Medicine transcription - OT- Water softener

Author

OT- Water softener

Bob

2005-04-20, 10:48 pm

We are thinking about getting a water softener. From our local water
utility, our water averages 15 - 20 grains per gallon (gpg) of
hardness, but all the water softeners capacities are simply rated as
grains. For example, one says it offers 42,000 grains capacity. I'm
guessing this is the softening capacity per day.

I'm trying to figure out how to convert 20 grains per gallon to grains
capacity.

My first thought was: grains capacity required = average water use per
person per day * number of people in household * 20 grains per gallon

However, given that we use an average of 120 gallons of water per day
per person, I would get:

x = 120 * 3 * 20
x = 7200

This is obviously wrong as no water softener has such a low rating.

Does anyone know how to figure out what capacity we need?

Thanks,

Bob/Texas

Steevo@my-deja.com

2005-04-21, 8:49 am

On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 03:21:12 GMT, Bob <nottooslow@forevermail.com>
wrote:

>I'm
>guessing this is the softening capacity per day.
More likely it is capacity before regeneration is necessary. You
don't want the damned thing regenerating every night! Once or twice a
week at the most. It takes several hours in the dead of night. The
more water you use the sooner it has to regen. Uses your salt, and
water for the process.

I have one of the Sears demand type units, same as the GE from Home
Depot, also sold as Morton brand at Walmart and others. They are all
made by a company called Ecowater. Ecowater.com. Take the top off
and look inside. Same guts. Different outside.

I recommend Sears. You are gonna need parts, believe me! Little
insignificant parts, but parts just the same. I have 3 of them I am
taking care of now, used to be four. At least you can get parts from
Sears. Home Depot doesn't carry any of the little rubber parts that
cause eventual failure on those units ( I asked them to). They say
"call the 800 number". Yeah, right. You want them now. Not by mail.

Once you get used to soft water you will not want to have that thing
quit working!

Bob

2005-04-21, 10:48 pm

Steevo,

In article <n2ae61p5t3jrl0mcs5i7gi8k361014j5kr@4ax.com>, steevo@my-
deja.com says...
> On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 03:21:12 GMT, Bob <nottooslow@forevermail.com>
> wrote:
>
> More likely it is capacity before regeneration is necessary. You

That makes sense.

> don't want the damned thing regenerating every night! Once or twice a
> week at the most. It takes several hours in the dead of night. The
> more water you use the sooner it has to regen. Uses your salt, and
> water for the process.
>

Correct. It's been 20+ years since I've had a softener and it was a
timer back then. We set it for the middle of the night, every x days.

> I have one of the Sears demand type units, same as the GE from Home
> Depot, also sold as Morton brand at Walmart and others. They are all
> made by a company called Ecowater. Ecowater.com. Take the top off
> and look inside. Same guts. Different outside.
>

Yep. There have been some advances since I had one. Now everything is
in one tank. Back then there was a separate salt tank. And of course, a
lot of the mechanical stuff has been replaced by electronics. Less to
fail.

> I recommend Sears. You are gonna need parts, believe me! Little
> insignificant parts, but parts just the same. I have 3 of them I am
> taking care of now, used to be four. At least you can get parts from
> Sears. Home Depot doesn't carry any of the little rubber parts that
> cause eventual failure on those units ( I asked them to). They say
> "call the 800 number". Yeah, right. You want them now. Not by mail.
>

Not to mention shipping and handling costs. I had to order something
from a manufacturer's web site and the shipping and handling charges
were triple the cost of the part. For some companies, the S & H charges
represent a close approximation of the actual cost. For others, it's
simply additional profit. Here's a clue; if the S & H charges look out
of line, they are hiding additional profit. If the S & H charges look
WAY out of line and the company offers a money-back guarantee, minus
the S & H charges, there is non-trivial chance that the S & H charges
cover the actual S & H expenses PLUS the cost of the product. If you
exercise the return privs, the company doesn't lose any money.

> Once you get used to soft water you will not want to have that thing
> quit working!
>
Yep.

Bob/Texas

Bob Rahe

2005-04-22, 5:48 pm

Try this guy:

http://www.qualitywaterassociates.com/

I just got a softener from him to install in our new house. Free
shipping altho the unit wasn't particularly cheap. He recommends a
unit with the Clack WS-1 control valve.

He has a lot of info on them along with a calculator on how to figure
out capacity. And his after-sale info is also very detailed on how
to set up and install.

You WILL love soft water altho it takes some getting used to. You will
feel like you're not washing off all the soap when you shower or wash your
hands - it's just your skin is naturally slippery which gets masked by
hard water.

In article <MPG.1cd0d809ff4b6e049896a4@news-server.satx.rr.com>,
Bob <nottooslow@forevermail.com> wrote:
>We are thinking about getting a water softener. From our local water
>utility, our water averages 15 - 20 grains per gallon (gpg) of
>hardness, but all the water softeners capacities are simply rated as
>grains. For example, one says it offers 42,000 grains capacity. I'm
>guessing this is the softening capacity per day.
>
>I'm trying to figure out how to convert 20 grains per gallon to grains
>capacity.
>
>My first thought was: grains capacity required = average water use per
>person per day * number of people in household * 20 grains per gallon
>
>However, given that we use an average of 120 gallons of water per day
>per person, I would get:
>
>x = 120 * 3 * 20
>x = 7200
>
>This is obviously wrong as no water softener has such a low rating.
>
>Does anyone know how to figure out what capacity we need?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Bob/Texas

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Bob

2005-04-22, 10:48 pm

In article <d4bhu1$jka$1@dewey.udel.edu>, bob@hobbes.dtcc.edu says...
> Try this guy:
>
> http://www.qualitywaterassociates.com/
>
> I just got a softener from him to install in our new house. Free
> shipping altho the unit wasn't particularly cheap. He recommends a
> unit with the Clack WS-1 control valve.
>
> He has a lot of info on them along with a calculator on how to figure
> out capacity. And his after-sale info is also very detailed on how
> to set up and install.
>
> You WILL love soft water altho it takes some getting used to. You will
> feel like you're not washing off all the soap when you shower or wash your
> hands - it's just your skin is naturally slippery which gets masked by
> hard water.
>
Bob

Thanks for the pointer.

Bob/Texas

Bob

2005-04-26, 10:51 pm