1. Pre-filtration. You asked about a "big blue" filter. Certainly, if you have particulates in your water it is a good idea to filter them out upstream from your softener. For the size of your house, one 4"x10" filter will do nicely. I always recommend installing with a 3-valve bypass so that you don't have to shut down water to your home to change the filter. Pressure valves are also a good idea so you don't have to guess when to change your filters. Unless you have random events of high particulates, or just lots of particulate in general, you will likely be changing your filter on a time schedule rather than based on pressure drop. Filters should be changed every six months to avoid bacterial contamination.

2. Softener size. Since you have indicated that you are careful with your water, can I assume you would like to maximize water efficiency with your softer? If this is the case, coupled with the fact that you have city water, longer times between regeneration is a good thing. Provided you don't have particulates in your water (which you won't with pre-filtration), you can safely extend time between regeneration to three weeks with no ill effects. There will be less stress on your resin.

   A 1.5 cubic ft softener will be just right. It will regen approximately every 15 days with three people in your household, and every 12 days when you increase your family size to 4.

   Caveat: Before making a final decision on softener size, we should take a look at your full water analysis to ensure there aren't any other issues to consider.

3. Valve brand. I consider Fleck and Clack valves to be pretty much the same regarding reliability and ease of use. I'm not fond of Autotrol. It's not that it's a bad valve, but it does not give the end-user as much control over regen settings.

4. Resin type. You want 10% crossLINKED, not cross over resin. Alternatively, Purolite SST-60 is quite resistant to chlorine attack. Your vendor is confused if he thinks he can offer you Aldex SST-60 because there is no such thing. If he as actually talking about Purolite SST-60, that will be a great choice for you. Because the size distribution is so tight and the inner core is inert, SST-60 can regen using quite a bit less water. There is no reason for you to use fine mesh resin.

5. Drain location. I do not recommend plumbing it to your floor drain if it simply goes to ground. It is unlikely to be capable of handling the fairly rapid influx of water from a softener regen. Plumb it to your septic.

6. Kitchen faucet. If you choose to bypass your kitchen faucet, you will get hardness buildup in that faucet, the sink and the dishwasher (if you have a standard installation where the DW is plumbed off of the water line to the sink). Unless you are under doctor's orders to consume a very low sodium diet, there is no reason not to use soft water for cooking. If you object to the taste of soft water (lots of folk do, including me), you can either plumb a single line upstream from the softener to a separate drinking water faucet, or install an RO.

This post was edited by aliceinwonderland_id on Mon, Apr 7, 14 at 11:33

thanks for the detailed post. and for the kitchen faucet suggestion. i think i will go ahead and plan that. And i looked up what you said about the resin, and your right.

Ill let you know when i get the results from the water analysis.

j.

Hello. I requested, through access to information, a copy of my municipal water analysis and received it. Its all in french (I live in quebec) I have no Iron, some sediment, but more importantly it seems I have trace levels of several pesticides.

So im looking at a clack, with prefilter BB( should i go 5 or 20 microns?) maybe 20 is okay since im on municipal water, then softener (ive heard vortex not a good idea so staying away from it, seller tried to convince me otherwise). then charcoal filter BB20. Im leaning towards 20" BB rather than 10" because I feel that the added capacity is simply a bonus. You seem to feel 10" the correct size. would I be wrong to choose 20 over 10, you seem far more knowledgeble than me, and cant see a dissadvantage to the 20" since I will change them every 6months regardless. The seller also suggests a 5micron prefilter with integrated charcoal inside. essentially 1 filter instead of two.

I could also put both filter before the softener (BB sediment, the BB charcoal, then softener) takes the chlorine out before it gets to resin(may offer longer life???)

lots of details, hope im in the right direction.

I can upson request, if someone is looking for particular results find and them in the results (its atleast 10 pages so i likely have it) and post those most pertinent, I dont actually know what half the stuff on there is. simply ask what you need to know and ill look through and post the results requested in english.

thanks again for your time and help. Ill be buying the system this week and likely installing it myself.