7gpg with a touch of iron and manganese is more than manageable by a softener alone. Unless there is a specific reason I don't recommend whole house carbon filters removing chlorine. Chlorine is an anti-bacterial and in the water for a reason.

In order to help we need to know...

# of people in the home
# of bathrooms
SFR of the plumbing with all the intended plumbing upgrades

Are you adding an undersink RO in the kitchen for drinking, cooking, and ice making?

Are you shopping for a local solution only or are you a DIYer?

THanks for your reply.
# of people in home - 4
4 bathrooms (3 with showers)
No, we are not adding anything under the sink for drinking. We were considering for the whole house, mainly in order to help protect all our new fixtures and appliances.

On this, no we are not DIY.

SFR - I'm not sure what that means.

The concern I have about the softener is adding all that sodium to the water. We do not intend to get a bottled water cooler, after finally getting a fridge with an ice maker and water in the door! The fridge (a Sub Zero) does have a filter on it.

You didn't comment regarding the whole house carbon filter.

Your posted quote shows a softener but no prices.

No inline filter will remove hardness, iron, or manganese so without a softener you'll be living with that and drinking it and exposing all your plumbing, fixtures, and appliances to it.

As for sodium added to softened water...

The formula for added sodium is 7.85 mg/l (about a quart) of softened water per grain per gallon of compensated hardness.

EXAMPLE 7 gpg * 7.85 = 55 mg of sodium added per liter of softened water, not salt.

How does this sodium content of softened water compare to sodium found in common foods?

The table demonstrates the usual range of sodium in common foods.

Food Amount Mg of Sodium

Ketchup 1 tablespoon 204
Milk 2 Cups 226
Frozen Peas 1/2 Cup 295
Bread 2 Slices 322
Corn Flakes 1 oz. 260
Parmesan Cheese 1 oz. 528
Tomato Juice 4 oz. 504
Tomato Soup 1 Cup 932
Chili 1 Cup 1194
Beef Broth 1 Cup 1152

Not as much sodium added as you think?

SFR is Service Flow Rate which is calculated based on plumbing size, pressure, and fixtures. SFR is a must consideration when sizing a softener otherwise hardness will leak through at peak flow.

If I were you I'd hit the Yellow Pages and call at least three local water treatment pros. Make sure you call at least one of the big dogs like Kinetico or Culligan for comparison and at least a couple independent pros. DON'T TELL THEM YOU HAD YOUR WATER TESTED.

Give each an opportunity to offer suggestions and provide you with a quote to meet your water treatment needs. IGNORE ANY THAT DON'T TEST YOUR WATER THEMSELVES as they can't speak intelligently to water treatment without knowing what needs to be treated.

Ask lots of questions. Softening the entire house or just the water heater (IMO a bad idea)? Warranty, parts & labor or just parts, how long and on exactly what? Install, permits required, licensed plumber? Routine maintenance and costs? Do they stock parts? Response time for emergency (water leak) calls? If they don't explain things to your satisfaction that is a good indicator of how you'll be treated after the sale.

After they've gone use your water test to compare with theirs. Are all your treatment needs being addressed?

Ask your neighbors if they have any water treatment experience. They might tell you who's good or who to avoid.

Come back here and post the specific recommendations and hardware components with the costs and we'll give you our opinions.

Thank you very much!