how to program water softener


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Old 02-27-10, 05:28 PM
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how to program water softener

How do I know what hardness level I program I put in my water softener? I do not know what settings to use. Here is a test of my well water.. can someone tell me what all this means, and what settings I should be using?

Also my dishwasher leaves little redish/brown rust spots on my dishes, does that mean i have iron in my water and if so how do i stop it?

here is a sample of my water sample, please help me
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Old 02-27-10, 07:14 PM
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Your water test shows that you have .03mg/l iron in your water. A water softener can remove "free" iron but not other types.

Your softener setting is probably in grains while your water test is in mg/l. 17.1mg/l equals 1 grain so your hardness of 132mg/l equals 7.7 grains hardness.
 
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Old 02-27-10, 07:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Pilot Dane
Your water test shows that you have .03mg/l iron in your water.
is that bad? if so on a scale of 1-10 what would you say...

also the same for the hardness... is that a high level of hardness?
 
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Old 02-28-10, 10:29 AM
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Iron in sufficient quantity can cause staining. Generally levels such as you are reporting do not cause any significant problems. If the iron is what is known as clear water iron--the water flows clear but may preciptate out some iron when left to stand overnight--a softener will remove it.

Your hardness level is moderate--sufficient that you would definitely benefit with a softener but there are waters with much higher levels.

Given that you have a small quantity of iron in your water I recommend that you program your softener at 9 or 10 grains hardness and periodically use a resin cleaner such as Iron Out.
 
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Old 03-01-10, 04:57 AM
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Originally Posted by Bob999

Your hardness level is moderate--sufficient that you would definitely benefit with a softener but there are waters with much higher levels.

Given that you have a small quantity of iron in your water I recommend that you program your softener at 9 or 10 grains hardness and periodically use a resin cleaner such as Iron Out.
1. does moderate levels of hardness destroy plumbing over time if a softener is not used?

2. Example, when I program 9 or 10 grains of hardness, basically I am telling my water softener thats how much hardness I have in my water. originally (I am new to water softeners) I thought always put it on 1 grain of hardness, to tell the water softener to make it soft oooops

3. so its ok to switch up my salts? I should use my reg soft pack but once in a while its ok to use other specific salts that remove iron?
 
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Old 03-01-10, 06:54 AM
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1. Your level of water hardness is not too bad (mine is twice as hard and still considered moderate). The minerals that cause hardness can precipitate out of the water and can build up in your water heater hutring it's efficiency. Your level of hardness will not do too much to your pipes. Yes, minerals can build up but I don't think your hardness is so bad to loose sleep over.

2. The water softener will remove what it can from the water. You have no control over how much it softens. The number you program in tells it when to regenerate. If you have a 20'000 grain capacity softener and each gallon of water has 10 grains hardness then about 2'000 gallons is how much water the softener's can process before the resin (the stuff that actually does the work) has grabbed all the minerals it can and will no longer work. If you input a lower number than your actual water hardness the softener will work for a while and then stop softening and you will be back to your old hard water. If you input a higher number the softener will regenerate more often, wasting salt & water.

3. The softener uses salt pretty slowly (I only add salt to mine once a year) so switching salts once in a while is not a good strategy. If you want to remove iron you should use the salt for removing iron all the time.
 
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Old 03-01-10, 02:46 PM
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Originally Posted by rdn2424
1. does moderate levels of hardness destroy plumbing over time if a softener is not used?

2. Example, when I program 9 or 10 grains of hardness, basically I am telling my water softener thats how much hardness I have in my water. originally (I am new to water softeners) I thought always put it on 1 grain of hardness, to tell the water softener to make it soft oooops

3. so its ok to switch up my salts? I should use my reg soft pack but once in a while its ok to use other specific salts that remove iron?
Plumbing fixtures and valves will last longer and work better with soft water--the harder the water the greater the improvement.

You should always use salt--sodium chloride is the least expensive and most widely used but some people use potassium chloride to avoid adding sodium to the water. If you do use potassium chloride you will need to increase the amount of salt used by about 30%. I suggested that you periodically--perhaps with every bag of salt--add say 1/2 cup of iron out in with the salt to keep the resin free of iron. Alternatively you could use a salt with the iron removing additive already mixed in with the salt.
 
 

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