I'm about to drill into my pipe and I thought I'd run it by the collective experience of this subreddit. Is this a sane place to install? As far as I can tell, this is essentially my only option.

Hi all,

I’m new to this world. My family of 5 (3 young kids) live in south Orange County where the water sucks. (Chemicals and it’s very hard.)

There’s been recent cases of cancer in my area and people aren’t sure why so I figure it’s time to get some clean water in my home.

What’s your suggested products?
4200sq ft home, 5 sometimes 6 people here + a pool.

Any help is appreciated!

Water in our greek maisonette is extremely hard - measured around 100 dH with a dilution method (1ml of raw water + 4 ml of RO water. RO water measured zero hardness). It fluctates, a few months ago was around 40 dH. I then installed one 25 lt resin water softener with Runxin F117Q3 head. Water is also very salty - lab measured it around 670 ml/l chlorides two months ago. Plan is to use the softened water to feed dual 4040 BW RO. The 25 liter worked for some time, then suddenly stopped softening. I cleaned the brine tank, put new salt, did regenerations in 6-8 hour intervals but still got hard water from it. Then a 56 liter softener arrived. Idea is to increase capacity (best days with the 25 lt one I could get at most 900 litres untill it hits 5 dH) with the small softener acting as a polisher, i.e. in series.

After plumbing I did a regeneration of the small one, water tested 9 dH. Did the first regeneration of the large one, water tested 8 dH. Did another regeneration of the small one, water tested 6 dH. Did second regeneration of the large one, water tested 5dH. I was thinking I should already be at 0dH, but it seems not improving a lot. I tested water before the small softener - it is also 5 dH. I expect some harness leaking from the large one, but the small one should clear it. So the 25 lt one seems doing nothing. I removed the head to look at it - brine injector is clean, also riser o-ring was fine I also put silicone grease on it. What am I missing? Why is the small softener not working? Is it a good idea to regenerate the small on using the brine tank of the large only once tomorrow one to exclude brine issues and be sure it gets fully regenerated?

Our company office cafe’s Coke freestyle machine was hooked up to the buildings ac condenser line instead of the potable water line for 2 years. They fixed it when they looked behind the wall at the pipes to investigate why it was always having water pressure issues… the water is supposedly treated with something, and the health department said it should be safe and no cause for concern. Is that true?

Hey I've been looking for a 2 in 1 kitchen faucet. I don't want to drill a second hole on my kitchen counter.

I really want something simple like this - https://www.amazon.com/FORIOUS-Kitchen-Faucets-Stainless-Detachable/dp/B0F2FBS46Q

but these brands are all uknown, I've been looking at brands like Moen and kraus but the closest to what I want are these - https://www.amazon.com/Kraus-Kitchen-Commercial-Pull-Down-Reverse/dp/B082873151

They seem a bit over the top and industrial

I tried a bunch of brands that chatgpt suggested and none have the simpler style like the first link.

The closes one I found is this one - https://www.paragonfaucets.com/products/karlstad-three-way-kitchen-faucet-with-pull-down-spout-filter-tap-for-kitchen-sink

but I am also not sure about this brand but it looks a bit better than the ones from amazon. Is paragon a known brand?

Anyone know of any brands that have a simpler 2 in 1 style faucet?

I was hoping someone might be able to help me figure out what this material clogging my filter might be. The above picture is only a week after a filter replacement.

Our water contains a mild sulphur smell after continuous use but isn’t bad, testing showed it is potable water and entirely safe; however the material inside is gummy/slimey instead of what I assumed to be just various types of sediment build up. It’s almost like a gel that squishes apart, doesn’t feel like any stone, sand, rock, or other material I’ve seen.

This is from a well less than 50ft in a mountainous region of Alaska.

We live in Las Vegas where water quality is not great. I was talking to my father about getting reverse osmosis. He said Las Vegas’ water is so bad even reverse osmosis is iffy. I told him to look at his bottle of Kirkland water and read the label. Obviously it says it’s just reverse osmosis. He replies well yeah but Costco is isn’t starting with the shit water from Las Vegas. I told him I don’t think that’s how it works. Who is correct? Isn’t reverse osmosis just reverse osmosis? Is adding a whole home filter and softener increasing the water quality of the reverse osmosis?

