"Ben Sandee" wrote
Gary,

Thanks for the great information. I have a few follow-up questions
that
you may be able to answer:

Gary Slusser wrote:
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.

Any suggestions on how to get an unbiased test of our water (hardness,
iron and PH)? Are the water test kits at home improvement stores
(i.e.
Home Depot) reliable for this sort of situation or do we need to send
our water out to the lab? None of our quotes have thus far tested the
PH of the water.

You should be able to have any dealer, Sears or a lab test it. The test
kits you get at some stores are not as good as a dealer or lab. I
question anyone doing water tests to troubleshoot a softener and how
it's working without doing a pH test.

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.

Yes, I've been reading the archives of this group and it seems clear
to
me that Culligan is something *I* want to steer clear of because I
don't
like having my choices limited in the long term. If I were rich and
lazy I might just go with Culligan but unfortunately for me I'm only
one
of those (I'll let you guess which one).

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.

The water isn't discolored -- it looks clear in a glass but if you
spray
it into the air with a hose in sunlight you can see a slight red/brown
tint to the water. Is this clear "as drawn"?

That could be the sunlight. Draw some in a clear smooth glass and hold
it up to light or a window. As long as it is clear it's good. If it
discolors after a few minutes that means it will be fine too.

So, with the water test results, I'd also need to know the number of
people in the house.

Gary
Quality Water Associates

Thanks again!
Ben