OT:Help with a Water Softener

[SusanL]

We don't know what to do, and I wanted to ask for some help after last night's meeting with a rep. from a water softener company. He said that the amount of salt per quart of water was small, so that we wouldn't need to cut off the water into the sink. I alway heard that you didn't want to wash food or drink it. Anyone have one? After 2 1/2 years our dishwasher will need to be replaced because of the harshness in our water, some faucet nozzles also! We must get one but do we or don't we have soft water in the kitchen? TIA http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/confused.gif

[kwormann]

Growing up, we had a water softener, but somehow, it wasnt connected to the kitchen, so most of the water we drank and all we cooked with wasnt affected (although this doesnt help you, since your dishwasher is the problem)

Kim

[SandyM]

We have a water softener, and spent a fortune on it because we knew we'd have it forever. We have harsh well water, and we needed one.

Everyone I ask says we have great tasting water, although we've never had it tested. Maybe we should. I can't imagine that they'd sell us a product that would be harmful to our well being......... <taking off my rose colored glasses now> http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/cool.gif

[karole]

i'd say they usually leave the cold unsoftened. that's the way mine is. but--i have always wondered if it is safe to cook pasta in soft water. anyone kno?

[sneezles]

Where we live the water is so high in sulfur that we have to have a chlorinator and then a water softener. It connects to everything except the livestock water. Without it we would have to use "rotten egg" smelling water. Even when we lived in the city we had softeners. Much easier on the machines, use a lot less soap and you're skin doesn't look like you're part alligator! We've always been told the amount of salt is insignificant.

[joanieb]

SusanL--Been there! If your family is considering installing a softening system, PLEASE, PLEASE shop around at Sears, Lowes, etc., and don't depend on everything these water rep people tell you with their "health scare tactics!" We've had moderately hard well water for 25 years and 3 months ago installed a $500-600 Sears whole house system that seems to easily meet our needs for a fraction of what those water service systems cost ($4000 sound right?). We lucked into a coworker who had just bought one, then moved and didn't need it and gave us a break on $$! Luckily through the years we only have had to replace faucets & washers, no obvious appliance/pipe damage. With the softener, our water tastes as good as always, but adjusting to new soaping techniques has been comical (ala Lucy and the over-suds washing machine!). As someone else mentioned, sodium addition to food, drinks is supposed to be negligible, unless someone really has to be careful w/that, and you could use a small filter right on the tap to deal w/that. We've noticed no difference in cooking pasta, whatever. You can buy cheap testing kits at hardware store and keep check on the hardness and adjust as necessary, and the big bags of salt are relatively inexpensive. Just be careful of the spiel spun by the water guy and check out other options.

[SusanL]

Joanieb- Thanks, we WILL look into the local stores, hadn't thought of that. Our estimate was for $1800-$2100, not including the kitchen line. I really appreciate your response! How often do you have to put the salt into your system? We really need a system desperately and I hate waiting to get estimates, but will go to the Lowes/Sears/Home Depot this weekend!! Thanks Again!

[Kristilyn1]

Susan L-

Been there! This house we are moving into in a few weeks will be our first house on public water--I've always had a well. I highly recommend that you shop around within the water companies too! Any person that thinks they can solve your water problems without testing your water--are nuts! We had 3 different quotes, all the way up to $3,000 and the cheapest one was $1,000 (we bought it) it went in our basement and ALL the water in the house ran through it. There is iron in your water--but there are different kinds of iron, soluble and non-soluble and that determines what kind of system you use. Ours was a sodium based one that "flushed" itself twice a week in the middle of the night. The water company suggested that we service it once a year. It was an excellent investment.

To anyone else on well water--you should test your water if you never have---and even do it periodically.

Kristi

[sneezles]

Definitely check about the iron level in your water. They make a salt designed for it and your softener will do better with it if your iron level is high. We add a bag of salt every other Saturday. Since we don't have a basement our softener is in the garage. At one house we just buried it and built a little house to protect the top. And we did buy the high end machine the first time and then moved it with us to the next two houses. It doesn't have to be sold with the house.

[joanieb]

SusanL--I can truly understand your "immediacy" feeling if you got any of the scare, pressure tactics we've gotten, but you know you've lived with it this long, a few more days/weeks ain't gonna hurt to make sure you're getting your money's worth. Our system is the dark, spooky part of basement, so it's hubby's job to go back there, and I think he's been adding salt every 2 weeks or so, but there's only the 2 of us, so clean as we are, we don't use THAT much water. Our system has an auto "add salt" light and flushes/backwashes itself in the wee hours (a programmable feature for convenience), probably using MORE salt than we do! However route you go, you'll get a kick out of the soap trials/errors, once your water doesn't have all those "rocks" interferring with cleaning! I'm still getting used to rinsing AND rinsing "soap bubbles" in my bath water, and kinda miss my old soap scum sometimes! And I have the squeakiest hair around--very clean! Good luck in your homework!
joanieb

[joanieb]

SusanL--one more consideration! Did the water rep guy test for/give you advice on acidity, pH level? That could be doing as much damage to your pipes, faucets, dishwasher, as the hard water. That's a whole other filter system, using a different medium, and I think hubby had mentioned those systems are even more $$ than softening systems. We need to go there, too, but haven't--yet. Sears can test your pH if you take them a sample, if you head out this weekend looking at systems. Boy, good well water, can't live w/o it, almost can't afford it!!
Good luck!

[Kristilyn1]

One more note on the hard water thing--that's what it means when you have iron in your water--we ended up having a different kind of iron and didn't end up needing a softener, even though three companies told us we did. Not trying to diagnose your water of course, just pointing out that they may be dead wrong.

I'm puzzled about the adding salt thing, our system was a salt one and we only had to add salt once a year....

[shoefling]

This is just my two cents. We just built a new house and got a water softener after having hard water in our apartment for the last two years. I would definately reccommend Sears or someplace like that. I think that we spent around $500 on our system and it has been a great investment. Also, if you are worried about the sodium from the salt, they do make a potassium chloride that you can use instead. That is what we decided to do. I know that you can get the stuff at Sears.

[SusanL]

Thank you everyone! We were at Sears but the man wasn't as knowledgeable as he should have been. We are going back to talk to a manager this week, with a sample of our water for them to test, not just the hardness but also the iron, thank you Kristilyn and Sneezles. My DH wanted to know what system you have and from where. We are doing a comparison of several systems.
Thank you Joanie for all of your suggestions, the man who came to our house is an acquaintance of my dad's, therefore, we should only buy from him. He was shocked to hear we were getting estimates, doesn't everyone?
Karole, I agree with the cold water, I worry about putting so many things into our foods, now I may be putting more salt in?
I'll post my results when we make our decision, but if anyone has anymore suggestions, we'd appreciate them!!

[sneezles]

Our current one is called Maclean Water System and it's from a company based in Indiana-
Chemical Engineering Corp.
12528 U.S. 33 North
Churubusco, IN 46723
It was installed by our well man so I don't know who the local distributor is for that brand. The one we had in the city is a Culligan (have had it over 10 years and only needed minor repairs).