- Thread starter 55 50 Ron
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kcm.MN
Well-known Member
- Location
- NW Minnesota
We had a softener back in the Brainerd area, but can't remember how much we used. Has been about 15 years.
Up here, our neighbors have somewhat rusty water, but not us. Our here is crystal clear!
Up here, our neighbors have somewhat rusty water, but not us. Our here is crystal clear!
With the cost of salt going up all the time a new softner would probably pay for itself.
There's only TWO names to remember in softner control valves. Fleck Division of Pentair Water. and CLACK. I had a 15-16 year old Fleck softner valve that worked fine but always leaked between the resin tank and control valve. Cheap imported parts was the cause of the leak. I worked in Purchasing at Fleck for ten years.
Early this spring I got a great new Clack softner. They developed a lot of lower cost but durable components used inside their valves, a better value overall.
Just two of us, clothes washer, dish washer, but in three months I've used about 60# of salt. Softner moniters water usage, regens at 800 gallons, only when it needs to, not when a clock tells it to. I had one of Those softners when we bought this place, used 3-4 times as much salt then!
Do what I did, look up your local softner sales company, pay them a visit, take a jar of your unsoftened well water. See if they recommend a Fleck or a Clack valve. Same guy designed them both. He worked for Fleck for 20 years and then Clack for 20+ years. Still there I believe.
If you have 5-6 kids in the house 75# of salt a month would be about right.
There's only TWO names to remember in softner control valves. Fleck Division of Pentair Water. and CLACK. I had a 15-16 year old Fleck softner valve that worked fine but always leaked between the resin tank and control valve. Cheap imported parts was the cause of the leak. I worked in Purchasing at Fleck for ten years.
Early this spring I got a great new Clack softner. They developed a lot of lower cost but durable components used inside their valves, a better value overall.
Just two of us, clothes washer, dish washer, but in three months I've used about 60# of salt. Softner moniters water usage, regens at 800 gallons, only when it needs to, not when a clock tells it to. I had one of Those softners when we bought this place, used 3-4 times as much salt then!
Do what I did, look up your local softner sales company, pay them a visit, take a jar of your unsoftened well water. See if they recommend a Fleck or a Clack valve. Same guy designed them both. He worked for Fleck for 20 years and then Clack for 20+ years. Still there I believe.
If you have 5-6 kids in the house 75# of salt a month would be about right.
kcm.MN
Well-known Member
- Location
- NW Minnesota
Seems I also remember hearing something a while back (OK, a long time back!) about a softener that used something other than salt. Anyone remember hearing of those? Was it......peroxide maybe?
Russ from MN
Well-known Member
- Location
- Bemidji MN
That really depends how hard the water is and how much you use, it's different for everyone. That sounds like a lot. We have 2 places with 2 softeners and probably use 300 pounds a year, total, but we are gone a lot, and 3 months in the winter. My BIL in NY uses a lot, but his sprinkler system for 3 acres runs through a softener!
DoubleO7
Well-known Member
- Location
- Crystal River, FL
For rusty water you might be ahead by using something like a Terminox ISM filter system before softening the water.
Been using it for several years now and the cost of it has been paid for via less salt usage by the softener.
Been using it for several years now and the cost of it has been paid for via less salt usage by the softener.
If your softener regenerates off a timer, consider switching to one that is controlled by a water meter. Those do not regenerate until you use enough water that a regeneration is needed. The meter adds about $100 or less to the cost of a new water softener. We did that at my mom's house, she lives alone, and her salt usage dropped from a 40 pound bag of salt a month to two bags a year.
Going back many years ago. I stayed at a little motel near Cass, WV. The iron in the water was so bad that every item was screaming dark orange. Sink,tub,toilet. I made the mistake of taking a shower. I smelled like a iron foundery for close to a week. My water in SJ has a little iron in it but not enough to complain about.
