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The first thing you need is a clear understanding of what water quality problem you have. If the issue is "faucets and fixtures are shot", then the problem is most likely either very hard water (dissolved calcium and magnesium), or dissolved iron (and the iron bacteria that usually accompany such a situation). If the stains are reddish and the water smells bad, it is most likely an iron problem. Brownish stains are the typical indicator of hard water. You can get a sample of your water (let the tap run for a while first) and send the sample out to a test house to get a diagnosis. Treating hard water requires a chemical reaction on a fairly large scale. This is usually done using a water softener. The dissolved minerals are reacted with a salt (sodium chloride or potassium chloride) in a media chamber. The calcium and magnesium ions precipitate out on the medium and are exchanged for sodium (or potassium). The media chamber is periodically backwashed to flush out the reacted minerals and to recharge it with brine. Most of the salt put into the softener goes out into the treated water. The sodium content of treated water, even very hard water, is considered "very low sodium" by FDA standards. Many bottled waters contain considerably more. Some of the salt will be flushed down the drain during the backwash process. Generally, this is accepted as not harmful to septic systems (consider the dilution of 25 gallons of backwash vs. a 1000 gallon septic tank). I had a cheap convential system in a house I owned 15 years ago. The untreated water was so bad that attempts to use the "raw" water for lawn irrigation stained everything brown. The treated water tasted just fine, did not stain fixtures, and washed clothes without an issue. I needed to refill at a rate of a bag of salt per month. The backwash discharge went into the septic tank, where the 25 gallons or so of discharge was diluted with the 1000 gallons retained in the septic tank. For some reason the water treatment industry is full of mysticism, outlandish statements, and peculiar business arrangents (such as renting a $400 household appliance). Anyone that can master high school chemistry can figure out what a water softener has to do and why it needs to be periodically recharged with reactants. Any concerns over dietary sodium or impact to septic systems can be ameliorated with the simple substitution of potassium chloride for sodum chloride. Lots of people take potassium supplements and potassium is thought to be good for a septic system. As best I can determine "Spring House" is made by Ecowater, a vendor which I've seen to have reasonable quality equipment but also a good dose of hype and mysticism. The installed cost for the "Spring House" system is about $3500. It will also require annual media changes to the tune of $400 EVERY year. See the following website:>Link Lowes>Link and Home Depot sell water softeners off the shelf for about $400. The annual cost for sodium chloride would be $30 to $60. You can subsitute potassium chloride for a total annual cost of $40 to $120 if you are concerned about the impact of sodium on the discharge water. So you can pay $3500 plus $400 per year, and reap all the benefits of the SpringHouse, or $400 plus $30 per year, and treat the one problem you most likely have. The choice is yours...
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