A 6lb salt setting for a 48K (1.5 cu ft) softener) is 4 lbs / cu ft. In order to use that setting with no hardness leak though the softener better be correctly sized.

An override of 8 days is OK, but not if there's iron or manganese.

In order to set a softener for efficient operation we'd need to know the water conditions, well or water system, water usage, # of people, # of bathrooms, and SFR to know that the softener is sized correctly.

thanks for the response justalurker. When I started the process of getting the softener, I didn't realize how much I didn't know and it got to a point where I think I knew too much and ended up getting myself confused :) After reading a lot (quite a few of your posts as well) I thought our conditions warranted the 48K unit. Initially it seems like we only need 24K but taking into consideration the service and demand flow rates as well as salt efficiency, the 48K seemed the better choice. Either way, it's already purchased and installed so I just need to program it.

Additional info: we are on city water. Main water supply is 3/4", measured at 68-70psi at an outisde spigot. 2 showers, 5 sinks, 3 toilets, high eff. dishwasher and washing machine. 66 gallon water heater. only 2 people living with very occasional guests and that's not changing in the distant future. Average water usage is 150gpd total, including irrigation. Front spigot will still be hard water and that waters a lot of plants and grass. Back irrigation is hand watering plants, no grass. We don't take showers in two bathrooms at the same time. SFR shouldn't be an issue for the 48K. Iron and magnesium are already calculated into the "compensated hardness of 18". Iron is very low at like .02 and included in the 18.

Numbers have a slight padding to them to compensate for when we do have guests, water heavier in summer months etc and just to cover hardness break-through.

also, SFR of the pre-softener spigot is 8.43gpm

With you only providing padded numbers and not specifics set it as you posted.

what more specifics do you need? Does it really matter average water usage is 147 instead of a "padded" 150? Everything I posted is pretty close, but when rounded, rounded up for "padding" but it's not like I added another 20% to everything. Some months use more water, some less so I planned for the heaviest. What else is needed?

4 lb salt /cuft resin is quite low. While it is okay to regen with that little salt, you will see enough hardness bleed to notice it, both in the feel of your water and in some spotting on fixtures. You would be better off with a 6-8 lb salt/cuft resin regen rate. Some people notice the difference betwee 6 anD 8. Others don't. It depends on the TDS of your water and how sensitive your skin is. If your TDS is below 1000, 6 should be fine. Above 1000, go with 8.

For a 6# rate, your total salt dose per regen should be 9 lbs. For an 8# rate - 12 lbs.

Changing salt dose changes capacity. At a 6# rate, set capacity = 31K. 8# rate - 36K

6# rate is more salt efficient, and will use about 10 fewer lb salt per month.

This post was edited by aliceinwonderland_id on Mon, Jun 30, 14 at 22:21

That makes sense aliceiw, thank you. TDS is roughly 360. I'd prefer no hardness at all but if it's not an issue at 1-2 grains we'll see how it goes. I'll start with a 9lb dose, 31K capacity and see how that is.

Appreciate the assist.

You should see only a few ppm of hardness, less than one grain.

.That would be perfect. So going from 24K to 31K capacity should bump up the regen to say 10 days?