Pelican Water Softener

[Halfathumb]

Pelican is quite expensive. Not sure why.

Fleck is the the brand I recommended in the other thread. I'm a big fan for several reasons. One reason is they use one actuator valve. And a heavy duty motor. So if a valve goes bad, you know which one it is. It can be set up one of 2 ways. By water volume or set on a timer. Mine is set every 3 days. This way I know it will backflush at about 2 am, when nobody is using water. It's an old tried and true design.

A Fleck system should be in the $500.00 range.

I buy from Ohio Pure Water.

They will drop ship it to your home, tanks, yolk and resin media for the media tank. You'll have to buy your own salt. They'll email you PDF instructions for your unique set-up.

Ohio Pure Water will recommend how you set your timer based on you usage and how many people in the house.

Their prices seem to be about 30% cheaper than plumbing suppliers and up to about 50% cheaper than buying if from a plumber. They also provide exemplary customer service. We have two Fleck systems to treat our well water which is awful, brown, high iron water and out of whack PH. These two systems fixed our problem. At the last house we had a similar Fleck setup but also needed a water softener. I had a problem with it at about this time last year and I couldn't figure it out. It turned out that the float valve in the pick-up tube wasn't moving. They helped me diagnose it on the phone and sent the part out the next day.

Ohio Pure Water will want you to perform a flow rate test and test your water. You can do this with a 5 gallon bucket and a cheap home depot water test kit. They won't sell you a system if you don't do this. So, you go to their website, read about how to perform the test and send them the information. They will tell you which system you should buy for your flow rate and based on your test results.

You will have two choices for bypass Yolks. I recommend the stainless steel ones, the are less prone to leaking.

Even if you don't install this yourself, I would still consider purchasing from them for the cost savings and the customer service. Then hire a plumber to install it.

This is our fleck system. Everything came from Ohio Pure Water. The tank on the left has the same control head as a Fleck water softener, different valve but the same control head. This one can either be set with a timer or by volume. A Fleck Mechanical Timer head is about $50.00 cheaper but only allows the backflush function on a timed schedule. Which is really all that most people need. And it's easier to set up/program.

I'm on a community well. Everything seems to do just fine with my previous water softener. I guess I can get something from one of the box stores to test the PH which should help me decide what equipment I need? And thanks everyone for your help. BTW, Pelican seems to okay but pretty pricy.

[Snipe Hunter]

If you follow my link to OPW, you will see the form they want you to fill out so they can recommend the right system for your particular water condition. Let them decide for you. The box store's "one size fits all" may not be your best line of defense. But yes, a water test kit from the box store is fine. Also follow the guidelines from OPW to measure your flow rate to size your softener properly.

From OPW:

How can I tell what my flow rate is?

You can get an idea of your flow rate by simply running water at full open position through either an outside garden hose faucet or with your bathtub faucet.
• Find a container of know size in gallons – i.e. 5 gallon bucket
• Record the number of seconds it takes to completely fill the container up.
• Then divide the number of gallons, by the number of seconds, then multiply that number by 60.
• This will give you the flow rate in gallons per minute (GPM).

Example:
5 gallons divided by 17.5 seconds times 60 = 17.14 gallons per minute (gpm)

How can I have my water tested?

You can have your water tested locally (city or county health departments) for hardness, pH, TDS & Iron, or simply purchase a water test kit at this link! When you have your test results, simply E-mail or phone your results to us and we will assist you in determining what system is right for your particular application.

[fredhargis]

halfathumb, did you come to a decision with this info?

[Halfathumb]

halfathumb, did you come to a decision with this info?

I'm doing the tests now. After I contact OPW with the results, then I'll make a decision. Thanks for asking

[Halfathumb]

If you follow my link to OPW, you will see the form they want you to fill out so they can recommend the right system for your particular water condition. Let them decide for you. The box store's "one size fits all" may not be your best line of defense. But yes, a water test kit from the box store is fine. Also follow the guidelines from OPW to measure your flow rate to size your softener properly.

From OPW:

How can I tell what my flow rate is?

You can get an idea of your flow rate by simply running water at full open position through either an outside garden hose faucet or with your bathtub faucet.
• Find a container of know size in gallons – i.e. 5 gallon bucket
• Record the number of seconds it takes to completely fill the container up.
• Then divide the number of gallons, by the number of seconds, then multiply that number by 60.
• This will give you the flow rate in gallons per minute (GPM).

Example:
5 gallons divided by 17.5 seconds times 60 = 17.14 gallons per minute (gpm)

How can I have my water tested?

You can have your water tested locally (city or county health departments) for hardness, pH, TDS & Iron, or simply purchase a water test kit at this link! When you have your test results, simply E-mail or phone your results to us and we will assist you in determining what system is right for your particular application.

I used a 2 gal bucket, it took 45 seconds to fill. Using the math you provided I get 2.6 GPM

[Snipe Hunter]

Man, that's awfully low GPM, less than half what I would have expected. Are you sure you did this right? Where did you test this? Hopefully a basement sink or an outdoor spigot (hose bib)?

[Halfathumb]

Man, that's awfully low GPM, less than half what I would have expected. Are you sure you did this right? Where did you test this? Hopefully a basement sink or an outdoor spigot (hose bib)?

Yea. I thought that was low also. Remember I filled just 2 gals, once in my utility sink in my shop which is very close the main water valve. That came out to 1.3 GPM. Then I did it in a bath tube (in the center of the house) which came out to 2.6 GPM. Today I'm going to barrow a 5 gal can and see how that turns out. Should I use hot and cold?

[fredhargis]

Yea. I thought that was low also. Remember I filled just 2 gals, once in my utility sink in my shop which is very close the main water valve. That came out to 1.3 GPM. Then I did it in a bath tube (in the center of the house) which came out to 2.6 GPM. Today I'm going to barrow a 5 gal can and see how that turns out. Should I use hot and cold?

Your softener will be pulling water on the cold side. But some faucets have flow restritors on them, you need an unrestricted source to draw the water from. Hose bibs work the best.

[Snipe Hunter]

Yea. I thought that was low also. Remember I filled just 2 gals, once in my utility sink in my shop which is very close the main water valve. That came out to 1.3 GPM. Then I did it in a bath tube (in the center of the house) which came out to 2.6 GPM. Today I'm going to barrow a 5 gal can and see how that turns out. Should I use hot and cold?

Do you have a well pressure tank? I'd use the spigot at the base of the pressure tank or at the closest exterior hose bib.
But, if you don't have the pressure tank, I'd open the lowest faucet, preferably something close to the inlet to the house (assuming you don't have a well pressure tank) or as close to the pressure tank as possible. But, if I cheked in a tub, I'd open both faucets wide open.

The venturi valve in your softener needs decent flow/pressure for the softener to pull brine from the brine tank. Without it, your softener won't function correctly. I'm not sure it would throw a code though as I'm not familiar with that type of system.

[Halfathumb]

Do you have a well pressure tank? I'd use the spigot at the base of the pressure tank or at the closest exterior hose bib.
But, if you don't have the pressure tank, I'd open the lowest faucet, preferably something close to the inlet to the house (assuming you don't have a well pressure tank) or as close to the pressure tank as possible. But, if I checked in a tub, I'd open both faucets wide open.

The venturi valve in your softener needs decent flow/pressure for the softener to pull brine from the brine tank. Without it, your softener won't function correctly. I'm not sure it would throw a code though as I'm not familiar with that type of system.

Do you have to remove the head to add salt. Seems like a pretty tight fit.