- #ASK THIS OLD HOUSE WATER SOFTENER HOW TO#
- #ASK THIS OLD HOUSE WATER SOFTENER MANUAL#
- #ASK THIS OLD HOUSE WATER SOFTENER FULL#
Having a reasonable flow rate means you’re not losing pressure when using multiple water sources at once. Here is also where you’re going to look at the unit’s flow rate. For example, if your water has a high hardness level, you’re going to use more, which requires a larger softener.
#ASK THIS OLD HOUSE WATER SOFTENER MANUAL#
The owners manual says to do it every month? Maybe every couple months. Now that I'm thinking about water, I should drain out part of my water heater to get rid of the debris in the bottom. Maybe there is a Y fitting that can only be open on one side at a time, I could make it so it can be switched over easily. I might switch it over in a way so it could be switch back if needed. I am leaning towards doing this, because currently I get scale build up around this faucet and as I said before my ice gets really gross. Then I just need to decide if I want to switch the sink to the soft water. I just need to find my last water report and set the hardness correctly so I wont be wasting salt and water by re-genning too much and I think I will have that all setup good. It has a capacity counter that seems to count down, and I assume when it gets within a certain threshold it does a Regen at the programmed time of 2am. I think my softener uses the hardness setting and the capacity inputted to calculate how often to Regen. If I am understanding what I am reading correctly elsewhere the only setting that should effect hardness would be the sale dose. I don't really enjoy feeling sticky after a shower.Īnyway, I bought some more salt finally and increased the salt dose setting to 8.5 with a hardness setting of 24. Which is not only gross, but also reduces how well the soap works. The hard water removes the slippery feeling of soap because the minerals that cause the hardness bond with the soap and cause soap scum. If I let the softener run out then all the dishes come out looking like crap with white powder all over everything. The dishwasher is plumbed to hot water, which is softened. I have also thought about doing some sort of an in-line filter in the basement which would feed the ice maker, and an extra cold water tap at the kitchen sink for really clean drinking water. Right now I mostly use it just for the cooler, because if it sits in the freezer for very long it gets really gross looking and as I said it makes the water taste funny as it melts. I am curious on this hot water for the ice maker now, because this could be the ticket to getting some nice clean ice. Thanks for the info, I will check it out tomorrow. But any other education on my questions about the water softener would be helpful, it is one of the few remaining mysteries of home ownership for me. I would probably have to resort to just turning the thing off it is was broken beyond my own repair.Īnyway, I think you answered my question, that the kitchen sink is usually not on soft water. I really would like to get an all new system which does not waste so much water and salt, but I will not really be able to afford any extra expenses for about the next 5 years. So maybe the hardness this test kit is picking up is deposits that a normal softener can not handle very well? If I increase it much more the water starts to get slippery which I know means it is over softened.
#ASK THIS OLD HOUSE WATER SOFTENER HOW TO#
Not really sure how to determine if it is working properly or not, all the values seem to be set correctly. I am able to notice in the shower when the softener runs out of salt, so I know it is doing something.
#ASK THIS OLD HOUSE WATER SOFTENER FULL#
Even after a full water change with bathroom sink water, the hardness is off the chart which is over 300 hardness (GH) ppm, 300 alkalinity (KH) ppm and between 7.8 and 8.4 pH All I have tested the hardness with is the kit for my fish tank. I believe I live near the well that has been having issues with manganese, maybe that is what is precipitating out. All the hot water in the house is softened, as it goes through the softener before the DHW. I have cold water on the softener, for all the other sinks, showers and appliances in the house, just not the kitchen sink and ice machine.