Questions about Whole House Water Filtration Systems

[Ibrahim]

Hey Everyone!

My house is currently getting city water and it's definitely not water I want to drink. We had a salesman come out from RainSoft to test our water and pitch us their system. My wife and I were really impressed with their presentation and it highlighted some pretty bad numbers for our water.

The TDS was at 250
The Chlorine was 2-3
Hardness was a 12
Precipitation was 45%

The system they pitched was around $7,300 installed. That's more than we want to spend, so I started researching other options.

There are a LOT of options out there, and so I figured I'd ask here in case some people have gone through the process already and have some advice.

They were pitching us a filter, water conditioner, and then under the sink RO system.

The goal for us is to reduce that hardness. It's leaving scale marks and damaging our appliances so this is the #1 goal of this filtration system.

We also want to reduce/remove the chlorine and lower the rest in general. I'm not sold on the superiority of water conditioners vs softeners, and we still would use an RO filter for drinking/cooking water if necessary.

The system I was looking at most recently was: Water Filter and Salt Based Water Softener System - SpringWell Water Filtration Systems

In terms of water flow it sounds good, also looks like it'll do all the things I wanted it to do, and it's under $2000 for the unit (I'm not sure if I can do the install or will hire a plumber, but I'm willing to pay a pro to make sure it's done right.)

Am I missing anything about this project? Any concerns or issues that you've run into? Better brands or systems?

Thanks,
Ibrahim

 

[monster318]

I would like to know how your determining your numbers are bad? If your listening to your salesmen, remember he wants to sell you his system.
I am going to assume that your TDS, & Hardness numbers were measured in PPM (parts per million) or mg/L (milligrams per liter). PPM & mg/L are equal to each other. If this is true, your hardness is 12ppm, which is not hard at all, that is very much so on the soft side. Very soft water can also attack interior plumbing and appliances such as iron or copper. Putting a softener on your home would not correct this problem, in fact only make it worse. Your TDS is alittle on the high side depending on what source its coming from. At our water treatment facility, we have two commercial wells on site and also take in surface water from a near by creek. Both of our wells have a TDS of around 200 which is considered to be on the normal side for ground water vs our surface water that has a TDS of around 100. A precipitation test is obsolete these days because of how inaccurate results usually were because of the amount of variables in the water tested. The only people still using precipitation tests are water treatment system salesmen as a visual test to convince customers that their water was bad and that they needed equipment to improve the quality, although the minerals precipitated are harmless. You did not list what the pH or alkalinity of the tested water was? Low pH water will also attack household plumbing. Alkalinity is the waters ability to resist pH changes. If you want to eliminate the chlorine taste install a whole house carbon filter, but when purchasing make sure you pay attention to the capacity of the filter. Most filters are only rated for so many gallons or months and after that it will begin to re release the taste back into the water.

Did they do a salinity (salt) test on your water? If there is a high amount of salinity in the water entering your home its going to taste bad and attack everything metal it touches no matter how perfect your TDS, pH, or hardness is. I mentioned this last cause this is highly unlikely to have salt water since its coming from a treatment facility.

AJ
Licensed Water Treatment operator.

 

[PILOON]

I once knew a water product sales rep that was very upfront with me.
He was a member of some club/assoc that we both belonged to.

He mentioned tricks of his trade that were somewhat less than ethical.
One example was that he knew which days/times each borough did the chlorine washes/rinses so that his tests would always show the owner the benefit of his system to remove the taste, same with others that did backwashes which would leave some residual sediment in the water.

Those guys are commission reps and closely related to used car salespeople.

 

[YanmarFever]

Ibrahim,
I have water that we do not drink also. I bought a whole house charcoal filter system and installed it myself, which took care of almost all of the problem, easy install (youtube it)
It was under 300 bucks.
Then I bought a water softener and had a plumber install what i didnt finish which cured all the problems with scale and smell. I think I spent under 2500 dollars and I have good water.
I had the same high prices quoted from the water stealers so I sorta did it myself and saved a bundle.
Good luck..

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Listen to Monster, he knows what he is talking about. Last thing you want to do is have a salesman responsible for testing. Go to a water testing company that does not sell equipment for an independent test. You need to determine what is causing the equipment fouling problem and then solve for that and they can advise you on that.

Our water company provides water that has 2 times more TDS than yours and they are within state limits. Solution to TDS is a whole house sock filter and change yearly. We don't like chlorine taste so I installed both a sock filter and a carbon filter. Always put a sock filter ahead of the carbon one as it will last longer on cleaner water.

Ron

 

[Ibrahim]

Oh yeah, the salesman definitely seemed sure of his numbers and whatnot. But we're definitely not using them. I'll definitely look into an independent company. Thanks!

 

[monster318]

Oh yeah, the salesman definitely seemed sure of his numbers and whatnot. But we're definitely not using them. I'll definitely look into an independent company. Thanks!

Have you tried calling your water company and asking them what the physical characteristics of their water is leaving their treatment facility? They report it to the state monthly and its right to know information for you as their customer. They may even volunteer to come to your home and take a sample of your tap water to test it's characteristics and call you with the results. We do this for our customers as a courtesy. No need to pay a middle man.
Also ask them for a copy of their consumer confidence report; this will have all the minerals and toxins (if any) listed and what their maximum containment levels are for the in their water.

There is a lot of misinformation out there about public water supply tap water giving it a bad name. When in reality most of the time they have to follow stricter guidelines than bottled water companies do. There is a few bottled water companies out there that I wont name, when the characteristics of there water is tested, they have a high TDS, conductivity & hardness and low pH.

 

[Ibrahim]

It's the City and they should have the info for me. I'll check!

The hardness is a real concern especially the scaling. We redid the downstairs bathroom, put in dark-colored faucets, and my wife is not happy to have some grey/white water stains already! And I don't want to clean regularly with CLR! lol.

 

[TnAndy]

Good rule of thumb is anything priced by an in-home salesman can be bought for 1/3-1/2 elsewhere.

 

[Doofy]

Dont be suckered by high pressure salesmen. Do get the facts from your water supplier or testing from an independent Lab.