educate me on water softeners.

Jeff B

Jeff B

Thanos was right
Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Location
Lincolnton N.C.
I have iron & sulfer in the water. There are 2 carbon filters in the lines now but they are clogging & I'm steadly loosing water pressure. They also don't realy remove all the iron & sulfer smell. I was told that a water softener will solve these issues. Any input would really help me out.

Thanks
 
water softener will not do anything for sulfer smell

basically you add salt to the water when softening it

get city water
 
Softeners have limited ability to remove iron. Is the sulfur smell more on the hot side, or the cold? Typically an aerator is used to treat sulfur levels in the incoming water, but it could also be coming from bacteria in the pipes.

Have you had a water test done? You really need to know what the total dissolved solids, pH, harness, mag and iron levels, etc are before you can make any sort of educated decision about your treatment options.
 
I have one, dont know exact way it works. I know it has a huge filter and a salt water tank the saltwater back flushes the filter at the intervals you set. I have mine set to backflush every other day because I have two homes on one well you also need to set it for the time of day that nobody will be using water. you add rock salt to the salt water tank and it is real important no to let salt level get low. you can get the salt at lowes, home depot, and the like for less than $5.00 a 50# bag. I had a bad iron problem also and was gettting stained sinks and toilets. I good tell a huge differance when I got mine. I have had mine for about 12 years with no problem. I cant remember the brand name on mine but it did hurt my pocket. I want to say mine was around 3 grand but I think they have improved the systems over the years and lowered the price some. I think mine was well worth the money
 
I forgot to mention call a softner/filter dealer and the will come out and test the water and tell you what you need.
 
rockcity said:
water softener will not do anything for sulfer smell
basically you add salt to the water when softening it
get city water
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Please stay out of this if you have nothing intelligent to say.
saf-t scissors said:
Softeners have limited ability to remove iron. Is the sulfur smell more on the hot side, or the cold? Typically an aerator is used to treat sulfur levels in the incoming water, but it could also be coming from bacteria in the pipes.
Have you had a water test done? You really need to know what the total dissolved solids, pH, harness, mag and iron levels, etc are before you can make any sort of educated decision about your treatment options.
Click to expand...
I have not as of yet but I will.
thank you
BIGDADDYF350 said:
I forgot to mention call a softner/filter dealer and the will come out and test the water and tell you what you need.
Click to expand...
Do you have any recomendations?
Thank you
 
Jeff B said:
rockcity said:
water softener will not do anything for sulfer smell
basically you add salt to the water when softening it
get city water
Click to expand...
Please stay out of this if you have nothing intelligent to say.
Click to expand...

But he's right. The softener probably won't do anything for the sulfur smell, won't do much for the iron, and going on city water if it's available would be cheaper in the long run than fixing what you have.

Here, go read this: http://www.terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21938. It's only so much help if you don't know yet exactly what sort of problems you're up against, but it makes for a decent intro, talking about iron-related bacteria, pH, hardness, and tailoring a solution to your specific problem.

Hiring a dealer can be the easy way out, but it's not without trade-offs. Cost is the obvious one. You could get stuck with a proprietary system that you don't know how to use, can't repair or source parts for, etc. They also will keep your water test results to themselves, making it harder for you to evaluate the problem and their proposed solutions. They're unlikely to come out and do an evaluation, free or not, then give you the tools to go out and shop around.

HTH
 
I am refering to the "get city water comment"
 
saf-t scissors said:
But he's right. The softener probably won't do anything for the sulfur smell, won't do much for the iron, and going on city water if it's available would be cheaper in the long run than fixing what you have.
Here, go read this: http://www.terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21938. It's only so much help if you don't know yet exactly what sort of problems you're up against, but it makes for a decent intro, talking about iron-related bacteria, pH, hardness, and tailoring a solution to your specific problem.
Hiring a dealer can be the easy way out, but it's not without trade-offs. Cost is the obvious one. You could get stuck with a proprietary system that you don't know how to use, can't repair or source parts for, etc. They also will keep your water test results to themselves, making it harder for you to evaluate the problem and their proposed solutions. They're unlikely to come out and do an evaluation, free or not, then give you the tools to go out and shop around.
HTH
Click to expand...


That gives me a place to start, now to find somebody to test a sample that has nothing to gain. (Not trying to sell me something.)
 
Jeff B said:
thank you
Do you have any recomendations?
Thank you
Click to expand...
I willl try and dig up the paper work on mine and get back to you.

City Water isnt an option for everybody. They just put a water main on my road last year and my home is 5000 feet from the road.
 
BIGDADDYF350 you gotta be out in the country like me. They have water to the main road but I am 8/10th of a mile from there. I am lucky though and we have very good water. I dont know about newer water softeners but my grand parents had one and the water defiantly had a different taste and when you took a shower the water felt weird on your skin.

Dave
 
I am in the country, city water is not an option.
 
I'm in the country to, no city water;

I have a water softner - was told to use the "rust out" blocks (get mine at goodnight's feed and seed) Whoever you buy from near you tell them it's the salt blocks to cut the iron, not sure what the correct name is, always pull the covers off. They are about 20lbs? apiece so put the tank where you have easy access to the salt tank.

