Water Softener for Autofill

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jimbethesda

jimbethesda

Gold Supporter
Jul 2, 2018
648
Austin, TX
Pool Size
20000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Anyone know of a good outdoor, non powered water softener I can install for my autofill? I’m not sure I want to invest in a whole house model. I’ve seen some non-powered versions, but not sure if they are worth it.

My fill water is about 80PPM of calcium, not as bad as some in AZ, but my calcium level does rise quite a bit by the end of the summer.

Thanks.
 
Look up “RV Water Softener”. They are non-powered and can usually treat about 1,000 gallons of water before needing regeneration. You do have to regenerate manually so it’s a bit more work. If you’re creative enough with the plumbing, you can add it in with a by-pass loop so that you can swap two in and out as needed or switch over to regular water if service is needed.

Probably a good idea to add a flow meter onto it so you can track usage. If you’re water is heavily chlorinated or chloraminated, then you might consider adding a granular activated carbon filter before the softener to reduce the chlorine. Chlorine destroys softener resins.
 
Jim...
Also check out Kinetico. If you do a search here, you'll see that several members including myself are using the Kinetico to battle rising CH. It sure has improved my situation. My city water is pretty hard at 200ppm. After running through the water softener, CH drops to 25ppm. I am using a Kinetico dual tank soft water system, so I am not really concerned with slightly increased re-generations of the softener since when one tank is regenerating the other is providing soft water. The tanks switch over automatically and as the name implies, it uses kinetic energy and not electricity for regeneration .

Salt consumption for the softener increased by about a 1/4 after plumbing the soft water line to the pool autofill line. A bit more in the summer but still, it's not bad. For the house and the pool, about 1 bag of salt per month on average. A bag of salt will run around $5.00 or so at Home Depot.

I'm super pleased with the results. When I started using the softener the pool CH was north of 600 and climbing. After a year and a half, of using the softener for evaporation and filter backwash compensation, my CH is 425 and is still dropping at a slow rate. That is why that I recommend using a 3-way valve between your city water and your soft water like I did. I can always use the ball valve to switch between the two to prevent CH from dropping too low. You can get an idea of how I did mine here and as Matt suggested, I also use a water meter which is reviewed in the following thread as well.

Water Meter Solution

Several months ago, while I was in the middle of a Swimming Pool Equipment Pad renovation and rebuild, I became aware of just how much water my pool was losing on a daily basis (yes it was summer in the desert and I have a fairly large pool surface area). At first I thought I might have a...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
Good luck...
r.
 
Last edited:
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MyAZPool said:
Jim...
Also check out Kinetico. If you do a search here, you'll see that several members including myself are using the Kinetico to battle rising CH. It sure has improved my situation. My city water is pretty hard at 200ppm. After running through the water softener, CH drops to 25ppm. I am using a Kinetico dual tank soft water system, so I am not really concerned with slightly increased re-generations of the softener since when one tank is regenerating the other is providing soft water. The tanks switch over automatically and as the name implies, it uses kinetic energy and not electricity for regeneration .

Salt consumption for the softener increased by about a 1/4 after plumbing the soft water line to the pool autofill line. A bit more in the summer but still, it's not bad. For the house and the pool, about 1 bag of salt per month on average. A bag of salt will run around $5.00 or so at Home Depot.

I'm super pleased with the results. When I started using the softener the pool CH was north of 600 and climbing. After a year and a half, of using the softener for evaporation and filter backwash compensation, my CH is 425 and is still dropping at a slow rate. That is why that I recommend using a 3-way valve between your city water and your soft water like I did. I can always use the ball valve to switch between the two to prevent CH from dropping too low. You can get an idea of how I did mine here and as Matt suggested, I also use a water meter which is reviewed in the following thread as well.

Good luck...
r.
Click to expand...

Glad I found this post! Also in AZ and my CH is super high. Was looking for a better solution than constant draining and refilling. Big project, but I think I need to tackle it.
 
HeffDad said:
Glad I found this post! Also in AZ and my CH is super high. Was looking for a better solution than constant draining and refilling. Big project, but I think I need to tackle it.
Click to expand...
HeffDad
Yup, I agree, it's one heck of a project. But besides renovating and updating my equipment pad and getting on board with the TFP method of Pool Care, it's one of the best things that I have ever done for my "cement pond" :p. It was so fun to actually watch my CH reverse course and begin to decrease over time, after plumping my refill to the softwater line. (y)
r.
 
