As I plan to move forward in the very near future with the install of my Econoburn 150 and 1350 gallons of unpressurized storage, separated by a plate heat exchanger, here's a question that crosses my mind, and on which I'd eagerly welcome input from both the "pros" and the experienced DIY-ers
my domestic water for my 1830+/- house comes from a spring so old that my neighbor whose family's roots go way way back says that the spring is even older than my house.
the spring has never gone dry, even during severe droughts where drilled wells were going dry, and gravity delivers the flow to my holding tank in the cellar, so I am very happy with the arrangement
the spring is at the foot of what is litterally the tallest hill in town, and it must originate fairly deep down in the geologic formations, because unlike most spring water that tends to be derived from shallow groundwater, thus making most sprins rather "soft" on minerals, mine is quite hard-- cooking pots and sinks take on a "chalky" buildup unless scrubbed. It's not obnoxiously hard to the point that I'd seriously contemplate a water softener, but it is definitely harder than what most people would consider average (I figure it's free mineral supplements). Never have had it tested for mineral constituents, but since a lot of the local stone is low grade slate and shale with a lot of calcium, I'm guessing that a lot of the hardness is lime
Do I need to worry about the "hardness" of water I put in either the boiler's pressurized and sealed system or the un-pressurized heat storage?
I DO have access to free softened water from someone nearby with a water softener, so could use that to fill my system instead, even though that'll be a lot of trips (even at 1/2 mile round trip) with a 55 gallon poly drum.... I'm willing to do that if it's in the best long run interest of a reliable system. But then again, I am also remembering that water softeners work by using ion exchange to trade the "hard" minerals (calcium, magnesium, etc) for the "soft" sodium- which is actually more reactive.
looking forward to the usual good ideas that are freely shared around here
thanks
my domestic water for my 1830+/- house comes from a spring so old that my neighbor whose family's roots go way way back says that the spring is even older than my house.
the spring has never gone dry, even during severe droughts where drilled wells were going dry, and gravity delivers the flow to my holding tank in the cellar, so I am very happy with the arrangement
the spring is at the foot of what is litterally the tallest hill in town, and it must originate fairly deep down in the geologic formations, because unlike most spring water that tends to be derived from shallow groundwater, thus making most sprins rather "soft" on minerals, mine is quite hard-- cooking pots and sinks take on a "chalky" buildup unless scrubbed. It's not obnoxiously hard to the point that I'd seriously contemplate a water softener, but it is definitely harder than what most people would consider average (I figure it's free mineral supplements). Never have had it tested for mineral constituents, but since a lot of the local stone is low grade slate and shale with a lot of calcium, I'm guessing that a lot of the hardness is lime
Do I need to worry about the "hardness" of water I put in either the boiler's pressurized and sealed system or the un-pressurized heat storage?
I DO have access to free softened water from someone nearby with a water softener, so could use that to fill my system instead, even though that'll be a lot of trips (even at 1/2 mile round trip) with a 55 gallon poly drum.... I'm willing to do that if it's in the best long run interest of a reliable system. But then again, I am also remembering that water softeners work by using ion exchange to trade the "hard" minerals (calcium, magnesium, etc) for the "soft" sodium- which is actually more reactive.
looking forward to the usual good ideas that are freely shared around here
thanks
