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Post by constructr on Feb 11, 2015 11:45:19 GMT -4
Is there anyone here, who is on well water, and does not have a water softener? I looked at house last week near Bennett Point and it does not have a water softener. A friend told me it's possible that the water might be really good. It does have a UV filter, which just kills bacteria.
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Post by pineapple head on Feb 11, 2015 12:09:10 GMT -4
We bought on Bennett Point and added a water softener, but it may depend on the well. Get the water tested, but I expect a water softener would be a benefit. I like well water, having grown up with it, but we had issues with discoloration of clothes and around drains, and buildup on shower heads and faucets. I'd want the test anyway, to see what may have prompted the UV filter ... Regardless, adding the water filter was not a major investment and newer models are much more efficient compared to past experiences. Hope that helps.
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Post by constructr on Feb 11, 2015 12:29:18 GMT -4
We bought on Bennett Point and added a water softener, but it may depend on the well. Get the water tested, but I expect a water softener would be a benefit. I like well water, having grown up with it, but we had issues with discoloration of clothes and around drains, and buildup on shower heads and faucets. I'd want the test anyway, to see what may have prompted the UV filter ... Regardless, adding the water filter was not a major investment and newer models are much more efficient compared to past experiences. Hope that helps. Very much so. Thank you.
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Post by bob66 on Feb 11, 2015 12:53:30 GMT -4
Around here shallow (older) wells had good water. Deeper ones get into the iron. Our house and the neighbor used to share a 40' deep well and the neighbor said there was no problem. Then the county, (for our own good mind you) said they can't do that anymore and had to have separate wells. Then it went to crap.
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Post by constructr on Feb 11, 2015 16:32:29 GMT -4
Around here shallow (older) wells had good water. Deeper ones get into the iron. Our house and the neighbor used to share a 40' deep well and the neighbor said there was no problem. Then the county, (for our own good mind you) said they can't do that anymore and had to have separate wells. Then it went to crap. I hear you on that. Knock, knock, knock!!"Who is it?" "It's the Government! We're here to help!"
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Post by cruzincat on Feb 11, 2015 22:09:52 GMT -4
I seem to remember a few years ago that some of the shallow wells were high and dry during a dry period.
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Post by Frank on Feb 12, 2015 9:39:58 GMT -4
I seem to remember a few years ago that some of the shallow wells were high and dry during a dry period. I remember that too. I have a deep well. It never ran dry, but I do have the high iron content and sulpher smell. My 30 year old softener was still working (so I thought), but I got a deal on a new one. I had black specks in my water that I assumed was from the hot water heater. I replaced my hot water heater, installed the new softener, and added a whole house filter. What a difference in performance and salt use. No smell, no black specks, and minimal salt use. I realized my old softener was just getting by.
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Post by glk21c on Feb 12, 2015 13:39:12 GMT -4
during the dry summers a few years ago my shallow well may have been "shallower" than normal, but never ran dry. My well pump is in the crawlspace under the house and I can hear it running. During dry periods it will run longer to get back to the desired pressure in the system but has always gotten to that pressure and turn off.
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Post by lainey on Feb 12, 2015 18:30:58 GMT -4
Im on well water with no softener. My well is deep. We get some staining from iron, but not bad. Nothing some CLR wont fix. Just a little smell, not bad.
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Post by reader on Feb 12, 2015 20:24:56 GMT -4
Frank -- what kind of water conditioner did you get and how does the whole house filter work? Our softener is using a lot of salt given that the house is not used all the time and I'm now wondering whether it is going bad.
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Post by constructr on Feb 12, 2015 20:25:26 GMT -4
Thanks for the input.
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Post by cruzincat on Feb 13, 2015 8:47:59 GMT -4
The downside of the salt system is that salt will eat away at the concrete in the septic tank. I use salt and am hoping the tank holds out until we get sewer down here in SKI.
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Post by jackbquick on Feb 13, 2015 15:18:22 GMT -4
The downside of the salt system is that salt will eat away at the concrete in the septic tank. I use salt and am hoping the tank holds out until we get sewer down here in SKI. Amen. You can say that again!
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Post by Frank on Feb 13, 2015 16:21:33 GMT -4
Frank -- what kind of water conditioner did you get and how does the whole house filter work? Our softener is using a lot of salt given that the house is not used all the time and I'm now wondering whether it is going bad. The water softener is a GE 30,000 grain softener. I saw it on craigslist one day for $200 and thought it would be worth it to have. Now I use one or two bags in a month, instead of two bags a week. I had no idea how poor my original system was performing. The whole house filter is a simple cartridge filter mounted inline. The clear housing makes it easy to see when it is time to change. The downside of the salt system is that salt will eat away at the concrete in the septic tank. I use salt and am hoping the tank holds out until we get sewer down here in SKI. The salt never enters the septic tank unless you plumb it that way. Generally, it goes to the same french well as your washing machine water. Neither should be going into your septic tank.
