Recommendations on test equipment for hardness in tap water.
#14
That Hach kit was my initial idea.  Seemed a bit more scientific than a litmus paper test.

The pen type was my second choice, but if it's not exactly what I need, I'll just confuse the situation.
“Poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of cheap price is forgotten”
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#15
(02-06-2018, 07:31 AM)Snipe Hunter Wrote: imho, "hardness" aka "mineral" tests are only a small part of the equation. Why not test it for everything. I see a lot of people buying water softeners without testing the water for all that ails it. Iron, ph, bacteria, other contaminants, flow rate etc are just a few issues. Water tests are cheap might as well know everything about it. You really should know your flow rate (GPM) to make sure the softener is properly sized. Do that by placing a 5 gal bucket at the lowest tap in the house and time how long it takes to fill. Divide minutes by 5 gallon to get flow rate. Make sure yu do this in front of the softener, not after or put your softener in bypass mode if there are no faucets/hose-bibs in front of the softener. Hopefully a basement laundry/utility sink or even an outdoor hose bib. Don't use a shower, kitchen or sink faucet as they are generally metered to be no more than 2.5 gpm. If you want to know if the system is softening, check hardness in front and behind the system.

I believe most people buy the wrong system or are sold the wrong system. Do the tests and have Ohio Pure Water (I trust them completely) specify a system or make sure your system is the right one. Assuming you're comfortable with plumbing, OPW ships the equipment to your door about 40%/50% cheaper than plumbing suppliers and will give you lifetime Q&A. And it's sized right and the rght equipment for your issues based on the water test. I've put in a few of their (Fleck) systems. They always help me when I need it (except weekends, holidays)

This is a good test kit, no lab fees.
This is the same kit sold by Ohio Pure Water but half the price at HD



Side note:  If you aren't getting a salty taste in your water and if the salt in the brine tank is dissolving and needing replacement, your control valve and brine valve are good. If salt is dissolving and you're getting salty water, your control valve is bad. If salt isn't dissolving or the brine tank water is dingy, your brine valve is bad or the float valve isn't working or the discharge hose is kinked or clogged or the venturi jet is clogged or the filter screen is clogged. Not sure which system you have but they are easy fixes with Fleck equipment. Often times, only need cleaning.

The plastic beads in the tank also don't last forever. If everything is working correctly and still getting hard water, your system is sized incorrectly or the resin media beads in the resin tank are shot. The resin media beads don't last forever.

+1, this is what I did, as I replied earlier.  I went with their recommended softener as a replacement to the one I had, they also recommended a neutralizer (my water was slightly acidic) which I will add later this year, but since my softener had failed, I needed that immediately, at the time.  Listen to Snipe.
Paul
They were right, I SHOULDN'T have tried it at home!
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#16
(02-05-2018, 02:35 PM)fredhargis Wrote: I was watching this with interest since I want to replace my softener. I tried a test strip type of kit, and couldn't figure out what the readings were (very hard to match those colors). I'd like to have a lab test done and haven't figured out how to do that. The local health dept tests for everything but hardness, they suggested I just take a sample to a softener dealer and ask them to test it. I don't really want to do that since I have no intention of buying from them (I"ll go internet and install myself) but that might be what I have to do.

I admit that the colors were not an exact match, but the color was in between two different hardnesses, I forget if I split the difference or used the higher one when I emailed Ohio Pure Water. 

When my wife and I first moved into the house, I was not sure if the existing softener was working properly, we saw at a local home show that the local Culligan rep was offering free in-home water quality testing, so we set up an appointment and he came out and tested our water and indicated that we had slightly hard water, but nothing worth worrying over, so we kept using that old softener until it failed.  I was actually surprised that he didn't really try harder to sell us anything.  The test kit that Snipe and I recommend tested far more than what the Culligan rep used, but if all you want to test for is hardness, see if your local Culligan or whatever other water treatment rep is nearby, will do a free test for you, if you do not feel comfortable with the test strips.
Paul
They were right, I SHOULDN'T have tried it at home!
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