To close the loop here. I decided on the cheap route for now. I bought:

Park Model Portable Water Softener & Conditioner - On The Go - Portable Water Softener

Park Model Portable Water Softener & Conditioner
www.portablewatersoftener.com www.portablewatersoftener.com

For now, I just hooked up to a hose and even though I have an auto fill, I’ve slightly “overfilled” the pool with water from the hose twice. So far, it’s been great. This time of year (hot, not much rain), my CH would be climbing. Not now, it’s been steady. Little bit of a hassle, but I can fill the pool pretty high, and it lasts several weeks before evaporating down to the level where the auto-fill would kick in.

I’m happy with my approach for now. I spent about $400 and it will prevent me from having to partially drain the pool every year or so.
 
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My only suggestion is if you use that setup you do not regenerate with table salt. Most table salts contain iodine and potassium ferrocyanide as an anti-caking agent. Those are not good for exchange resins. If you can find pickling salt, that would be best. Pickling salt does not contain any anti-caking agents or iodine.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
My only suggestion is if you use that setup you do not regenerate with table salt. Most table salts contain iodine and potassium ferrocyanide as an anti-caking agent. Those are not good for exchange resins. If you can find pickling salt, that would be best. Pickling salt does not contain any anti-caking agents or iodine.
Click to expand...
Noted...

Thanks Matt.
 

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Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
Hello @jimbethesda

How is the park model working out for you?

How long are you going regens?

Any input you can provide will help me in making a decision.

Thank you.
Click to expand...
So far so good. I little more work than if I hooked up a water softener to my auto-fill, but I'm happy with it. I've done a regen 3 times so far.
 
MyAZPool said:
Jim...
Also check out Kinetico. If you do a search here, you'll see that several members including myself are using the Kinetico to battle rising CH. It sure has improved my situation. My city water is pretty hard at 200ppm. After running through the water softener, CH drops to 25ppm. I am using a Kinetico dual tank soft water system, so I am not really concerned with slightly increased re-generations of the softener since when one tank is regenerating the other is providing soft water. The tanks switch over automatically and as the name implies, it uses kinetic energy and not electricity for regeneration .

Salt consumption for the softener increased by about a 1/4 after plumbing the soft water line to the pool autofill line. A bit more in the summer but still, it's not bad. For the house and the pool, about 1 bag of salt per month on average. A bag of salt will run around $5.00 or so at Home Depot.

I'm super pleased with the results. When I started using the softener the pool CH was north of 600 and climbing. After a year and a half, of using the softener for evaporation and filter backwash compensation, my CH is 425 and is still dropping at a slow rate. That is why that I recommend using a 3-way valve between your city water and your soft water like I did. I can always use the ball valve to switch between the two to prevent CH from dropping too low. You can get an idea of how I did mine here and as Matt suggested, I also use a water meter which is reviewed in the following thread as well.

Good luck...
r.
Click to expand...
Do you have pics of your Kinetico system as it is plumbed in for your pool?
 
LSU said:
Excellent and clean work! Have any pics of the Kinetico dual tanks? Trying to get a size reference
Click to expand...
@LSU
Thanks much! I'm running the Kinetico Model: Mach 2030s in conjunction with a De-chlorinator unit model 1030.

1688182772310.png 1688182882189.png
That said, the model that I'm running was sized for the type of water in my area (very hard water) and my family's needs.
You will need to contact your local Kinetico dealer and discuss with them what model that that you will require, specifically matched for your needs.
Thanks again,
r.
 
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MyAZPool said:
@LSU
Thanks much! I'm running the Kinetico Model: Mach 2030s in conjunction with a De-chlorinator unit model 1030.

View attachment 509257 View attachment 509258
That said, the model that I'm running was sized for the type of water in my area (very hard water) and my family's needs.
You will need to contact your local Kinetico dealer and discuss with them what model that that you will require, specifically matched for your needs.
Thanks again,
r.
Click to expand...
Appreciate the pics and reply!
 
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