Hard Water Treatment Techniques

[Comanche County]

So a formal looking guy with a clip board came by the house and said they were doing water testing in the area. He said he could send someone by to test the water. I remembered a couple of months ago the city sent out notices about ecoli in the water. So I scheduled a time for them to come by and test the water,,,,so I thought.

 

It turned out to just be a water purification salesman to give a pitch about a $7K residential system. But the guy sold me when he did some tests with the water, then he scrubbed out a stain on the carpet that I couldn't get up.

 

Anyway, I'm not spending that much cause I'd rather spend that much money on Jeeps, but I do think I need to do something about the hardness of the water.

 

Someone school me up on water treatment. I've always just drank the tap water with no worries, now I'm worried. Maybe over nothing but anyway, what's a good system to put together myself? Has anyone put a filtration or softening system in their house?

[Akula69]

Here in the country of Louisiana, you can get wildly different water quality depending on the aquifer your well is drilled into. I know this salesman "tested" the water for you, but I would strongly recommend you get the water analysed again by a independent lab before you try and decide what you might need. Here we use the local farm extension office (a facet of LSU) - take them several vials of water and in a few days they tell us all we need to know.

 

The water softeners and treatment systems can get expensive quick.

[danbyrambler]

I wouldn't be without one - All the claims made are pretty much true - water heaters last forever - as do ice makers - coffee makers - toilet water closets like new - less soap/detergent needed - there is a catch to less soap used - it's called wife & kids - can be difficult making some understand the need for less - but yeah, water is a good solvent if it's not fulla lime - I've one outside faucet for softened - used for car washing mostly - - Anyway, about the only downside can be the cost of salt - it's about doubled inna past 2 yrs to $5 plus tax for 40lb here in SE Missouri - - The so called solar salt sold by a few is less, but DO NOT buy it - - it's shipped in rail cars to the bagging plants & sooner or later you'll get some that's contaminated & foul the resin bed - wish I had been warned - - - - The old wives tale about the dangers of drinking softened H20 is just that, an OWT-urban legend - - Worried about sodium? Avoid McHard burgerBell - - - - - I've owned 2 softeners - Current one's a 2 piece analog meter, installed by myself in 1985 when house was built - Brine tank holds 320-350 lbs salt - 3/4lb per regen /regens once/week - This has worked fine fine for me & mine - Our 2 kids came along 12 yr apart - so never big water usage here - - - - Your gonna have to do mosta you own homework - - Your hardness level - usage & so on - My water's from a well & I recomend a BA filter before the softener - So, Filter - clean salt & you'll love it - - Helped a friend awhile back & we found some bargains on CL - Decent units in stores/online 300-600 or so for 45-80K units IIRC -

:thumbsup:

[jimoshel]

My well water is so hard that I can repair leaking radiators and head gaskets just by filling the cooling system from the well and let it sit over nite.

[gogmorgo]

My home town's water is a bit like that... comes out of the tap almost cloudy. One winter my dad tried to get some humidity into the air by continuously boiling a pot on the stove. After a few days of boiling and adding more tap water, the water in the pot was a milky brownish yellow. I can't stand to drink the stuff because of the way it tastes (really chalky and metallic) and for the most part they don't use tap water for making coffee or anything else. They buy reverse osmosis water for about $0.25/gallon at the grocery store.

That being said, my parents have no filtration whatsoever, and it was ten years after they moved in before they had to replace the hot water tank. They replaced a faucet and taps in a bathroom, and the washing machine (20 year old Kenmore) has started dribbling into itself a bit, despite replaced valves. My dad doesn't want to pay for his own distiller or reverse osmosifier(?) although he's thought about it. His thoughts on a water softener is that there's no point trying to dissolve more stuff into the water...

 

But if your water isn't gnawing away at your plumping like a hyena behind the slaughterhouse, then I wouldn't worry too much.

 

As for stains, yeah, the water leaves them, and it seems like there's nothing you can do about it. Until you hit them with CLR, and then it's like the stain was never there.

[Comanche County]

Thanks for the input guys. Another thing that has me worried is both toilets in the house get grey rings around them. If I let them go, they grow after a couple of weeks, its more like a living algae then a deposit. I replaced one of the toilets, installed a new wax ring and it still comes back. IDK, maybe there's something in the pipes in the house, either way the water supply is not a source of happiness for me right now. I have a suspicion that it could be because I'm at a one of the lowest areas of a city with an average elevation of just 20' above sea level, according to google maps, my elevation at the house is just 9.166'. There's been some flooding here in the past, go figure.

 

If my water was hard enough to instantly repair leaking radiators like Jim's I'd be a happy camper and drink it religiously to clear up my perpetual upset stomach. But its not, so I just drink a lot of beer instead. :thumbsup:

[gogmorgo]

The toilet in the basement at the place my dad lives when he's working gets a ring around it too, when it doesn't get used for a while... looks like the mold we know is behind the shower that the property owners won't do anything about...

 

Don't know what's in Jim's water, but our hard water sounds about the same (a slow leak at a bad pipe joint in the basement grew a stalactite once) and I doubt it would settle the stomach much. If anything, the taste unsettled mine. Not to mention, it has a pH of about 6.

[Keyav8r]

We put a Sears softener in a year after we built our home 18 years ago (first time i had ever soldered copper piping and not a single leak, which just means it ain't that hard to do). Local water comes from wells and an abandoned quarry, so it has a lot of calcium. I've cleaned the softener once and replaced the resin. The only maintenance issue is that every time the power blinks, it loses its programming and I have to reset it.

 

My wife can tell when it's out of salt by the way her hair feels after washing it. Still have the original gas water heater and the fixtures in the guest bath room (kitchen and master bath fixtures replaced during remodeling) with no evidence of damage, discoloration, etc.

 

I agree with Akula69 that you will need to have your water tested independently. Either county agent or county/ state health department can do it. That will tell you what's in your water which will tell you what type of system you need and what the regeneration cycle should be. Also, when you install it, or have it installed, be sure to include a three valve bypass system to isolate the system so that you can service it when/ if needed. Mine has a lit tale plastic bypass at the softener, but I built one into the piping in case that plastic piece breaks.