wouldn't be surprised to see more restrictions on softeners, especially in SoCal. OTOH, I also wouldn't be surprised to see everybody ignore the problem and hope it all goes away on its own.

 

[rss1978]

I just installed a 9100sxt with 64k per tank thanks to a lot of advice and help from this forum. I have much harder water than yours. After two weeks, I am more than happy. It is working great. Water hardness has been less than 1 gpg every time I have tested. Might be more than you neede based on calculations, but will work great and you will have soft water 100% of the time.