A few questions first, and then I can provide appropriate programming settings:

1. What specific resin do you have installed in your softener? Each resin has unique specs. If you don't know, I will assume a low-quality resin to ensure you don't have hardness bleed.

2. Are you on well or city water?

3. Do you know the TDS and pH of your water. If city water, the treatment plant can tell you.

4. The iron in your water - Does is show up as particulates or is your water clear?

Thanks for replying. The resin is 8% cross linked (I'm assuming it's the cheapest). PH is pretty neutral - 7.1. It is well water. The iron is mostly ferrous. I can fill a glass of water out of my sink and no one would think twice about drinking it. Let it sit on the counter for a while however and that is a different story.
The reason I say mostly is that there is an inline canister filter that does collect some solids. (Maybe just sand, maybe ferric iron not sure)

TDS... Not sure

Enter Master Programming Mode

2. DF=Gal

3. VT = St1b

4. CT=Fd

5. NT=1

6. TS doesnâÂÂt matter because you only have one tank

7. C=25

8. H=26

9. RS=SF

10. SF=20

11. RC=0 (You are using a % reserve rather than a fixed reserve)

12. DO=4 (because you have iron in your water)

13. RT=2:00 (or another convenient time when you wonâÂÂt be using water for a couple of hours)

14. Regeneration cycle step times
    BW=10
    BD=60
    RR=10
    BF= 6

15. Ensure all days are set to ON, unless you have a specific day of the week when you do not want the softener to regen.

16. CD doesnâÂÂt matter unless you set a day to OFF in step 14.

17. FM t0.7

18. doesnâÂÂt matter

Exit Master Programming Mode.

Pour 4 gallons of water into the brine tank. Add enough salt to cover the water. If you have very high humidity, maintain the salt at about this level and check it every couple of weeks. If your humidity isnâÂÂt high, after a few regens you can go ahead and fill the brine tank if you wish. You want to monitor water level for the first few regens just to ensure everything is functioning as it should. After that, just make sure you check periodically and keep salt in the tank.

Reset your clock to actual time.

At this point itâÂÂs a good idea to force the softener to step through the regen steps. There is no need to allow each step to complete. Just leave it in each step long enough to verify that the valve has changed position then move on to the next until you are back in service mode.

Enjoy your soft water.

You will need to take some extra measures because you have iron-laden water. I will expound upon that in a separate post.

This post was edited by aliceinwonderland_id on Fri, Mar 21, 14 at 13:45

The problem with iron-laden water in a softener is that softener resin has a great affinity for iron and does not release it easily. Iron will slowly foul the softener resin from the inside out. Extra measures need to be taken to remove the iron. For this you have several options.

1. The easiest option may be to simply use Iron-Remover salt.

2. Alternatively, you can use Super Iron Out. You may choose to layer this in with your salt. If you choose this option, use 1/4 C per 40 lb bag of salt.

3. Super Iron Out is more effective if used monthly with the following procedure:

4. Ensure you have a strong brine in your brine tank - at least 24 hours since the last regen.

5. Dissolve 1 C Iron Out in cool water and pour it into the brine well inside your brine tank. If you don't have a brine well, for some reason, pour it down the side of the tank rather than through the salt.

6. Place your softener into manual regen and stay right there.

7. When backwash is complete, the softener will move to the brine/slow rinse mode. Pay attention to the way it sounds. After 10 minutes or so the sound will change when there is no more brine to draw. At this point, we want the Iron Out to sit in the softener for an hour. To do that, push the button to advance to the next regen step, then the next until your softener is back in service mode. Do this as quickly as you can.

8. Switch your valves so your softener is bypassed and wait one hour minimum.

9. Place your valves back in service mode and manually start a softener regen.

10. Once the regen is complete you're good to go for another month.

11. A liquid iron removal system such as Res Up can be installed in your brine tank to feed citric acid to the brine to aid with iron removal.

My preferred methods are A or D because they employ citric acid, which is a much safer chemical than those in Super Iron Out (sodium hydrosulfite and sodium metabisulfite). The choice is yours - pick a method and follow it religiously and your softener will give you many years of reliable service.

Thanks again for the reply. I was wondering about setting the DO for more than 4.
I am worried about salt going into the septic but also would like total flow into the septic as less as possible. There was an old kenmore in place that hasn't worked since I bought the house. It drained to a sump pit/pump that pumped it out to the lawn. I am looking to change that up by dumping into the main drain to septic (mostly because my basement is wet as it is and I don't trust the pump to pump out at 2 am in the middle of winter) but still would like to do regen once a week if possible

I'm Good with a BF of 6 (only 9 lbs of salt.... The install instructions were for 10 min... 15 lbs of salt). Any suggestions for a 7 or 8 day regen?

Option A for iron sounds easiest and will go with that. Thank you

You have iron in your water and cheap resin. This presents two problems.

1. Cheaper resins do not have good size uniformity so will foul with iron at different rates. The smaller resin beads will foul more quickly and become sticky, causing channeling in the resin bed.

2. Since softener resin has a high affinity for iron, the iron will become attached to the resin preferentially over the hardness. The longer ferrous iron stays attached to the resin, the more likely it is that it will revert to the ferric form. Then we have a a sticky ferric iron INSIDE as well as on the surface of the resin. It's very difficult to remove. A 4-day regen cycle ensures we don't allow enough time for that to happen to any great degree. If you go to a 7-8 day regen cycle, you will damage your resin, possibly to the point of no return, within a year or two. There is a procedure to strip it, but it takes a good deal of your time and effort and is not guaranteed to work.

Your softener vendor really should have explained this to you prior to purchase.

