Water Softener recommendation

11 years ago

I am interested in having a water softener installed and would like to get some answers about some possible issues with the unit I am considering going with.

I am on city water and have 25 gpg hardness, which seems pretty high compared to what other people report with 15 or less. The chlorine levels were minimal .2ppm, which I believe is the minimum the city does in my area. I do not know of the iron or manganese levels, but was told they are minimal here.

House has 2 bathrooms, 2-4 adults (varies by day), 1 child. Right now, usage about 1000 gallons every 4-5 days. Our schedules can vary, so I am really looking for a twin tank (+brine) metered system instead of a timer single tank system so that nobody has to worry about when the system is regenerating.

I have a couple of bids from local companies.
Although it costs a little more, I like the Kinetico systems since they do not require electricity (another thing that can break IMO). What I am wondering about is the 2040s since it has smaller tanks and I won't lose much garage space since I can have a work counter/storage above the tanks and also the unit is supposed to be "high efficiency" - each cycle can handle 5222 grains using 7 gallons of water and 1 lb of salt to regenerate.

Based on my current usage and hardness, I am wondering if this would be a good system since it will basically be regenerating one tank every day (5222/25 ~ 208 gallons). This means that regeneration will use about 200 gallons a month waste water and 30# of salt.

Would this be OK or should I get larger tanks with higher capacities? What I have seen recommended is that each tank should regenerate about every week or so. Is that recommended because the salt needs a certain amount of time in the brine tank to produce the best results or to prevent wasting excessive water/salt?

The other tanks I looked at don't really mention how much water is used in regeneration, so I'm not sure how to compare.

Thoughts?

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Comments (3)

User
11 years ago
If you like Kinetico, go with whatever their representative recommends, ensuring they know how much flow you need to get. The 2040 specs indicate 11 gpm service flow rate at 15 psi or less pressure drop. Will that be adequate for your water use? Do you have any fixtures that are high water users, such as multi-head showers, jet tub, hot tub?

This post was edited by aliceinwonderland_id on Sun, Jan 20, 13 at 15:55
evaluator
Original Author
11 years ago
I do have a whirlpool tub, but it seems like the jets are reusing the water in the tub and it rarely used - maybe 4 times a year. I think the 11 gpm is fine based on the flow I calculated at each point of use.

I am more concerned that although it is efficient in salt usage, it seems like it may waste more water than necessary due to frequent regenerating. I just checked out my daily meter reads and some days (laundry usually) we use 400 gallons a day. That means that the 2040 would regenerate twice on those days.

I am thinking, based on what I have seen recommended to others, that I should get a larger capacity unit (1.5 cu. ft resin vs .4) and just use a lower salt dosage to get a pretty good salt efficiency but it may waste less water than the 2040s wastes.
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evaluator
Original Author
11 years ago
After reading more on the 2040 kinetico, I don't think it will work out for me since when it is regenerating, that flow rate will be cut down drastically. The overdrive technology allows a higher flow rate by using both tanks to soften. This means that during regeneration, the flow will be much less (approximately half) - don't want to lose pressure while in the middle of a shower!

With this in mind, I may end up going with a Fleck 9100 system with 48k capacity since it is much less than a Kinetico of similar capacity. I think that it should be pretty reliable for a few years and I am confident that I can service it myself if there are any issues.