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Post by 58impala on Feb 14, 2015 16:32:12 GMT -4
I have no water conditioner. The house didn't have one when we moved in back in '84. We knew the neighbor and he had no problem, so we decided to take the chance without one. We had a bad experience with our former house in Edgewater which had a shallow well and a terrible problem with iron. A well pump would only last a couple of years. I even started taking parts from their old wells and rebuilding the with parts still good, so we had a few spares in the neighborhood. They were lucky if they were down 20 feet. You just pull them out of the ground.
But getting back to a water conditioner, it did the job OK, but during the 10 years we lived there both my wife and I had problems with kidney stones, which the doctor suggested could very well be from the salt. Since we moved over here, she hasn't had any further problems and I have once, probably because where I worked had a water conditioner. We only have a filter like the one in the picture that we change out every couple of months. I have no idea how deep our well is.
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Post by reader on Feb 16, 2015 9:22:40 GMT -4
I am new to KI and having a well so don't know about how the water conditioner should work and whether the one we have is working properly. Can anyone recommend a company that specializes in this? My plumber didn't seem know too much about it.
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Post by burnerbill on Feb 16, 2015 10:58:13 GMT -4
I am new to KI and having a well so don't know about how the water conditioner should work and whether the one we have is working properly. Can anyone recommend a company that specializes in this? My plumber didn't seem know too much about it. I have a Culligan system. It includes the salt tank and treatment tank for de-odorizering etc. The treatment tank has water into which you mix in chlorine to help with odor or other chemicals to treat for iron and other issues. All depends on how your water tests out. My water, straight out of the tap, tests well for us. I also have a reverse osmosis water filter at the kitchen sink for drinking water. I also had a line connected from that filter system to the refrigerator for that water system. So, I get double filtered water for ice and drinking there! I also have a shallow well. It has not gone try to date. I have had concerns for quality given the septic issues and how the high water table may impact the ability of the ground to properly filter the water my shallow well draws from. So far, tests are still good.
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Post by deputy on Feb 17, 2015 7:02:27 GMT -4
The downside of the salt system is that salt will eat away at the concrete in the septic tank. I use salt and am hoping the tank holds out until we get sewer down here in SKI. Amen. You can say that again! You can say it all you want. Doesn't make it true.
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Post by reader on Feb 18, 2015 9:35:42 GMT -4
There is one in the house now -- house was built in the 80s I believe. This is a part-time home and we can't figure out why it goes through so much salt when no one is there.
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Post by shoreterp on Feb 18, 2015 11:05:00 GMT -4
I didn't use a softener at my house for almost 10 years. Water was tested and was fine. But wife decided she had trouble getting soap out of her hair and we also had issues with clothes yellowing over time and wearing out quicker than they should have so we added a softener. The salt bags are a PITA but otherwise it's no big deal.
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Post by pineapple head on Feb 18, 2015 11:32:39 GMT -4
There is one in the house now -- house was built in the 80s I believe. This is a part-time home and we can't figure out why it goes through so much salt when no one is there. Salt usage does not correlate to water usage. Salt usage is based on regularly scheduled/timed cleaning cycles. Talk to an expert, but there is probably no reason for you to leave the system active when no one is in the house for extended periods. You are probably wasting a lot of salt on repeated unecessary cleaning cycles.
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Post by Frank on Feb 18, 2015 12:26:17 GMT -4
There is one in the house now -- house was built in the 80s I believe. This is a part-time home and we can't figure out why it goes through so much salt when no one is there. Salt usage does not correlate to water usage. Salt usage is based on regularly scheduled/timed cleaning cycles. Talk to an expert, but there is probably no reason for you to leave the system active when no one is in the house for extended periods. You are probably wasting a lot of salt on repeated unecessary cleaning cycles. Mine was the same way. Water softener from the 80's. Most of the new ones only cycle as necessary. That could save you a ton!
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Post by eileen on Feb 18, 2015 19:40:38 GMT -4
Concur with my Bennett Point neighbors, we are on well water and do not have a softener. No problems in the 20+ years we have lived here.
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Post by reader on Feb 20, 2015 9:33:08 GMT -4
"Talk to an expert" -- that's what I need! Any recommendations for water conditioning people?
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Post by pineapple head on Feb 20, 2015 9:45:22 GMT -4
"Talk to an expert" -- that's what I need! Any recommendations for water conditioning people? We had a good experience with Jerry Lloyd of E-Water Company (Reliable Water Systems) in Chester, 410-604-1130, jerry@ewatercompany.com
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