Need help with water softeners (Edmond, Guthrie: work, homes, businesses)

[ellenshel]

We recently moved out in the country between Edmond and Guthrie and are on well water with an aerobic septic system. Our water is quite hard and leaves a thick ugly film on the glasses in the dishwasher. Our search for a water softener/conditioner has been VERY confusing. - We also have blood pressure issues and cannot drink water with any added salt. - Has anyone been down this route before and can offer any advice from past experience ?

[Goodpasture]

If I am not mistaken, and RO system will remove just about everything in the water, including hardness, without salt. As an alternative, drink and cook with bottled water and use the salt softened water for bathing and cleaning.

[Gary Slusser]

Originally Posted by ellenshel

We recently moved out in the country between Edmond and Guthrie and are on well water with an aerobic septic system. Our water is quite hard and leaves a thick ugly film on the glasses in the dishwasher. Our search for a water softener/conditioner has been VERY confusing. - We also have blood pressure issues and cannot drink water with any added salt. - Has anyone been down this route before and can offer any advice from past experience ?

First you need a water analysis. You should test for hardness, iron, TDS (total dissolved solids), pH, Coliform bacteria, and if possible, nitrates, nitrites, chlorides, sulfates, sodium and manganese.

Basically all softeners are the same but the quality of the control valve, the thing that plugs into the wall receptacle, is most important to long service free operation. Big box store brand softeners are not known for longevity, they usually need expensive repair in 2-5 years. Real softeners, the ones you find in most businesses and homes are sold by local or online dealers. You find the dealers in your yellow pages under the heading Water or by a search of the internet for softeners etc..

You also should decide if you want to be dependent on a local dealer for parts and service or be an independent DIYer and buy online and do your own repair if needed. If you don't want to install your softener, you can hire a plumber or handyman for a few hundred dollars. In most cases you will save up to a couple thousand dollars when compared to a local dealer's prices. I suggest the Clack WS-1 is the best control valve. It was designed to be the easiest and quickest to program and repair having the fewest and lowest priced parts. It is ideal for anyone wanting to repair their softener instead of paying for a service call from a local dealer.

The amount of added salt, it's actually only added sodium, all the chlorides go to drain, is 7.85 mg/l (roughly a quart) per grain per gallon (gpg) of compensated hardness removed. I.E. 15 gpg hardness * 7.85 = 117.75 mg of added sodium per quart of softened water IF you drink it.

Compare that sodium content to a slice of white bread and you'll see the bread has between 120-160 mg of sodium. An 8 oz glass of skim milk has like 500 mg, or V8 juice, 560 mg etc. etc..

So you could drink a quart of your softened 15 gpg hard water and eat one slice of white bread less per day and actually reduce your sodium intake.

Check the labels on your food and beverages and really reduce your sodium intake or use potassium chloride (salt substitute) in your softener instead of sodium chloride (softener salt). The problem with the substitute is it is very expensive, up to $20 in some places for a 40 lb bag! and with a high salt efficiency softener, you must increase the volume used by up to 30% to get it to work as well as sodium chloride. All softener resins are made in the sodium form, there is no potassium form cation resins.