Veering slightly here…
What about the magnetic water treatments I’ve seen? Any good?
I don’t like soft water, but I’ve lived in places where the mineral buildup was horrendous.
I’ve yet to see any that work as claimed or even at all.
A manganese greensand filter can help in instances where you don’t want to soften the water it works well as a filter and regenerating it with potassium permanginate will force many minerals into a physically filterable form.
Water softeners are very good at what they do it’s hard to compete with their functionality.
Thank you for the info. I emailed the rep with the same questions. I will post the response.
boytyperanma,
Here is the email he sent to the questions you helped me ask. His responses are in bold. He comes off a bit arrogant but as long as the product is good, I really don’t mind.
The 1500gal is based on your water chemistry or is that a generic spec? **Not generic, standard for city water in Altamonte.
**
Someone told me setting the unit to regenerate with only 250 gallons of **Sure, If you have an inadequate system with cheap resin. What`s your water`s hardness and how many people in the home? **You get untreated water while the unit regenerates the default time for a fleck head is 12:30 am **(2:00 am)** so in theory it regenerates when no one is using water. The time is adjustable but will always be static. Is that true? **Correct
**
He also told me if they are saying the system will regenerate after every 1500gallons of water it does not actually perform the regeneration until that night. So if you hit the 1500 mark at 7 am and the reserve is only 250gals it would be insufficient to last till the next regeneration as you use an average of 650gallons a day. Is this true? true and not so true. We arent pushing the resin to its limit. The Aquamatic 4 is a large unit. Your actual amount of reserve isnt known at this point and it varies. This is why we use a 48 k grain to avoid the situation that youre speaking of. EXCELLENT question Marcus!
Is a twin tank system is probably better suited for my household?** I don`t know. Even a twin system runs the risk of hard water slipping through in cycle changes and should you ever forget to add salt. Marcus, if you`re running a hotel where you have people using the water 24 hours a day, then you`ll want the twin system. OR if you have night owls coming in and taking showers all hours of the night. **
**What we do is design a system to provide you with realistic results and not break the bank. Again, the Aquamatic 4 may not work out for you. I don`t recall your situation or if you even shared that with me.
Hope I didn`t miss anything here. Let me know if I did.
The most expensive part of our conditioner is the resins. If you go with a twin system from us, then you`ll be spending double (aprx. $1000.00 more) just on the resins for two tanks versus only one tank. I don`t know your budget, but for an "on demand" conditioner that just happens to be cleaning when someone wakes up and flushes the toilet at 3 am is a mechanical compromise that most can live with.**What testing did you do on your water? In other words, what problem are you attempting to address? Because most municipal water needs no treatment. (And some, like that in New York City, is excellent water.)
Ok scrappy, he isn’t lying or misrepresenting anything as far as I can tell. There is some language barrier when it comes to terminologies between us. A 48k grain unit is a standard size for us and is sufficient for most households. You should weight cost vs convenience when considering a twin tank system.
I think this has been covered further up thread. Rarely would a municipal water supply need treatment to meet health standards to be safe to drink. Things like staining and hardness that Scrappy is looking to treat are often found in smaller municipal supplies.
Got my water tested at a pool place:
Total Chlorine: 0.0 ppm
Free Chlorine 0.0 ppm
Combined Chlorine: not tested
pH: 7.8
Acid Demand: not tested
Base Demand: not tested
Total Alkalinity: 100 ppm
Calcium Hardness: 150 ppm
Stabilizer: 20 ppm
Total Dissolved Solids: 300 ppm
Salt: not tested
I might be wrong, but I think a pool store is looking for different things in water than someone who wants to know how safe it is to drink.
That said, though, has anyone without a financial interest in the matter helped you evaluate the numbers provided? Is there anything there that needs treatment? And if the concern is just the taste of the water, wouldn’t it be enough just to put a filter at the kitchen faucet or below the kitchen sink? (The faucet-mounted systems can purchased for $50-100 and installed by you easily enough.)
Where would I go to test water from a neutral party? Taste is one issue but I more concerned with the water stains in the tub, sink and toiler and long-term effect of hard water on the pipes. I also heard it also keeps your clothes in better condition and soft water is better for you skin.
Is this what I need to help get rid of scale? I guess that’s what I have. Greyish-white film that accumulates on the shower glass and around kitchen sink fixtures, and anywhere else water gets splashed and is allowed to bead until it evaporates. I have to go on a scrubbing frenzy with lime-away every couple of months to get rid of the stuff.
Maybe, maybe not. It depends on what is in the water and what state it is in. The fact matter is left behind after the water evaporates doesn’t give enough info to determine that. A simple cartridge filter could solve the problem. If the matter is in an ionic state it would still be left behind when the water evaporates. A softner would be the best solution in that case but the manganese greensand would be an option too.
You should talk to professionals in your area. If you are a home improvment type and can do basic plumbing you could try a hole house cartridge filter and see if that makes the problem go away. The cost on that would be $30-150 plus your time.
Thanks, I’m currently gutting the kitchen and starting from scratch and I thought I’d look into this as long as all of my pipes are presently exposed. The new kitchen will have lots of new-fangled water gadgets and I want to avoid the monthly lime-away assault if I can.
It may just be soap scum, but it sure accumulates fast. I’ve tried sediment filters in the past and have not seen any difference. I’ll look around for some local professional advice.
Hi
I have just bought a home in Anthem Arizona (n. Phoenix) a couple weeks ago. Water hardness here is 29 grain. Yesterday I had a Rainsoft guy here. $6200 for whole house water filtration and softener plus RO.
So I have been research…came across Budget Water USA and Clear Water Concepts…already know about Kinetico, Culligan etc. I am completely overwhelmed and confused.
Points
I am on municipal water. Home built in 2003. Home pre-plumbed for whole house water filtration according to the Rainsoft salesman.
I DO want a softener and RO under my sink. I want to explore whole house water filtration. I don’t know if I need it not though. I don’t want bacteria and junk in my water. I read on this blog that municipal water is safe. Is it?
I have read about Clack WS-1, Fleck etc…I just want to get this done and have clean safe good tasting water, with hardness removed to save my appliances, pipes and get cleaner clothes and dishes without all the deposits! The Rainsoft test did not show chlorine in my water at this time by the way.
I realize they are way over priced…but what should I get? I have heard some won’t remove over 10 grains? I have heard to stay away from Kenmore etc…
The more I read the less I feel I know. Help please!