Auto-fill Water Softener

[RoyR]

I don’t have a whole house water softener, but would like a smaller unit for the pool…any recommendations / install pics would be appreciated.

 

[proavia]

I believe @mknauss may have a possible option.

 

[mknauss]

I installed an RV Portable Softener. It is all manual. You have to regenerate it. It costs about the same as a normal small automatic softener. If you have a drain that the backwash/regenerate effluent can go to where you will install yours, get a small regular softener.

This is what I got. RV Softener

I have 16gpg water. It can handle about 800 gallons throughput until you need to regenerate. Not a perfect system, but helps in keeping the CH of our pool water under control.

 

[scottts]

I plumbed in a RV type portable softener. Its a 16,000 grain unit. I get about 800 gallons of reduced calcium water between manual regens. I have two of them so I can switch one out and regen the other offline. They require no electrical power. Uses two 26oz boxes of table salt to regen.

Unfortunately the pool uses about 800 gallons a week right now in the summer so regening is a weekly affair. I expect it will be much less in the winter. Works good to keep the pool CH down, but kind of a pain.

I have the double size model from here

 

[mknauss]

@scottts Same unit I have.

Yours is far more involved in the hookup!
What flow rate meter is that? Is it accurate?

 

[scottts]

@scottts Same unit I have.

Yours is far more involved in the hookup!
What flow rate meter is that? Is it accurate?

Its a model DM-P-025 from Assured Automation. I got it here. I chose the very smallest battery powered unit for the lowest minimum flow rate. The specs indicate it can measure down to .022 GPM. I don't really know how accurate it is but I've seen it slowly tick over .001 gallons. It works well enough to know when to change the softener tank.

Its nice to have. For example, it told me that with all the rains we've had I didn't need to change the tank for 3 weeks.

I went with this installation because the house already had one of those "no-salt" whole house "softeners" which of course don't remove any hardness calcium or otherwise.

 

[mknauss]

It works well enough to know when to change the softener tank.

Interesting. I currently just check the CH of the water coming out of the softener.

 

[BowserB]

Question. If high calcium and magnesium is a problem, isn't it also a problem for the house? Water heater, hot water pipes, dishwasher, plumbing fixtures, hard water residue on shower doors, and so on, are all reasons for a whole house water softener. And that's not a very expensive home improvement. If sodium in your home water supply is a concern, you can use potassium water softener crystals instead of sodium salt. Yes, potassium is a lot more expensive than regular salt, but it's still not a budget buster. I've lost water heaters over the years to calcium deposits--but not since I moved into a new house and added a water softener first thing. Just another thought.

 

[RoyR]

Yes, water softener is good for the house...that said, my pool is on the irrigation line - so I need a water softener just for the pool. Good ideas here, let me research.