Help.... 50 gpg hardness 2.5ppm iron 2 sometimes 3 people

[pricebr3]

As much as I am trying to enjoy the learning process of softeners, I'm entering my 3rd full day of non stop researching. I've read numerous threads here but with everyone having varying needs and requirements for their softeners, I'm having a hard time translating this knowledge to what I actually need. My parents need a new softener. Their water has been lab tested and contains the following.



Calcium 210 ppm

Chloride 2449 ppm

Magnesium 79 ppm

Hardness 850 ppm

Iron 2.4 ppm

Sodium 1200



Their water usage is around 150 gallons per day but can be as much as 250+ when entertaining which is a couple times a month.



From most calculators or tools I find, I assume because of their hardness, recommend as large as 2 to 2.5 cuft resin. But this to me seems like such a large unit for just the two of them. I don't want to have any sort of channeling issues if the water usage is not all that much usually and would like to keep the salt cost down as much as possible so trying to keep efficiency up. Likewise, a dedicated iron filter would be cost prohibitive. Any help I can get here would be very very appreciated.

 

[pricebr3]

Sorry for the duplicate post but I'm unsure how to delete the other one now.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

50 grains of hardness, and a lot of iron. They have their own well I would presume, but how did come up with 150 gpd?

How successful was their old softener? What was it?

It is hard to take out that much iron with a softener. If you try, the softener will need some periodic treatment with Iron Out powder or other.

What is your research pointing at?

 

[pricebr3]

Thanks for the quick reply. Their water has always been a real pain. The 150gpd is approx based off their old unit that had been registering I believe in the 130s gpd usage when I last checked it.
Their old unit was a Kenmore from Sears that "lasted" about 15 years. Model 625.384200. A 1.11cuft resin tank.
Their water has always kinda eaten through appliances still even with the softener but I don't know if this is a product of the other stuff in the water in particular the large amount of sodium, chloride, calcium. Or my other thought is their unit was often overworked/depleted of resin capacity too often and this caused a lot of hardness leaking during periods of no charge left in the resin.
As the Kenmore unit had minimal custom settings I assume it was deciding all the optimal salt doses so I don't really know what kind of efficiency it was running at any time or to what extent it was recharging the resin.
I will say I last checked the unit a couple weeks ago and did two doses of iron out in the brine well. After a couple days I checked their water with my hatch drop test and it was showing 1gpg hardness. So at the very least at that time it seemed to be taking out quite a bit of the hardness but not all of it.
I would love to have their setup running at the best efficiency I can manage but I also can't really swing the extra 1k+ for a dedicated iron filter so for now I am fine with doing iron out cleanings. My research so far is kinda leaning me toward a 1.5-2 cuft system at the least to handle their daily use while still being as efficient as possible. From my understanding even this 40k Kenmore is capable of great efficiency but at that setting it would likely be recharging daily. So a larger unit should go longer between recharge while staying efficient. A 2cuft for just the two of them just is hard to imagine I guess.

 

[pricebr3]

I don't mind spending an extra 100-200$ to get a larger resin unit if that's necessary as from my understanding would be easier to manage more efficient salt doses settings anyway. But I also don't want to oversize and run into any oversized related problems.

 

[Reach4]

When the softener is handling a lot of iron, you don't want to oversize it, which you alluded to.

A twin tank unit (with a Fleck 9100) valve would let you have two smaller (1 cuft of resin) tanks, and still get good salt efficiency.

With a single tank, I would be tempted to go with a 1.5 or 2. If I back up your estimated gpd to 120, . Using your numbers, and 2.4 ppm of iron, your iron would add 12.5 grains of hardness equivalent. Then adding in high hardness compensation, I think H (hardness) setting might be set to around 75 grains. I think 2 cuft would regenerate about every 5 days, and with 1.5 regeneration about every 3 or 4 days. For single tank, the Fleck 5800SXT or 5600SXT should work. If there is a top basket, that could get blocked. I would be interested in opinions as to whether a top basket would be a good idea, especially with fine mesh resin.

This might be a good application for fine mesh resin. That is supposed to have an advantage with high iron. With fine mesh resin, you might have to decrease the backwash a tad, because fine particles expand more for a given flow.

A way to use Iron Out powder to treat your resin periodically to deal with iron. This is not an authoritative procedure, but it should be pretty good.

You might start incorporating the batch treatments with Iron Out powder during visits, at least initially.
========================
A softener is not the best way to deal with significant iron, but it can be economical or cash-flow positive.


1.Dissolve 1/2 cup to 1 cup of Iron Out powder into maybe 1 or 2 gallons of warm water.(X1: option -- maybe up the dose) Pour this down the brine tube. Agitate the brine if you can.


2. Let this sit for 2 hours to 2 weeks.


3. Start a regeneration. Usually after backwash, the brine draw cycle starts. Get to brine draw however it happens. Let the brine get drawn until the the brine tank is drawn. Alternatively monitor the drain line with a TDS meter, and look for a big increase in TDS. At that point, stop the flow of water with the bypass valve. That will let the solution sit in sure contact with the resin.


4. Let the solution sit in the resin for a time. That time might be an hour or might be 12 hours.


5. With an electronic timer, such as 5800SXT, the cycling will continue while the water is off. However since the water is blocked, the solution says in contact with the resin. Then do a full regeneration to get the solution all cleaned out.


You might watch the drain line during the start of the later regen, and see if it is rust colored.


Note: various old posts have tried to describe a procedure, and I have tried to assimilate those. Go ahead and criticize this procedure. Different views can be helpful in tweaking a procedure.


There is not just one right way.


https://www.menards.com/main/grocer...tain-remover/io30n/p-1444444183359-c-7097.htm (buy the big 152 ounce size)

Robot or human?

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Super-Iron-Out-76-oz-All-Purpose-Cleaner/1076893

Iron Out 76 oz. Rust and Stain Remover IO65N - The Home Depot

Remove rust in laundry, from bumpers, tools, porcelain surfaces, glassware, toilet and flush boxes with this Iron Out Rust and Stain Remover.

www.homedepot.com

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/super-iron-out

 

[pricebr3]

The twin tank suggestion is definitely worth considering as i had not considered these before based on cost. Also the suggested iron out procedure seems more intensive than the bottle's suggested "dump some in the brine tank and recharge" and would lead to better cleaning of extra sticky iron on the resin. As i mostly wrote a novel on my other post about this same topic and referenced things you had mentioned and to refrain from posting to two threads simultaneously, if you have more input or suggestions on what is being discussed i would certainly like to hear it but i'll try to just keep an eye on the other post. thanks again reach4