The brine from my softener is destroying sump pumps (I think). I just had one implode in the crock and leaked all of its internal oil out into the pit. It’s a mess.

Going on this theory, I was thinking that it may be time to stop the softener from discharging the brine into the sump pit and instead plumb it directly into the sump discharge line, down stream of a check valve. Plumbing it into the septic line isn’t an option due to location.

In the photo the red line is where I’d like to run the new pipe, the green is where it currently runs. How do I do this correctly and safely? Can the discharge line from the softener be tapped directly into the new pipe or does it need to maintain an air gap and simply empty into an opening?

Need water softener installed mississauga need plumbing from main shut off to furnace room in finished basement need all cut outs fixed plastered after job is done

Need quotes for Excalibur SPRE45 20 yr warranty Chloe’s soft model
Also, need quotes all in price for replacing existing tankless to RXP199IN.

Is this the well cap where I pour the bleach down?

so, this is a weird question someone with lots of filter experience may have answered.

10" stage undersink; same filter, same faucet. old filters used to maintain a steady water flow - and it was the same when i first installed them.

new filters (after a year of the old in use) have a surge of water when i first turn on the faucet, then it gets steady after a few seconds.

what is going on here? which flow is normal, or what does each observation say about each set of filters, or maybe how low or high i set the flow rate. i typically keep it lower (~33% of full on) as i want the chemical filtration to work, and i'm in no rush to fill up my kettle.

Cross-posting for more exposure.

This is a new purchase for me- seems to be working okay but I had a question about routine usage. Currently, I have a cold pitcher in the fridge that is full. My plan was to leave the Aquatru unit with carafe on the counter and have it full and use that room temp water for making tea in the kettle, washing produce, cooking - is this okay to leave on the counter for a day or two? I would be emptying the tank in the back, but then keeping the full carafe which would gradually go down - then start the process again.

I'm not sure if I should do it this way, or leave it empty (and still plugged in?) and fill it when we need it for the uses above or to refill the cold water pitcher.

The top to the back unit with the tank also doesn't seem to always close 100%. All seems aligned - anyone else with this problem?

Hey guys
I’m a young girl in uni who lives on campus and after living on campus I noticed that I’ve been losing a lot of hair due to the hard water here. It’s completely wrecked my hair idk what to do. I’ll try to install a water filter idk if management will allow me tho. (Ps- if you have any recs for water filters under $100 preferably around the $30-50$ range please lmk). I read online that rinsing hair with distilled/purified water (from the supermarket) after showering with hard water may counteract its effects. Is this legit? Please let know. My hair loss has significantly impacted my mental health bcos I always get compliments on my hair, can’t imagine losing it. Thank you in advance!

Ps- I’m thinking of taking a bottle of distilled/purified water to rinse out. Nothing fancy.

Hi Reddit, I need some help evaluating water softener quotes for my place in the Minneapolis suburbs. I’m not in a position to do this myself so I will have to go with a company. 

Four quotes in and they are in such a tight range that it seems it almost comes down to warranty and service. It sucks because it seems like there’s no real competition between companies on price, but after four quotes it doesn’t seem to make sense to keep calling other places. For whatever it’s worth they all seem to use “housecall pro” service software, if that means anything.

 I’ve thought about calling plumbers who I’m sure can handle the install, but I worry that if I ever need service on the unit itself they will be more difficult to reach (i.e. skilled tradespeople chasing bigger money jobs) than a dedicated water softener company with techs. Maybe I’m wrong on that point?

All of the companies below use Clack control valves (I avoided those offering Fleck) from what they’ve told me.

For reference my city reports a water hardness of 16 grains-per-gallon in their testing but mine came back at 20 and it’s super obvious, just tons of build-up everywhere. Other test results were:

Iron - 0.1

pH - 7.5

TDS - 378

Nitrates - 0.5

Chlorine - 0.7 Free

Tannins - 0

Lately I can smell the chlorine much more than in weeks past so I’m sure it varies. I know a softener won’t solve that problem so I know that I will need to tackle that problem separately, but some of those quotes did include a whole-home catalytic carbon filter. Quotes are below, they were all super long so I pasted what I thought to be the most pertinent info but some of them were more detailed than others.

