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| looking for some help in choosing a water softener
results from water test 18 grains hardness 321 tds manganese 0 iron 0 well water family of 4, including 2 teenagers 2 full baths, one with jacuzzi tub regular laundry for family of 4 hose bibs for outside will not be softened dishwasher, yes guy from fairly respected business in city nearby suggested 30,000 grain model with fleck 5600sxt. After doing some reading on this site i was wondering if a 40,000 grain unit would be better suited? Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by justalurker (My Page) on Tue, Sep 21, 10 at 0:18
| Your fairly respected guy doesn't know how to size a softener for either required SFR nor most efficient operation. He is as wrong as he can be on everything he has recommended... The 30k softener he recommends is only 1 cu ft of resin with an SFR of 9 gpm which is far below what 2 full baths and a Jacuzzi will require. And, to get 30k out of 1 cu ft of resin the salt dose will be at the maximum of 15 lbs/ cu ft which is VERY inefficient. You should be looking at a 2 cu ft softener which will have an SFR of 13 gpm and will use a salt dose of 4 lbs/ cu ft of resin or 8 lbs for 2 cubic feet of resin for an optimal 7 day regeneration. A 2 cu ft softener will use a 12x48 resin tank and the Fleck 5600 control valve is at it's limit on a 12" diameter tank so a wiser choice will be a Fleck 2510SXT or a Fleck 7000SXT. |
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| what size of brine tank would be required for this system? can i build this in a cabinet style or would it be two seperate components, brine tank and resin tank? |
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- Posted by justalurker (My Page) on Tue, Sep 21, 10 at 10:48
| A 2 cu ft softener is too large for a cabinet style plus cabinet style makes servicingthe softener a real PITA. A 15x17x36 rectangular or 18x33 round brine tank is OK. You'll keep enough salt in the tank to cover the water and check it weekly. Don't want to fill the brine tank with salt as that promotes bridging and mushing. Just to give you an idea it would look sorta like this ...
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| any other items to request when telling them how i want it built. Type of resin, type of bypass valve any other details, thanks |
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- Posted by justalurker (My Page) on Tue, Sep 21, 10 at 15:45
| For either the 2510SXT or 7000SXT 2 cu ft softener... top basket hi-quality standard mesh resin is OK The softener should be set up with 30k capacity and an 8 lb salt dose with an 8 day calendar override and a reserve will need to be calculated. |
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| does it matter to system performance if the brine tank is a 12x48 or a 12x52? Also does the size of gravel for the underbed affect the system? |
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- Posted by justalurker (My Page) on Wed, Sep 22, 10 at 9:46
| They would be resin tank dimensions and 12x48 is correct for 2 cu ft. Either brine tank size I posted will work fine. Your dealer will know the correct gravel size and type. You have all the info you need to go shopping. |
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