Which water softener should I get? + will a carbon filter reduce the soft taste?


  #1  
Old 03-18-18, 03:42 PM
Capable_Wife's Avatar
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: USA
Posts: 115
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Which water softener should I get? + will a carbon filter reduce the soft taste?

We're finally going to do it. We've ordered a new hot water heater, and worked out how to move it so that we have room for a softener.

My water is 24.6 GPG of hardness, and it sounds like I need a 64K softener, but I want one that wastes as little water and salt as possible. The softeners I'm looking at are:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...9VZK612L&psc=1
https://www.discountwatersofteners.c...-softener.html
https://www.uswatersystems.com/fusio...-softener.html

The one from amazon fits my budget the best, but I can probably make the others work if it will save me significantly on salt and water costs.

The next question is, will a carbon filter reduce the "soft" taste? I'm looking at this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...9VZK612L&psc=1

I can't seem to get a straight answer of whether or not the carbon filter will make the water taste less soft--the water doesn't have a lot of chlorine taste to it now (it actually tastes decent, for city water), so I don't care if it tastes like "bottled water", I just don't want it to taste like soft water. I like the idea of the carbon filter because I like to be able to get drinking water from whatever tap is closest (we live in a split foyer home, and spend a fair amount of time on a different floor than where the kitchen is, which is why I'm trying to avoid an RO system.)
 
  #2  
Old 03-20-18, 06:26 AM
biermech's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 1,707
Upvotes: 0
Received 3 Upvotes on 3 Posts
Carbon will not make to water taste less soft. Whoever, it will make to water taste better by removing chemicals and unwanted taste or odors. There is a reason the system from Amazon is cheaper should be questioned. Some suppliers do not add some items for free. Like a bypass. That is extra which drive the price up. Buyer beware of cheap because maybe that is what you will get.
 
  #3  
Old 03-20-18, 12:36 PM
Capable_Wife's Avatar
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: USA
Posts: 115
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Bummer about the charcoal filter, I wanted something that didn't waste a lot of water and didn't have a lot of tiny filters to change all the time. Guess I'm stuck though, since I really hate the taste of softened water (I tried my neighbor's from the tap, and after being softened it was undrinkable, yuck!)
 
  #4  
Old 03-20-18, 04:13 PM
Marq1's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: USA MI
Posts: 9,745
Received 1,210 Upvotes on 1,098 Posts
really hate the taste of softened water

Ive never known soft water to have a "soft taste". the water softener removes the ions that cause the water to be hard, in most cases calcium and magnesium ions.

I suspect it's other stuff in the water that the softener doesn't remove that you are tasting and that is something a carbon filter will help with!

Softeners and carbon filters are one of the few items that once you have them you will never be without!
 
  #5  
Old 03-20-18, 06:58 PM
GregH's Avatar
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Manitoba
Posts: 9,500
Received 68 Upvotes on 62 Posts
It is felt to be ok for a healthy person do drink softened water but it will contain a small amount of salt.
It is quite common to install a tee before the softener to bypass it and install a sediment and carbon filter for drinking water.
You could install a separate tap at the kitchen sink for the drinking water or supply the cold water tap instead.

The nature of an ion exchange softener is they all pretty much consume the same amount of salt.
 
  #6  
Old 03-21-18, 12:37 AM
Marq1's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: USA MI
Posts: 9,745
Received 1,210 Upvotes on 1,098 Posts
The AVERAGE glass of water from a softer contains half the sodium as a glass of diet coke. Nothing to be seriously concerned about and if desired a RO system will take care of anything remaining.
 
  #7  
Old 03-21-18, 07:13 AM
Capable_Wife's Avatar
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: USA
Posts: 115
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Thanks guys. I wasn't too worried about the salt causing health problems I was more bothered by the flavor it takes on after being softened. Kind of soapy maybe? It's hard to describe, but it doesn't taste good. I found an RO system that sounds like it might be able to handle everything I'd throw at it, and the brand overall has good reviews, so I guess if I can't get used to the taste I can get one of these to hook up.

In other news, I ordered the Genesis water softener last night before the sale was over, so it should be here in a few days. I hope it's as efficient as they say, otherwise I'll wish I'd have bought the cheaper one from Amazon.
 
  #8  
Old 04-05-18, 06:06 AM
Capable_Wife's Avatar
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: USA
Posts: 115
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Softener has been in for a week or so now, and it's pretty awesome. I didn't realize that my hair and skin would be softer too, I only ever heard about the using less soap (and calcium buildup) thing. Which, I don't know that I'm using less soap really, except for fabric softener and citric acid (in the dishwasher), but my clothes are softer even if I forget to toss in the downy ball! And I didn't even realize how cloudy my glasses were until I compared them to some that hadn't been through since the softener.

And @Marq1, you were right. When we put the softener and water heater in we replaced some of our old copper with PEX, thinking it would be easy to add in an RO system later, as of now, we're not sure if we'll bother or not. The water tastes different, but not bad.

Also, my neighbor's system must have an issue, because my water tastes completely different from his, and our houses are only 20-ish feet apart. Does the type of salt make a difference? He's using the cheapest yellow bag and I bought the one that is supposed to help with iron stains. I also set my softener a bit higher GPG to account for the iron as directed.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: