Are you on a municipal water system? If yes, then antibacterials are added to make the water safe. If you choose to remove those antibacterials, and there are arguments pro and con to doing that, use a separate back washing carbon filter installed before an industry standard softener rather than a proprietary all-in-one cabinet design with mixed media.

All the hardware will cost much less than just the ECO softener. Separate units are easier to service. Tech info is readily available free on the net. Parts are readily available and a lot cheaper than for an ECO. There's always someone just about everywhere who sells and services Fleck or Autotrol or Clack based systems and parts. You are not married to or at the mercy of the ECO dealer.

Hi. Justaluker.

Yes. I am on municipal. Thanks for your input. Definitely good information. Would you have an input on whether the EcoWater mixed system works? Does it work? Does it have problem? And does carbon not need to be recharged.

Noted the benefits of the separate units. Definitely part of my consideration.

Btw. the pro/cons of removing the antibacterial from my research is:
pro- prolongs life of resin
cons- possible bacteria in pipes? uhm.. is this why I get reddish rings around the water where the toilet sits?

Anything else I should be concerned with?

Anti-bacterials are added to water systems for a reason.

The amount of anti-bacterials added is specified and regulated.

Most QUALITY softeners installed on municipal water systems will use 8% or 10% cross-linked resin which generally lasts over 10 years in service. The 8% premium resin in my softener is 10 years old and shows no signs of mushing or failure of any kind. I've disassembled softeners on municipal systems that were 20 years old and the resin was fine. How long would you expect it to last with or without anti-bacterials? Anonymous resin will have a shorter service life under all circumstances.

Bacterial colonization can manifest in fixtures, pipes, and appliances, There can be more serious consequences than a ring in a bowl.

Most water treatment professionals will advise against mixed media beds while all salespeople who sell proprietary softeners with mixed beds will tell you that they are the greatest thing since sliced bread.

The secrets are...

1. Identify exactly what in the water needs to be treated and treat it properly.

2. Correctly size the softener.

3. Choose a softener made up of first tier industry standard components.

4. Set the softener up for efficient operation.

5. Install the softener correctly.

6. Do routine maintenance on the softener.

This post was edited by justalurker on Wed, Feb 6, 13 at 15:38

Furthermore the carbon unit never needs to be recharged.

If your Ecowater salesman is telling you this he is either: 1) Lying, or 2) Ignorant. Neither is optimal. Carbon can only remove a certain capacity of chlorine from water. Once capacity is reached it will remove no more, but will release some during pressure bumps. The carbon will absolutely, positively, without-question, have to be replaced. The only question is, "When?" and that is determined by the carbon characteristics and the level of chlorine in your water. What is certain is that the carbon would require replacement many years before your resin would need to be replaced, ensuring that you incur higher maintenance costs than you would if you kept the carbon and resin separated in two different pieces of equipment.

Thanks! justaluker and aliceinwonderland_id, this has definitely been good information.

I think the Culligan sales rep actually mentioned something about if a certain valve was put in and something was backflushed that the carbon would last forever. I didn't pay much attention to this and was thinking in aftermath if that is what EcoWater technology used. At any rate, aliceinwonderland_id's explanation makes more sense to me.

I'm most likely going to stay away from EcoWaters now. The sales rep was selling me on the "lifetime warranty".. but then the written one clearly says 5 or 10 year depending on the part. Just too many things not adding up.