Enough Iron and hardness to worry about?

[BrownCow]

Have just bought a house on well water. Iron is .74 mg/l, hardness 104 mg/l, ph 7.91, calcium 29.2 mg/l, magnesium 7.6 mg/l

I won't move there until May, and I have some plumbing work being done on the house, so now would be the time to add a filtration system if needed. Are these values high enough to warrant treatment?

Thanks for info.

[Gary Slusser]

The 104 mg/l of hardness coverts to 6 gpg. That and more than .3 ppm of iron is sufficient for scale, white water spots and rust staining. You could use a softener. I suggest one using a Clack WS-1 control valve that is correctly sized for the number of people, the number of bathrooms and the type of fixtures in them. The constant SFR gpm of the softener must be higher than the peak demand flow rate gpm of the house or the softener.

[BrownCow]

Thanks!

Thanks, Gary. I'll see what I can find that fits the bill. It's just a 2 bath house, with 1 person living there, a second person during summers.

[BrownCow]

Now I'm confused

I have to admit, I've been reading about filters all day and now am totally confused. I have absolutely no experience with filters or softeners of any sort. I am currently living 2,000 miles away from the new house.

What I have gathered in my reading is to avoid the big box stores and call a local water softener guy (there seem to be one or two in the phone book). Or should I order something off the internet? In either case, what should I get? I'd like to sound somewhat informed if I call someone. And if I order something off the web, I'd like to make sure I'm getting the right thing.

I'd prefer something whole-house and not something where I'll need to install a separate drinking-water faucet, if possible.

Thanks for any suggestions, recommendations, insights....

[Gary Slusser]

You need to decide if you want to be dependent on a local dealer for service and parts or buy online and be an independent DIYer.

If dependent, call a local dealer. If independent, you can buy from an online dealer like me or many others. Just be sure that wherever you buy it they size it correctly for the number of people and bathrooms and the type of fixtures you have. The constant SFR of the softener must be greater than the peak demand gpm for your house etc.. And you should buy a correctly sized softener with the Clack WS-1 control valve.

[Andy CWS]

Getting the proper equipment and making sure it has quality can be confusing. You want your water treatment system to last a very long time. With your water conditions and consumption, you should have no problems managing it.

A local water treatment specialist will give you the confidence that it is set up properly and have support with future service issues or adjustments.

Online purchases can save you upfront but you may still need to contact a local guy for service issues or installation.

There are three basic types of softeners: timer control valves, single-tank demans and twin tank demand units. Demand units can be electronic, electrical or non-electrical.

Here is a site that can go into more detail: There a few pages...

http://www.bobvila.com/HowTo_Library/Don_t_Be_Afraid_of_the_Water-Miscellaneous_Plumbing-A1610-3.html

A reverse osmsosis (RO) is an excellent way to improve your drinking water. There are both low and high quality units.

Hope this helps a littlle.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

[Gary Slusser]

Confusion means the person is receiving less information than they need or have been given.

All equipment has quality, some more or less quality than other equipment.

ALL equipment has advantages and disadvantages, including Kinetico.

DIYers buying online program their control valve themselves, or the plumber installing it does it. That's no different than the local dealer's guys doing it except, the DIYer or plumber knows it's done right because s/he does it themselves and... if the local dealer or their hired help does it, they rarely ever tell their customer how to do it!!

It's the same for troubleshooting problems and doing any repairs. Many local dealers will not tell the customer what is wrong or sell the needed parts to fix it unless the dealer delivers them as part of their expensive service charge. And then they charge high prices for the parts because you can't get them from other dealers if the equipment is proprietary; like Kinetico and most national brand local dealer type equipment.

Buying online there are many dealers to choose from for information, troubleshooting and parts after the sale and, competition keeps prices low.

I hope this helps A LOT.

[BrownCow]

Thanks!

I really appreciate all the suggestions and advice. Since I won't be living in the house full-time, I probably will rely on local dealer for installation and service, but thanks to the info I've received here, I can go in armed and ready with appropriate questions and requirements, and will talk to several local outfits, and their references, before deciding which one to go with.

This is a great forum. You've helped me out in the past, and now again. Thanks!

[Andy CWS]

I really appreciate all the suggestions and advice. Since I won't be living in the house full-time, I probably will rely on local dealer for installation and service, but thanks to the info I've received here, I can go in armed and ready with appropriate questions and requirements, and will talk to several local outfits, and their references, before deciding which one to go with.

This is a great forum. You've helped me out in the past, and now again. Thanks!

It is important to ask the right questions. These can include warranty issues, owner obligations, additional/upgrade equipment, basic maintenance and preventive measures, troubleshooting, vacation/long-term non-use preperations, etc.

Good luck and let us know if you have more questions or concerns.
Andy Christensen, CWS-II

[Gary Slusser]

Browncow, any dealer, online or local, can answer questions and anyone with the desire can install a softener in about 2.5 hours even if they have never done any plumbing before. It is simple to learn how to solder if needed or you can plumb without soldering in much less time. It only requires simple common hand tools. Anyone can repair a softener if they have the desire IF you can get parts for it and instructions to follow to do repairs. Sad to say that most local dealers will not tell you what is wrong unless you pay them to come out and national brand dealers like Kinetico will not sell you the parts. Example, on Tuesday I got a call from a customer I sold and installed a softener for 14 years ago. I troubleshot on the phone with him and found a loose brine line fitting and he fixed it and we checked that that was all that was wrong before I hung up. I've been doing that for my customers and other dealers' customers since 1987. About 99% of any type local dealer will not do that. You have to ask your self if that is what you want or not and then IF the dealer CAN do it on the phone; many that might do it, actually can't.

I find that most folks that buy from a local dealer and then need repairs want to fix the problem themselves at their convenience and for much less cost.