"Ben Sandee" wrote
Hello!

We very recently purchased a 30 year old home, with what turns out to
be
a completely failed 25-yr old Culligan water softener and what appears
to be a "disadvantaged", 15-yr old Culligan Iron Filter. Our main
concern initially was a water pressure problem which was easily
resolved
by bypassing the iron filter. We later discovered that the softener
was
not using any salt, and was completely inneffective.

We haven't had our water independently tested, but we have had a few
separate tests that are mostly consistent with each other:

Well water
23 grains of hardness
1.5 - 2.5 ppm of iron (independent - culligan)
300 (somethings) of dissolved solids

We've had a couple of people come out:

A local independent water softener company came out, tested our water,
and suggested a Osmonics softener, installed for ~$900. The brochures
make a point of saying they use Autotrol valves, which seem to be
common, so servicing the unit should be no problem in the future. He
advised that the softener should be able to handle the amount of iron
in
the water, but if we wanted a new iron filter he could sell us one for
$1700. There was no pressure to go with that immediately, however.

The next day, the local Culligan salesperson came out and ran a
battery
of tests on our water (all the while looking at our existing
equipment,
shaking his head in disbelief) and recommended that we replace the
water
softener with a Culligan unit ($1499) and either do a major overhaul
on
the current iron filter ($500, not guaranteed to fix the pressure
issues) or buy a new iron filter for $1900. He said that anyone who
told us that their softener could handle that level of iron was lying
to
us and wouldn't stand behind their products when the unit failed in a
few months.

So, who's telling the truth? The indepdendent dealer has been around
for decades, several generations. My grandparents have a conditioner
(on city water) from them and have had no problems with them, so I am
inclined to trust them. I'd appreciate any suggestions on these
subjects.

Thanks!

Ben

If you have 2.5 ppm of iron any softener used will have to be able to
deal with it for the long run or the resin will fail. Many softeners
that are built for that amount of iron would work for average
residential water volume; 3-4 people and no additional treated water
usage but... the pH is important. High pH makes ion exchange less likely
to work over long time frames than lower pH; say less than 7.2 pH.
Autotrol has good controls but, Fleck is better on dirty iron laden
water. Fleck has one moving part in the water stream while Autotrol has
6-7 flapper valves and long porting that if loaded up with rust (which
will happen with your iron levels) are difficult to clean.

I usually don't suggest replacing equipment that is capable of being
rebuilt, which both controls on your present units may be but... the
brand you have is not conducive to being easily rebuilt and rebeded with
new resin and mineral. And they want too much! They don't use industry
standard opening tanks (2.5" x 8 thread/inch), they use 3/4" fittings
with even smaller holes in their inlet diverter and distributor tube.
Although you may have their original Fleck Controls 2500 based valves
which are easily rebuilt with a piston and seal kit. They are very good
controls. But you'd still have the old tanks.

As you see the prices from the Water Guy folks are much higher than you
have to pay an independent for equipment that is not proprietary and is
as good and IMO better than theirs. And if you want to save more money
and still have many places to get service and/or parts if needed, buy it
over the internet and install it yourself. I and others sell over the
'net and a few of us offer personal support during installation and
setup while saving our customers hundreds of dollars per piece. As an
example I can do at least $300 better than the price you have for the
Autotrol based softener; although I don't know the capacity he quoted.
I'd need the number of people in your household and any additional
treated water you use or his capacity or the size of the tank he'd use.
That's a UPS delivered price with standard additions that he might offer
as options and charge more for. And yes, you wouldn't need the iron
filter as long as your iron is not over 5 ppm and is all clear water
iron (as drawn, no discolored water) and faithfully followed my
instructions as to how to maintain the softener. E-mail me if you want a
quote.

Gary
Quality Water Associates