Water softeners and water heaters

[warno]

Does anyone here have any advice on whole home water filters and on demand whole home water heaters? I'm pretty sure my water softener is getting ready to take a crap and the water heater is about 12 years old and not really keeping up liked it used to. I'm well-being about taking out the softener and putting in a whole home filtration system. Does anyone have any advice on using these? Do you like them or suggest going with a softener replacement?

I'm thinking the softener will go first before the heater so I'm most interested in that but could anyone suggest a place to look into a whole home on-demand unit for water heating?

Our home is about 1100 square feet. Typical water usage of 2 adults and 2 kids. Washer, dish washer, baths and showers. Any suggestions would be great or if more info would be needed just ask. Thank you.

 

[cd36]

Do you have access to gas or all electric? From what I have heard don't bother if it's electric.

What kind of filter are you looking at? A regular pleated or even carbon filter won't replace a water softener. I have a pleated filter in front of my softener but I'm on well water so this keeps crap from plugging up my softener.

Are you city or well water?

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

 

[warno]

Yep sorry i didn't add all that.

I'm on city water, natural gas, and the filters i was looking at were the pleated ones.

If the pleated ones are no good, are there any good ones to replace a softener?

 

[cd36]

Ro systems can remove hardness but for a whole home system they are expensive. There are whole home water conditioners that claim to make perfect water but I'm not sure on how well they work, they are geared towards wells. They are also expensive as well.

What's your end goal? Are you just wanting to save on having to buy a new softener? Or don't want to use salt? Are you wanting to improve your drinking water?

How hard is your water have you had it tested?

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

 

[warno]

I'm really just looking at options for the new softener. I'm not above putting another one in just thought a home filtering system would be better as far as removing everything. But if in the long run a softener would be better then so be it. I'm not afraid of slinging salt.

What are good brands of softeners?

 

[cd36]

It really depends on what is in your water. Have you had it tested at all?

The smallest pleated or spun filters will go down to 1 micron that I've seen, but typically you'll get 5 or 25 micron filters. These are more suited to removing suspended particles in the water. You can get charcoal ones for removing some smells and taste such as chlorine.

Softeners are for removing distilled calcium and magnesium in the water that makes it hard.

I old start with getting your water tested for hardness, iron, tds, to see what you're dealing with. You're on city water I wouldn't think it would be that bad but who knows.

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

 

[warno]

the water department in town will test the harness for free but they don't test anything else. I haven't had it tested yet. Ill get that done to see where I'm at then go from there.

 

[maple1]

We have a well. I should very likely have some kind of treatment, but don't. I think we are a bit acidic. A test we had done when we first built said a bit high in iron & magnesium (or was it manganese? likely...), but another one we had done a few years later didn't pick up on that. I expect to start having pinhole leaks show up in my copper piping, it has been 21 years with that slightly acidic water so is likely getting thin in spots.

So, it all comes down to water test.

All I did was get 4 of those cartridge filter things, and plumb them parallel/series. The whole house goes through them after it goes through the pump, split into two parallel branches each with 2 in series. I have 5 micron sediment filters in them. I started out with charcoal filters in the last filter pair for taste but switched to all sediment since we also use a brita for drinking water which takes care of taste. I just changed the initial pair of 2 last weekend. The second pair I change every other time since the first pair gets most of it. I think I go about 6 months or so between changes.

Just have an ordinary electric tank water heater. Might do different if I had NG, but I only have electric or oil as options.