Provided your septic system is sized and installed appropriately, you can discharge this amount of salt to the septic without ill effect.

If that won't be acceptable for you, there are alternative measures you can take to remove the iron prior to the softener. Installing an iron-removal system would allow your softener to regen every 9-11 days. If you would like some additional information about iron removal options I can provide a break-down of the options.

Deleted double post.

This post was edited by aliceinwonderland_id on Fri, Mar 21, 14 at 14:45

I'm assuming the DO will signal a regen before the volume of water I go through will (even at 7 or 8 days). Simply because at this point it is just me using the water

I would like the other options for iron removal if you get the chance. I'm sorry I keep posting before I get the chance to read your last response for some reason

1. Oxidation/Filtration: An oxidizer such as ozone, air, or chlorine may be used to react with the iron and force it to become particulate iron that can then be removed via filtration. A typical setup would involve the oxidizing unit, a holding tank, then a media filter. This type of system works quite well, but takes some expertise in sizing - you would want a water treatment pro that you trust to help you with this option.

2. Oxidizing filtration media: This type of treatment consists of a sealed tank filled with one of several media. Water passes through and is oxidized and filtered by the media. These are relatively easy to operate and what I would recommend for the average homeowner. There are several different media that can be used:

• manganese greensand: water runs through for treatment. The media must be regenerated with potassium permanganate. Care must be taken with dealing with potassium permanganate as it readily dies organic material, such as your skin, a purple-brown color. Some people are quite comfortable dealing with the chemical; others are not.

• Synthetic greensand: This is essentially the same as option (a) but consists of a coating of greensand on a silica sand core so does not require as much backwash flow. Service flow rate is 2 - 5 gpm/sqft. Backwash flow rate is 12 gpm/sqft.

• birm: This media acts as a catalyst to force oxidation of iron. While it does not need to be regenerated, it does need fairly high dissolved oxygen in the water. If your water does not have adequate dissolved oxygen (and it probably doesn't since it is well water), air injection would be necessary prior to the birm. Additionally, birm requires a minimum pH of 6.8.. Service flow rate is 3.5 - 5.0 gpm per sqft. Backwash flow rate is 11 - 20 gpm, depending upon water temperatures and desired bed expansion.

• pyrolox: an ore that oxidizes then filters the iron out. It does not need regeneration, but needs to be backwashed (to rinse out the iron) at a high rate. pH range is 6.5 - 9.0. This type of filter works very well, but backwash is critical. Service flow rate is 5 gpm/sqft. Backwash is 25-30 gpm/sqft. Backwash daily.

• Terminox: Similar to Pyrolox, but a proprietary formula . It does not require as much backwash flow rate and is more resistance to a low pH. The particulars are only available from the company that sells it. Backwash daily.

• Filox: Also similar to Pyrolox. pH range 5.0 - 9.0. Backwash flow 12-15 gpm/sqft. Service flow 6 gpm/sqft. It must be backwashed daily.

I'd rather not pretreat the iron if I don't have to. (Not yet anyway because I'm going to ask questions about sulfur). You suggested a 4 day regen with a BF of 6 (9 lbs of salt). Is there any downside to doing 8 days with a BF of 12 (not sure if my controller will go that high with the BF but overall less water into septic and the same amount of salt into septic

Hi. I just programmed the controller and slowly took it out of bypass. I ran a manual regeneration cycle and have a couple more questions...
The 1st BW (10 min) went ok. The second step BD (60 min) started ok. I went down with about 18 min left in the cycle. The BLFC wasn't getting any water. It was sucking air. I had put 5 gall of water into brine tank. Any thoughts on this?

The 1st BW (10 min) went ok. The second step BD (60 min) started ok. I went down with about 18 min left in the cycle. The BLFC wasn't getting any water. It was sucking air. I had put 5 gall of water into brine tank. Any thoughts on this?

Is is functioning exactly as it should. It pulls brine until there is no brine to pull, then continues with the slow rinse. Is there any downside to doing 8 days with a BF of 12 (not sure if my controller will go that high with the BF but overall less water into septic and the same amount of salt into septic

Only if you consider destroying your resin in a very short term to be a downside. As I already explained above, when you have iron-laden waters time is your enemy. If you choose to do this, you will be back in a few months asking why your softener isn't providing soft water any more and complaining about rust stains in your fixtures. Since you missed it the first time, here it is again: 2. Since softener resin has a high affinity for iron, the iron will become attached to the resin preferentially over the hardness. The longer ferrous iron stays attached to the resin, the more likely it is that it will revert to the ferric form. Then we have a a sticky ferric iron INSIDE as well as on the surface of the resin. It's very difficult to remove. A 4-day regen cycle ensures we don't allow enough time for that to happen to any great degree. If you go to a 7-8 day regen cycle, you will damage your resin, possibly to the point of no return, within a year or two. There is a procedure to strip it, but it takes a good deal of your time and effort and is not guaranteed to work.

This post was edited by aliceinwonderland_id on Sat, Mar 22, 14 at 18:21

I didn't miss it the first time. I was just asking if there were any other options. I appreciate your help

So it sounds like it's working the way it's supposed to and the fact that is was getting air at the end of the BD cycle is normal. My next question is about adding salt. There is a plate with holes in it at the bottom of the brine tank (I think it's called a salt grid). Apparently it is supposed to help prevent salt bridging. When I added 5 gallons of water, for the initial regen, it never even came above this plate. If I add a couple bags of salt, it would just sit on this plate. Is this normal?

The legs of the salt grid are hollow and perforated. Salt will fill the legs and water will get to it.