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We purchased a home recently. The well water tested high in nitrates (about double recommended levels), although it tastes good, and is not as hard as you'd expect (we do have a water softener, though).
Two possible solutions are either Reverse Osmosis and Ion Exchange. Can you tell me the pros and cons of each?
A few concerns and observations we have:
1. We have a "pot filler" in our kitchen. Even if we get a system large enough to supply the pot filler as well as other sinks to drink from, how do we get HOT water? My wife in particular finds it inconvenient to have to always heat cold/room temp water to boiling.
2. For RO, the "Whole house" systems appear to be expensive, and can corrode other systems.
3. Is there a way to set up a system where the "cold" in each sink faucet is treated water, but the hot, toilets, and showers (as well as external spigots) bypass it, plus maybe have a "hot" to the pot filler?
The Brits solve the hot water for cooking issue with an electric teakettle. Those have immersion heaters and are surprisingly fast at heating a half gallon of water, especially if it kept filled at room temperatures. They end up being more efficient, as there is no line loss from heated water cooling in pipes.
Skip the whole house RO idea. You could do a resin filter, but I wouldn't get too worried about the occasional drink of the raw water. The nitrate issue is of more concern for kids.
Ion exchange works well - I was involved with a major fried-chicken chain that had areas where the nitrate levels were high enough to discolor the chicken they were prepping for cooking. It was economical and simple to operate. I wouldn't go to the expense and hassle of a whole-house RO system. You can avoid the issue w/the aggressive water caused by the low TDS of the RO, but the costs just don't justify it when you can address it by the ion exchange. And yes - for the record, it's what I've done for over 40 years - so I have some background in it.....
Ion exchange works well - I was involved with a major fried-chicken chain that had areas where the nitrate levels were high enough to discolor the chicken they were prepping for cooking. It was economical and simple to operate. I wouldn't go to the expense and hassle of a whole-house RO system. You can avoid the issue w/the aggressive water caused by the low TDS of the RO, but the costs just don't justify it when you can address it by the ion exchange. And yes - for the record, it's what I've done for over 40 years - so I have some background in it.....
The issue is most ion exchange systems are junk. I have a graveyard of them that have been ripped out because they don’t work well or stand up to the test of time.
I stand by my original advice of a softener sized for the house, with nitrate resin. A nice Fleck digital valve will last a long time. Low maintenance with the exception of dumping salt into a bribe tank every few months.
The issue is most ion exchange systems are junk. I have a graveyard of them that have been ripped out because they don’t work well or stand up to the test of time.
I stand by my original advice of a softener sized for the house, with nitrate resin. A nice Fleck digital valve will last a long time. Low maintenance with the exception of dumping salt into a bribe tank every few months.
That's exactly what I was referring to - a backwashing style unit. I don't call them softeners because they aren't - but if you toss a Fleck Econominder on top of that unit, you're dang near bulletproof. The digital units they sell I'm not a fan of - I've replaced a LOT of them.
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