As for the sulfer smell - the guy who put mine in said cut the rod in the hot water heater off, I did and it cured my smell, but I would have the water checked first, yours might be worse off than mine was. The rod I'm talking about is the hot water tank corrosion rod (cathode/aneroid? or whatever you call it on saltwater engines). It fixed my smell problem but supposedly the tank will rust out sooner, but it's been 15 years now - knock on wood!

My salt tank holds 3 of those salt blocks, last roughly a month or 2, I have wife and 2 daughters and my washing machine runs non stop it seems.

If you ever use a pressure washer at your house put it in bypass, the sand tank doesn't like the surging, then flip it back when done.
 
SSWaters said:
I'm in the country to, no city water;
I have a water softner - was told to use the "rust out" blocks (get mine at goodnight's feed and seed) Whoever you buy from near you tell them it's the salt blocks to cut the iron, not sure what the correct name is, always pull the covers off. They are about 20lbs? apiece so put the tank where you have easy access to the salt tank.
As for the sulfer smell - the guy who put mine in said cut the rod in the hot water heater off, I did and it cured my smell, but I would have the water checked first, yours might be worse off than mine was. The rod I'm talking about is the hot water tank corrosion rod (cathode/aneroid? or whatever you call it on saltwater engines). It fixed my smell problem but supposedly the tank will rust out sooner, but it's been 15 years now - knock on wood!
My salt tank holds 3 of those salt blocks, last roughly a month or 2, I have wife and 2 daughters and my washing machine runs non stop it seems.
If you ever use a pressure washer at your house put it in bypass, the sand tank doesn't like the surging, then flip it back when done.
Click to expand...


Do you drink the water? How's the taste?
 
I drink mine and I think it taste better that some family members city water. I agree with the bypass I have all my outside water outlets not going through filter so when you wash car or water grass you dont put extra load on the filter
 
How does this affect your water pressure? Since I put the filters in I have lost pressure.
 
We have well water and it is soft and clean as you can get naturally, but that is besides the point. When I lived in FL well water sucked as you have described Jeff. We had a water purifier system as well as a water softner. The system removed the iron and sulfer(consisted of two large black cyl with guages on them) and of course the softner removed the hardness. On top of that we had a R/O system on the sink for drinking. The local water dude (forget name of company) would come out and swap out the black tanks when needed. We added salt to the softner. It was all in the house when we bought it but seemed to remeber it was about a 5K investment. When the under sink unit would get dirty it would start to loose pressure and we would have to swap it out, but that was only about every 6 months. As stated I would contact a water professional to get a good solution and options. Good luck
 
89wrangler said:
We have well water and it is soft and clean as you can get naturally, but that is besides the point. When I lived in FL well water sucked as you have described Jeff. We had a water purifier system as well as a water softner. The system removed the iron and sulfer(consisted of two large black cyl with guages on them) and of course the softner removed the hardness. On top of that we had a R/O system on the sink for drinking. The local water dude (forget name of company) would come out and swap out the black tanks when needed. We added salt to the softner. It was all in the house when we bought it but seemed to remeber it was about a 5K investment. When the under sink unit would get dirty it would start to loose pressure and we would have to swap it out, but that was only about every 6 months. As stated I would contact a water professional to get a good solution and options. Good luck
Click to expand...


Thanks, I'm gonna swap out one of the carbon filters tomorrow. I bought a test kit that goes all the way to testing for bacteria & anything else thats common to the area. I'm gonna look up a pro after I get a better idea of the issues.
 
JeffB, on thing to remember about water softening is this: What ever hardness or iron is removed from the water by the softener resin, is replaced by sodium chloride or potassium chloride (whatever you regenerate your softener with). That makes the "salt" content go up in your water. Depending on the level of hardness removed, it could affect the taste. You can have your water tested by the state. I think it costs about $20 now. It used to be free. They will give you the written report. It has a huge amount of information on the report. Good luck with a dealer.
 
oscar80 said:
I dont know about newer water softeners but my grand parents had one and the water defiantly had a different taste and when you took a shower the water felt weird on your skin.
Dave
Click to expand...

Sounds more like they didn't really need the softener. That's what causes that slimy feeling. The hardness is so low the soap doesn't break down and wash off.

Jeff, just get a water sample from before your filters or softeners, etc and send it off to an independent lab. It shouldn't cost much.
 
Bengie summed up how it works, the platic resin beads, adsorbs the hardness (calcium etc) when so much volume flows through the head it back washes the inside chamber with the salt water. The salt replaces the 'hardness' in the resin, then more back washing removes the salt.

Water Tank Rod - That rod is usually a sacrificial rod that is destroyed over time vs the tank itself. They make different rods for different water conditions.

As mentioned get a professional test. They can check for many things and various types of microorganisms.

If you've just gotten this house. Depending on the age and type of water lines, you might consider flush all the lines/tanks with chlorine. It's very possible to have gotten something (fungus/bacteria, etc) either in the well/lines/tanks etc.. over time, any of which can cause bad smell or tastes.. In addition to the hard water.. (Usually chlorine is dumped into the well, drain your hot water tank or other large tanks, and then water is pumped back through the whole system.)

When you do take the sample, typically use the kitchen sink, and sterilize the faucet with a match/lighter before taking the sample. (So the sample is of the water not contaminated by anything on the faucet)..

[Wow I actually remembered shit from back in my HS days working at the Farm/Feed store. They did a ton of softener installs and testing etc... Guess some of it stuck with me... ]
 
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