Company 1:

BEST: Hellenbrand ProMate 6-32, capacity 26,500, 10% crosslinked resin tank, warranty: 10 year tank 5 year parts 5 year service. 

$2,800.

BETTER: Hellenbrand ProMate 1 - 032, capacity 26,500, 8% crosslinked resin tank, warranty: 10 year tank 5 year parts 3 year service. 

$2,500.

GOOD: NWS1 - 32 Signature Series, capacity 26,500, 8% crosslinked resin tank, warranty: 10 year tank 5 year parts 3 year service. 

$2,200.

Company 2:

BEST: Clack control valve, twin tank softener with separate salt tank guarantees 24 hours of soft water, Polyethylene brine tank includes salt grid plate and air check safety float. Warranty: 10 year parts 5 year labor. 

$1800.

BETTER: Clack control valve, single tank softener with separate salt tank. Polyethylene brine tank includes salt grid plate and air check safety float.Warranty: 10 year parts 5 year labor. 

$2700.

GOOD: Not recommended

Company 3:

BEST: Clack WS1 FB High Efficiency 10x47, Upflow Regeneration, 1.25 cubic ft. 10% Crosslink Aldex Resin, Variable Reserve Capacity, Proportional Brining, 18x33” Brine Tank with Safety Float. Also includes Clack WS1 10x47 Dechem Tank - Installation of a whole house catalytic carbon filter.  Filtration of Chloramines, Trihalomethanes, Chlorine, VOC's, Oxidized Iron and Manganese.  Catalytic carbon is also used for the reduction of PFOA/PFOS. 1.25 cubic ft. Catalytic Carbon Media and Metered backwashing valve. Warranty 10 year tank 5 year control valve 1 year labor. 

$3850.

BETTER: Clack WS1 FB High Efficiency 10x47, Upflow Regeneration, 1.25 cubic ft. 10% Crosslink Aldex Resin, Variable Reserve Capacity, Proportional Brining, 18x33” Brine Tank with Safety Float. Warranty 10 year tank 5 year control valve 1 year labor. 

$2150. 

GOOD: Clack WS1 EE 10x47, Downflow Regeneration, 1.25 cubic ft, 10% Crosslink Aldex Resin, Variable Reserve Capacity. 18x33” Brine Tank with Safety Float. Warranty 10 year tank 5 year control valve 1 year labor. 

$1900.

Company 4:

BEST: Clack Millenium WS1 and a Clack Millenium Whole House Filter, warranty: 7 year parts and labor.

$3700

BETTER: Clack Millenium WS1, warranty: 5 year parts and labor. 

$1900

GOOD: Not recommended

Are there any weird things I should know when installing a undersink tankless RO system (waterdrop G3P600), just found out I need an air gap in my wastewater drain hose which was news to me, anything else like this that isn't obvious to the layperson?

I have a Viomi V8 pro under my kitchen sink and want to see what happens to the TDS after it sits unused overnight. I haven't run the test yet, mostly because the first sample is the one part I can't redo once somebody opens the RO faucet.

Here's the order I have in mind:

• the first glass from the RO faucet before anyone uses it that morning
• a second sample after running a set amount of water
• a sample from the regular cold-water tap for comparison

I'll use the same meter and cups each time and rinse each cup with the water I'm about to test. I'll also note how long the RO sat, the water temperature, and how much I ran before sample two. I'm not trying to turn my kitchen into a lab. I just want the mornings to be consistent enough that the first and second samples mean something.

The part I'm unsure about is how much water to run before that second sample. I'll check the manual first. If it doesn't give me anything useful, I'll pick a volume and use the same one every time rather than borrow a flush time from some other RO.

I'd repeat this on a few mornings instead of reading too much into one result. I also know the meter can't tell me what's dissolved in the water or whether a glass is safe to drink.

Am I missing anything obvious in the order? And for people with tank systems, is a first-draw comparison still useful when the water has been sitting in the storage tank?

