Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
diyinmi

Another request for water softener size and feature help

DIYinMI
10 years ago

Hi all, I would love to get some help in selection of a water softener (size and features). Here is the information I have gathered:

- I would like to do the install myself
- 3/4" copper water lines
- 3 adults in the house regularly and 4 seasonally
- colonial with basement; softener in basement, 4 full baths, no hot tub or Jacuzzi
- water flow at 2nd floor tub (independent hot and cold levers) is 9.1 gallons/min
- average daily water usage (from meter readings) is 228 gallons/day; peak is 349
- we have been using whole house filter (5 micron 20"x2.25"dia carbon filter for rust/odor/sediment ) that pulls in a lot of iron and water runs (first 15 minutes) rusty in color when the filter is newly changed. After that, with filter in place water has no apparent color or odor.
- water left for a while (dog dish) will leave a pink slimy film on the edge of the bowl
- Dishes coming out of dishwasher have whitish spots even with reduced amount of soap use
- Water measured pre-filter is 25gpg hardness, 1 ppm iron, ph = 7.9; TDS = 513ppm
- Water source is a municipal well. The municipality chlorinates the water and uses fluoride is an additive. Their report also mentions HAA5 count is a by-product of water disinfection. Municipal water info:
-- arsenic 7 ppb
-- barium 0.1 ppm
-- fluoride 0.27 ppm
-- HAA5 2 ppb
-- TTHM 3.4 ppb
-- chlorine 0.35 ppm
-- copper 0.923 ppm
-- chloride 38 ppm
-- hardness 263 ppm
-- iron 1.3 ppm
-- sodium 16 ppm
-- sulfate 18 ppm

I am interested on a Fleck controller as it seems to be to be the one that's most serviceable and has the longest history. Any help you can provide in tank size, options, settings, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks upfront