Knocking CH Out of the Park

[mknauss]

I am pondering the water softener thing too. We do not have one for the house, to be honest Laughlin gets its water directly from the river so not quite as bad as the AZ side. I also cover our pool for April, May, September, and October and that really reduces the overall evaporation.

Our water cost is starting to creep up. The SNWA is pushing costs up and it is rolling down to our water district.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I am pondering the water softener thing too. We do not have one for the house, to be honest Laughlin gets its water directly from the river so not quite as bad as the AZ side. I also cover our pool for April, May, September, and October and that really reduces the overall evaporation.

Our water cost is starting to creep up. The SNWA is pushing costs up and it is rolling down to our water district.

If you get a whole-house water softener, I would suggest you also get and under-sink RO tap as well. Softened water will have a higher than normal sodium ion (Na+) content because calcium gets replaced by sodium in solution. Sodium is the ion partly responsible for our tongues “salty” taste sensation (Calcium ions don't trigger the receptors). This is why most water districts will try to keep sodium concentrations below 50ppm to avoid taste issues.

An RO tank under the sink stores about 2-4 gallons of water in it which is fine for drinking and rinsing purposes.

 

[mknauss]

Thanks Matt. Do not plan on having the water softener for the house. We really do not have issue with calcium build up on fixtures, etc.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Since we're on the subject, I have a question regarding a problem with our water softener.

Our home has a RainSoft TC-M Conditioner Series Water Treatment System which was likely installed in 2004 or so. It functioned well for a few years. A couple years ago, I noticed a significant amount of black residue in the water. I can best describe it as a charcoal like substance. The system seemed to go through the proper regen process overnight and the valve controls on top seemed to be functioning properly. I have since bypassed the system and thinking about getting up and running. Do the filter tanks or whatever they're called go bad?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

That is probably a dual elimination system - there’s an ion exchange resin tank to remove hardness and a granular activates carbon (GAC) tank to remove chlorine and certain metals. If you are seeing “black carbon” then there’s likely something wrong with the GAC tank plumbing or control valves. In any case, if you haven’t used the system in years, then the media in those tanks is probably shot and needs to be replaced. Those control valves look pretty old too. I’d suggest looking into installing a newer system as the amount of salt and water used in the regeneration process has improved over the years.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Thanks Matt. I appreciate the input!

Since our fill water CH is at 100-125 ppm, I haven't been real motivated to get it going anyways. This year I was able to reduce last summer's CH gains by using rain water during winter storms.

 

[aerospa]

Hi All,

I just wanted to close out this thread with an update. I have reactivated our water softener and used the CH test to show that it indeed removes most of the calcium in the water ~25ppm residual. I can confirm the soft water feels more silky/slippery. I’m doing it mostly for the benefit of my appliances and dishes, since water is not too expensive where I am and I could stomach the drain/refill.

Thank you to everyone who helped me out!

 

[Jimbarstow]

I successfully managed calcium up 1200 ppm. Drain refill was >$2200 and the Ca in the fill water was > 200 ppm. I found a pool RO service that ran the water through their system and I ended up with incredibly pure water. RO services are much more common in S Cal and Arizona so you should be able to find one. (This is the one I used in N Ca: http://eastbaywatersolutions.com)

 

[aerospa]

Drain refill was >$2200 and the Ca in the fill water was > 200 ppm.

$2200!!!! :O

I calculated $120 for a hypothetical drain/refill at the max tier water rates. Actually I didn’t include sewer charges. My sewer and water are two different companies and I’m not sure if they talk to each other, I assumed my sewer bill wouldn’t change.

Similarly, TF100 says my fill water is 200-250 ppm calcium.

 

[ping]

Jimbarstow, are you sure you meant to say $2200. for a drain and refill, I'm thinking it should be more around $220. It costs me less than a hundred bucks to drain and refill in SoCal.

 

[Jimbarstow]

Yup, $2200.

we’re on a well and there is no way I’m going to tax my well by drawing >20,000 gallons in a short period. The cost of damaging our well would make the $2200 look like petty cash. The cost covered a bunch of trips of a medium sized water truck 45 min each way. Our “driveway” is a mile long rocked road and the deliveries had to be done during the rainy season. That meant they couldn’t use their biggest tanker and had to wait a couple days after a rainstorm to let things dry out.

I don’t think I got a bargain but the price was not out of line with other suppliers. The quality of the water was way better than when we filled it the first time.

For those of you in dry areas (most of Ca and the west), I suspect the low cost of water reflects water subsidies. The farms of the Ca Central Valley pay a fraction of the true cost of water infrastructure and actually delivering water.