I need a water softener and I want one that i just add salt to every 6 months or so and not bleach or other chemicals (basically the softener removes the shit from the water without adding to it).

I had a Rainsoft guy come by but he wanted $6k for a unit and I know there's no way in hell it should be that expensive for a 3 bedroom house with 2 ppl in it (if that even matters).

I want it to filter all incoming water, not just drinking water. I don't have iron or chlorine in my water, but lots of of other stuff that leaves rings on everything and rusts and what not.


Recommendations? The good thing about the Rainsoft was it had a free lifetime warranty, blah blah.

8/15/2008 7:00:19 PM

you need a whole house sediment filter setup too, just to keep things a lot cleaner.

it shouldn't cost that much. i remember sears selling them for much less installed. the rainsoft guy is selling a brand name, which is BULLSHIT.

i've purchased sears or GE units for $600 and installed them myself. if you want someone to install it, call a plumber like Ivan (bigblueram) and he'll set it up for you (i'd go with his recommendation for a unit based on your water usage and whatnot).

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_04239356000P

the salt regeneration units increase your daily intake of sodium, if that is ever a problem for you. it is advised to never use softened water for baby formula, etc... have a RO unit on hand for that.

what is the hardness level of your water?

most machines only need periodic maint. which means you add salt.

ONLY use evaporated salt, rock salt requires more downtime for cleaning.

do you want a time or meter based unit? meter based are typically better and produce softer water per lb of salt.

the plastic pellets that are in the tank typically don't need to be replaced for the life of the unit (typically 20-25 years, unless your water is nasty).

if you ever move and want to take it with you, i'd suggest using quick fit connectors.

let me know if you need any other help.

[Edited on August 15, 2008 at 7:28 PM. Reason : r]

8/15/2008 7:25:08 PM

hardness level is 17?

thanks for that recommendation. any others ? the main thing i'm filtering is rock/sediment/shit as i didn't have much chlorine/iron at all.


meter based sounds better than time to me?




oh and i'm in wilmington, so i guess i'll need to find a plumber here. i hate their fucking $70/hr rates.

8/16/2008 12:10:12 PM

then maybe you should become an expert plumber yourself so you can eschew their exorbitant labor costs...

8/16/2008 3:26:54 PM

there is no reason in the world $70/hr for PLUMBING is worthy, i'm sorry. that can be discussed in another thread, though.

8/16/2008 5:20:23 PM

Seotaji is right about the water for the whole house. I grew up in the country (until I was about 10), and some people still had hard water then--it will brown your clothes, among other things.

Incidentally, the place was so country-fried they had party telephone lines--some of you have probably never even heard of such a thing. It means that only one person at a time among several neighbors can use the phone.

8/17/2008 1:02:59 AM

lol nice. so any other recommendations for a whole house softerner besides that kenmore 350?

8/17/2008 9:28:11 PM

If this were Chit-Chat, I would immediatley create a thread called "Stool Softener?".

8/17/2008 9:36:08 PM

Quote :

"call a plumber like Ivan (bigblueram)"

8/17/2008 10:39:32 PM

pm'd him, thx

8/18/2008 10:45:34 AM