Filtration system in the right order?

Hello,
My whole house water filter system is about 5 years old. We have noticed a change in our water quality in the last 3 months. We are in Florida and on a small city municipal water system. Our water flows through the following filters in this order => sediment => carbon => softener => home. I had a plumber at our home a few weeks ago who suggested the order was incorrect. His theory was the carbon filter is removing the chlorine and then causing the resin bed to become contaminated with mold so that it no longer does its job of softening. He suggested the following order => sediment => softener => carbon => home. He also said this order would allow the carbon filter to remove some of the left over salt in the water which is now suspected of aggravating high blood pressure, which I have. Does anyone have an opinion on this? Thank you, Terry

What is the 'change' in your water quality? Odor, taste?

Your filter order is correct. Removing the chlorine before the sotener will prolong the service life of the resins, which are damaged over time by chlorine saturation.

There are millions of softeners on well water without chlorine that have no problems with "molds". If you want, whenever you change the carbon filter, run the softener without the carbon filter for a day or so and this would allow sanitation of the resin bed. Or you could put a cup of household bleach in the brine tank and let it go through its cycles normally.

Do you have high blood pressure? Is your plumber a nutritionist or medical technician? If not, then disregard his advice. Carbon will do nothing to remove sodium from the water unless it is so massive that it has precipitated into a insoluble solid.

To remove sodium form your drinking water, an RO is the only practical application and advisable.

What type of softener do you have and what water quality is the incoming water?

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

Thanks Andy,
Our water has no odor but has really never been great ontaste, feels different in the shower, our clothes are not coming as clean, we have a white powder like substance built up on the ends of the shower head. I know that increases in sodium in your diet can aggravate high blood pressure but I guess the right thing to do is to have the water tested for sodium content at the kitchen tap. Our small town of 10,000 people has an aging water supply system. There is never enough money in the budget to upgrade even though we are being taxed to death. They send us the water quality report once per year and they meet federal standards. When I look at the water in the sediment filter housing after 6 months, I can't believe it - looks like chocolate milk. I replace the sediment filter (.4 micron) every 6 months and the carbon filter every 12 months even though I do not have any way to tell when they need to be replaced. Both of these are Big Blue filters. The softener is GE Infrastructure Autotrol model 268/760. What about the resin bed? How do I know when to change the resin bed? If its like everything else on our new home, I would bet the contractor installed the absolute cheapest available. Thanks for your help, Terry

Is the softener working? Check the cold AND the hot water to make sure they both read 0 grains. That will give you clues as to to resin and/or unit performance.