03-04-2020, 08:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-04-2020, 08:06 PM by Snipe Hunter.)
(03-04-2020, 05:19 PM)Halfathumb Wrote: Do you have to remove the head to add salt. Seems like a pretty tight fit.
No, it has a separate brine tank. You'll have resin beads in the cylinder.
IIRC, you said you want it to cycle based on water used, not on a timer. So you'll need a "metered" head unit, not a "timer" or "mechanical" head unit.
You should also have some sort of "service bypass". This allows you to continuing water when the system is being serviced or when the system fails. You can do this a couple different ways. You can have a "Bypass Loop" installed with piping and valves or you can buy a "yoke and bypass" which is an option. This saves a lot of plumbing work and is probably cheaper. The cheaper ones are Noryl Plastic yoke and bypass ($20.00). Or you can upgrade to a Stainless yoke and bypass ($50.00). I prefer the stainless because there can be a bit of strain on them when servicing and the Noryl (plastic) can crack and leak. I've had issues with this. Last one was stainless, the one we have now is Noryl Plastic. And I've had some issues with it. The stainless yoke and bypass valve is very heavy duty compared to the Plastic Yoke and bypass valve.
Anyway, I suspect they will recommend the Fleck 5600SXT Electronic 3/4 Inch Meter On Demand Control Valve Water Softener 24000 Grain Capacity
This is made to connect to a 3/4" main water pipe. I suspect this is what you have. You can see the drop down parts list to the right and the prices. It will include your brine tank, cylinder, head unit, resin beads and the yoke. The defaults are included in the $490.00 price. But, once you submit your water test results and GPM, they will recommend the system. It doesn't come with a bypass valve so you would want that included. It makes servicing and installation easier. The "yoke" connects the head unit to your pipe. The "bypass valve" goes between the Yoke and Bypass Valve so your pipes would connect directly to the bypass valve.
If you look at this page, the yellow banner is where you submit your water test and GPM. They will email you the details of the system they recommend for you.
You may very well find that you don't even need a water softener, you may need a water conditioner to adjust PH or reduce iron etc.
When I inspect a house, I don't check water quality or water treatment systems because I'm not a plumber. So I recommend a well water treatment company evaluate what they have. I'm amazed at how often I find out that someone sold them a water softener when they don't even need one. They need a different system to treat their unique problem. Our well has PH and Iron problems, but the water isn't hard. So we have a system to treat iron and one to treat PH. At our last house, we had hard water and PH problems so we had a water softener and a PH treatment system. It's rare that I ever see a softener only for well water treatment.