Dr Evil obviously knows what he's talking about. WGM is so far off base I can't believe it. I have been to 4 different water conditioning schools, and am a journeyman Pipefitter besides. Stay away from Autotrol controls, they're prone to requiring much more service than the Clack or Fleck heads. Marlo out of Racine, WI makes an excellent product. I sold one to my cousin 15 years ago, not one service call EVER! His opinion (a mechanical engineer), "You'd have to be an idiot to buy anything but a Marlo".
Thanks for the compliment. Fleck makes a good valve, but the shop I bought my new Clack softner from last spring says they have gotten hard to deal with. They make the timer and valves in Wisconsin. Marlo was a great customer of Fleck. Fleck would do about anything they asked.
Our engineers always said the valves had a Design Life to Failure of 30 YEARS use in residential service.
They would set up test valves in the lab and run them for 100,000 to 250,000 cycles. The number of cycles varied depending on what the part was. Then there was some stuff they used plastic where a metal part would last forever and never break. My Fleck valve was about 22-23 years old, never had a single problem, as long as I remembered to add salt.
The old valve/softner I replaced was an Autotrol, just a timer, no water meter, wasted lots and lots of salt.
Our engineers always said the valves had a Design Life to Failure of 30 YEARS use in residential service.
They would set up test valves in the lab and run them for 100,000 to 250,000 cycles. The number of cycles varied depending on what the part was. Then there was some stuff they used plastic where a metal part would last forever and never break. My Fleck valve was about 22-23 years old, never had a single problem, as long as I remembered to add salt.
The old valve/softner I replaced was an Autotrol, just a timer, no water meter, wasted lots and lots of salt.
MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
Our water is hard with a fair amount of iron, and we use about half what you do.
Have you tried to adjust your softener? Particularly if it's not a demand softener, you can probably cut down quite a bit on your salt consumption. The trick is to use less salt and regen more often. Softeners are often adjusted to us enough salt to completely regen, which means you waste any salt that wasn't required. If it takes six pounds of salt to do a full regen, and the softener capacity is only 50 percent used up, then three pounds of salt went down the drain.
The softener should be set up so that each regen cycle only uses half as much salt as is required for a full regen. Then (if it's a timer-only unit), increase the regen frequency enough so you don't run out of soft water.
Have you tried to adjust your softener? Particularly if it's not a demand softener, you can probably cut down quite a bit on your salt consumption. The trick is to use less salt and regen more often. Softeners are often adjusted to us enough salt to completely regen, which means you waste any salt that wasn't required. If it takes six pounds of salt to do a full regen, and the softener capacity is only 50 percent used up, then three pounds of salt went down the drain.
The softener should be set up so that each regen cycle only uses half as much salt as is required for a full regen. Then (if it's a timer-only unit), increase the regen frequency enough so you don't run out of soft water.
Rollie NE PA
Well-known Member
I have a 30 year old Master water softener and I use about 30 lbs a month. I have it set to regen once every 6 days. I also have a chlorinator due to iron bacteria and sulphur.
showcrop
Well-known Member
I used to sell and rent and service water softeners. The ones I used had Fleck valves. We never had any trouble with them except the one here at the house needed a new board after maybe 15 years. I bought a Kinetico once. I tried it in two different locations and we could never get the piece of junk to work reliably. They sent a rep out and he fixed it all up, then three months later it was down again. I finally put a real one in there.
Roger in Wisconsin
Member
Farm and Fleet sells Adie softeners. They are on demand units and reasonable. FF will test your water for free.
Brian Jasper co. Ia
Well-known Member
That's a lot of salt. We have water so hard you have to pour slowly so you don't break the glass. I had a Kinettico installed and I only go through about 70lbs in a year. The water is nearly as soft as distilled water. Over time the lime and scale buildup has gone away on it's own.
Brian Jasper co. Ia
Well-known Member
Our Kinetico is 5 years old. We recently had a problem, but it was due to low water pressure. We're on rural water and I had them turn the regulator up. It's back to working like it did when it was first installed.
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