[Jroll]

Hello.

We have very hard well water. Looking to see if there is an in-line softener we could use for dishwater in kitchen. Maytag dishwasher. Can provide model if needed.

Thanks in advance.

JR

[Andy CWS]

Of course there are perfect units out there. But I can't give you any information without more from you. Water conditions, installation location, and reasons why you want to treat only THAT water. Is this a commercial application?

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

[Jroll]

Residential well water causing the dishwasher to have a film on glasses and plates, not cleaning as well as it should. It's hard water. Trying to avoid a whole house water softener for a few reasons. Price, outdoor use for lawn and garden, and mostly we don't want additional sodium/potassium in our drinking water.

Location of the in line would be under the corner sink in the kitchen where the line runs to the dishwasher. Stainles steel interior Maytag dishwasher.

Thanks. JR

[Gary Slusser]

IMO it's not a good idea, especially if the dish washer is plumbed with hot water. There are very few choices for a hot water type softener, a Fleck control valve or two are the only choices I can think of. And service of a softener installed under a kitchen counter will be very difficult, along with the installation.

The added sodium from a water softener is 7.85 mg/l (4roughly a quart) per grain per gallon of hardness removed. I just got off the phone with a guy doesn't want to pay the high price of a Kinetico softener, I mention that because that's about the only one that might fit under a kitchen counter if you have cold water, with 22 gpg hardness. To use the formula of how much sodium, 22 * 7.85 =172.70 of added sodium per mg/liter of softened water. That sounds like a lot right?

A slice of white bread usually has 120-160 mg of sodium. A glass of V8 juice, that's 8 ozs, 530-560 mg of sodium. Check the labels of the foods you eat for sodium content and compare. And you may not have near that amount of hardness in your water.

You could use an RO to remove/reduce the sodium, or use potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride to regenerate the softener and then it won't add any sodium.

You may be able to plumb the garden water before the softener. You really don't want to use softened water for watering because the constant SFR gpm size of the softener will have to be sized to treat all that additional gpm of water flow. So I suggest a regular softener, correctly sized for your peak demand flow rate gpm and using a Clack WS-1 control valve. It is the easiest control valve to repair when needed and has the lowest priced parts of any control valve.

[Andy CWS]

Originally Posted by Jroll

Residential well water causing the dishwasher to have a film on glasses and plates, not cleaning as well as it should. It's hard water. Trying to avoid a whole house water softener for a few reasons. Price, outdoor use for lawn and garden, and mostly we don't want additional sodium/potassium in our drinking water.

Location of the in line would be under the corner sink in the kitchen where the line runs to the dishwasher. Stainles steel interior Maytag dishwasher.

Thanks. JR

Kinetico makes a softener especially designed for dishwashers. You don't have to worry about service flow rate at all. These are non-electric so no special hookups are needed. They are designed to fit under the sink. These are designed to handle hot water.

They are very high efficiency and very simple to maintain. What is your water condition. How hard?

If you want to connect only to the dishwasher, that is perfectly OK.

I can give you more details if you want to PM me.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II
I PMed you....

[Ross1143]

Hello!
I too did not want the additional soduim in the water, nor to condition water for garden use.
My solution was to mount a whole house water softner, but pipe it in just before the hot water heater.
That way we received all the benefits of soft water in our dishwasher, cloths washer and showers, but did not have to drink ot or use it outside.
Good luck!
Ross

[Gary Slusser]

But you don't get all the benefits of soft water because whenever hard cold water is added to the softened hot water out of the water heater, you get hard water and all the problems it causes fixtures, clothes and all other things washed in it etc. etc..

[Andy CWS]

Originally Posted by Ross1143

Hello!
I too did not want the additional soduim in the water, nor to condition water for garden use.
My solution was to mount a whole house water softner, but pipe it in just before the hot water heater.
That way we received all the benefits of soft water in our dishwasher, cloths washer and showers, but did not have to drink ot or use it outside.
Good luck!
Ross

Depending on your hardness level, the amount of sodium in yur drinking water may be very low, less than from most foods we eat. Moreover, an RO will be extremely effective in reducing sodium level to near zilch.

You won't receive the benefits of softened water in showers and washers (if you use cold water cycles) by softening only the hot water. Softeners can be applied to hot water feeds only, but there are some shortcomings to that. As long as they are understood and accepted, you will be satisified with softened water to the heater.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II