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Water softeners, school me.

bocco

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Our water quality seems to drop off during drought times. I'm getting really bad water spots when I wash the cars so I started thinking about a water softener. Looks like prices range from about $400.00 to $4000.00 or so.

What's good enough to reduce water spots and improve the taste a little without breaking the bank?

Looks like some have a pre filter that needs to be replaced. Are there other things to replace regularly?

Doesn't look to difficult to install myself. I can solder pipes.

Thanks
 

Mikes56

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I have Rayne come to my house and replace their tank once a week. It’s $35 a month and the piping and connections was installed for free.
 

HB2Havasu

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Our water quality seems to drop off during drought times. I'm getting really bad water spots when I wash the cars so I started thinking about a water softener. Looks like prices range from about $400.00 to $4000.00 or so.

What's good enough to reduce water spots and improve the taste a little without breaking the bank?

Looks like some have a pre filter that needs to be replaced. Are there other things to replace regularly?

Doesn't look to difficult to install myself. I can solder pipes.

Thanks
Yore on Well Water ? 💦
 

FreeBird236

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A traditional salt water softener in the 5-6 hundred range will remove most of the minerals, followed up by a reverse osmosis system for drinking water usually around $300 should do the job as far as the house is concerned, but still not good for washing the car because of salt deposits from the soft water. Maybe an additional filter like RD installed for washing the car. This is probably the most economical way too go, not sure if those high dollar whole house filter systems are worth the money, maybe someone else has expertise with those.
 

HBDano

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Don’t think salt water comes out of your faucet. The brine is used to back flush the resin in the tank. The minerals in the hard water attach to the resin. Call US water systems, they know what u need if your on well or city water. Install yourself or have a plumber do it.
 

4Waters

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The water has gotten worse here in Simi over the last couple of years as well, I'm seeing issues with my shower heads after 18 months.
 

LargeOrangeFont

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The water has gotten worse here in Simi over the last couple of years as well, I'm seeing issues with my shower heads after 18 months.

I'm sure yore water bills have gone down in that time period because you are getting a crappier water service.
 

STV_Keith

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Water softeners are for reducing the hardness of the water. That sticky feeling you have after a shower. This is also where the mineral deposits come from in the toilet, faucets, etc. Softeners reduce this. I have a softener in my house. I'm fine with the taste of the water that comes from the fridge, through it's filter, although some prefer a reverse osmosis system as well.

For cleaning cars, you want to use a de-ionized water source for the final rinse, which makes it spot free. RD has a system from CR Spotless. I just bought the Simple Chuck system, which is also from CR Spotless. If you are in an area where Culligan's rates are reasonable, I know people in Havasu that have a DI system that's like $45/mo and $110ish every 6 months for new resin (the stuff that filters the water). Here in Vegas it was over $100/mo, plus $150 install and over $200 for the refill. That's why I bought a system. The Simple Chuck is all self contained (and portable), and was $429 on Amazon. Refills of resin are $149 when it depletes. It's supposed to do 400 gallons or so, so as long as you are only using it for the rinse portion, it should last a while. You don't want to drink DI water though, only use it for rinsing the vehicles.
 

FreeBird236

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Don’t think salt water comes out of your faucet. The brine is used to back flush the resin in the tank. The minerals in the hard water attach to the resin. Call US water systems, they know what u need if your on well or city water. Install yourself or have a plumber do it.
Don't know if your quoting me, but I'm aware how the brine is used, but soft water does increase the salt content in the water and will cause spots when washing cars. I have a spigot in the garage right off the softener, and although it's better than the hard water it's still not acceptable for washing the car, unless you can get it dried with help asap.😁
 

WYRD

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Don't know if your quoting me, but I'm aware how the brine is used, but soft water does increase the salt content in the water and will cause spots when washing cars. I have a spigot in the garage right off the softener, and although it's better than the hard water it's still not acceptable for washing the car, unless you can get it dried with help asap.😁
Use potassium instead of salt
 

Wedgy

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The water has gotten worse here in Simi over the last couple of years as well, I'm seeing issues with my shower heads after 18 months.

Don't know if your quoting me, but I'm aware how the brine is used, but soft water does increase the salt content in the water and will cause spots when washing cars. I have a spigot in the garage right off the softener, and although it's better than the hard water it's still not acceptable for washing the car, unless you can get it dried with help asap.😁
Help is the best!

Water in SoCal that comes through the aqueducts, contains alot of Calcium and Magnesium. Water softeners remove these hard minerals by ion exchange as the water flows through a media filled tank. The hard mineral ions are exchanged for sodium ions, hence the water is then Soft. Soft water feels slippery, and takes more water to rinse off soap.
Add the DI tank which removes all the remaining mineral content. The Super Chuck looks to be a self contained unit with a media exchange instead of regeneration. $149. Pretty slick. I'd say less $ than exchange tanks.
 

WYRD

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How much better is it? I assume you would empty the brine tank. Anything to do with the media before the first regen?
I don't have one but when I was researching my softener I looked into utilizing potassium. It works in the same way that salt does only supposed to be healthier for consumption and easier on the internals of the system. Quite a bit more expensive than Salt though
 

WYRD

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I wound up going with a salt-free system since I had no good drain next to my tanks. It did help noticeably however my shower heads still build up a calcium residue
 

Bigbore500r

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The water has gotten worse here in Simi over the last couple of years as well, I'm seeing issues with my shower heads after 18 months.
Is your shower head growing a 2nd head?
That Santa Susanna Field laboratory.......
 

ONE-A-DAY

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Water softeners are for reducing the hardness of the water. That sticky feeling you have after a shower. This is also where the mineral deposits come from in the toilet, faucets, etc. Softeners reduce this. I have a softener in my house. I'm fine with the taste of the water that comes from the fridge, through it's filter, although some prefer a reverse osmosis system as well.

For cleaning cars, you want to use a de-ionized water source for the final rinse, which makes it spot free. RD has a system from CR Spotless. I just bought the Simple Chuck system, which is also from CR Spotless. If you are in an area where Culligan's rates are reasonable, I know people in Havasu that have a DI system that's like $45/mo and $110ish every 6 months for new resin (the stuff that filters the water). Here in Vegas it was over $100/mo, plus $150 install and over $200 for the refill. That's why I bought a system. The Simple Chuck is all self contained (and portable), and was $429 on Amazon. Refills of resin are $149 when it depletes. It's supposed to do 400 gallons or so, so as long as you are only using it for the rinse portion, it should last a while. You don't want to drink DI water though, only use it for rinsing the vehicles.
Damn they charge more in Vegas.........for washing cars soft water wont help, you need DI water. In Havasu Culligan rents you the system for $59 a month and brings our refills when needed at $139. The tanks give you 1100 gallons of DI water before needing to be changed. Washing my motorhome takes about 20 gallons with a pressure washer so I wash it every few weeks, all of our cars weekly, off road trailer etc., and the tanks last me about 4 months.
 
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