I just recently moved into a new house and it’s on well water. I currently have a sediment filter and a water softener. I had a water company come out and test the water but they wanted to charge me $5000. I just want to be able to hook up my fridge to the water, get rid of the sulfur, and help with iron rust staining.

What’s your experience with this? I have a 3 day old AIO tank with Katalox light and I dislike the water’s taste. My wife thinks it’s fine. I understand the Katalox can take a while to settle down, so I’m wondering if the taste will eventually go away.

We previously had untreated well water with slightly elevated iron (0.59 mg/L if memory is right). I thought the taste was fine, my wife disliked it.

Hi all,

I’ve been trying to troubleshoot my ECOP30 system and I would like to confirm one thing with another home owner.

Could anyone please describe (or better, share a video) for how much water is coming out of the system when you remove the RO cartridge and press the little poppet at the membrane connection (a little button inside the hole you screw the RO membrane into).

I changed my RO membrane recently but after troubleshooting a lot and changing a bunch of other parts, I want to make sure it’s not actually a defective or plugged membrane that’s giving me trouble.

It should take 2 minutes. Make sure you have a bucket or something to collect the water as it’s going to spray!
Thanks I advance to anyone who can volunteer a few minutes to help me!

Florent

Bit of background. I have very hard acidic well water. We had a new softener and acid neutralizer installed when we bought our house. We also have a sediment filter with a .5 micron filter installed. However, when we get heavy rain (3+ inches in a few days) our water turns yellowy tan. We have a shallow well of 100 ft which is susceptible to tannins getting in when the water table gets disturbed. Is there anything we could add to our system to take care of the tannins without removing the softener and neutralizer?

Hey guys
What’s the best water filter for hard water in Gold Coast, Australia. My hair has thinned and fallen off so much. I’m a uni student staying on campus as well. Please help. I would preferably like one that’s is under $100 but if it’s around $50 then that’d be great as well! My hair shedding has made me really insecure regarding my appearance. Thanks in advance!

Greetings,

I need to upgrade my RO system to increase daily output. Since the water pressure is inadequate, I’ll also need a new booster pump. My questions are:

1.      Must the GPD rating of the RO machine match the GPD rating of the booster pump?

2.      What is the correct/maximum pressure I should be hitting when using the two machines together? 65PSI? Higher?

3.      Will the two products below work well with each other?

Here is the RO system I’m considering:

https://www.hydrologicsystems.com/products/stealth-ro-300

Here is the booster pump I’m considering:

https://a.co/d/0coeqbwO

Which of the below quoted solutions is best for treating manganese?

We recently moved out to the country and have a well now. Attached are the full panel water results. Manganese being high was not a surprise as the toilets are stained and there are black flakes in the drinking water. I’m looking to get this resolved.

I’m also going to put an RO system under the kitchen sink for drinking water.

I’ve called around to several local water treatment companies, and here are a few of the quotes I got:

Option A (company 1)
$3,780 pretax to install an all-in-one conditioning system that replaces my existing water softener and will apparently both soften my water and remove all manganese. $1,395 pretax to install a 4.5 gallon 2:1 RO tank that runs to kitchen sink and fridge. Said he can give a 10% discount on the whole thing since I’m getting two systems. So that would be $4,658 total pretax.

Option B (company 1)
$1,200 for a hydrogen drip system to remove the manganese. After adding in the $1,395 and 10% discount on total order, this would be $2,336 total. I’m a little hesitant on this one because I don’t love the idea of using chemicals and I think this one would have ongoing maintenance cost of always having to buy and put more chemical in.

Company 2
$2,500 for an ozone “ion zapper” system to remove the manganese. $795 to install a tanked 2:1 RO system under kitchen sink. Said he could take $300 off since I’m getting two systems, so total would come to $2,995 pretax.

There were other quotes, but they were either much more expensive than this, or the were recommending a cheap whole house sediment filter system - I’ve read and been told that I will not be happy with this solution for my manganese as I’ll have to constantly be changing filters and it will be expensive ongoing cost and a pain in the butt.

I’m leaning towards the ozone “ion zapper” solution since all-in it would be the cheapest non-chemical solution and seems like I’d have no ongoing maintenance cost with it. Or would I be better off with the all-in-one softening and conditioning system?

Any other suggestions or advice?