Soft Water ... finally!

  When we moved to Pinehaven in January 1987 we had a water softener. But I'm not sure we had soft water. The softener ate salt but I'm not sure it provided any benefit beyond that. Eventually I had it removed and the lines to it capped.

 When we lost even the promise of soft water I began taking our clothes to the laundromat. Eventually I took out the washer and dryer because we never used them (they have since been replaced).

 Fast forward many years. When Tom and I visit Steve and Amy in Michigan I always  enjoy showering with soft water. And the fact that the spigots were free of calcium deposits. I decided then to look into a water softener again for Pinehaven.

 About when the COVID pandemic began to take hold, I had been watching a Water Boss ProPlus380 at Menard's.  But with inflation,  the price steadily climbed until I said "the hell with it".

 Another four years passed as I casually checked the price. Finally last month Menards had it on sale, and at a lower price than I remember. So I bought one.

 Before making the purchase I asked the local plumber whether he would install it. His price is easily half the local going rate. He said he would. I told him that all the plants we overwinter on the porch would have to be moved outside before I'd need him. Probably sometime in June.

 And so we've been texting for the past couple of weeks trying to decide on a date. Yesterday was it.

 He worked maybe an hour and a half installing coper fittings on the original pipes. And he supplied the new connections from there to the water softener (all visible atop the water softener). The unit was placed where our original softener stood.

 When the water was turned back on the water poured out black. He said minerals had been stirred up by the work he did. The water soon cleared ... and softened.

 My original water tests showed the hardness grains per gallon at 14 (250 ppm). To get the number to enter into the softener's controller I had to add 15 due to our iron. So I used 29 for starters (and will adjust it upwards if needed). I also tested our waters pH and it came in at 7.8 (alkaline).

 After the system is running a few days I'll test the water again to see how soft it is.

 In the meantime, I took my first shower here with soft water. Soap bubbles up quickly. And I washed my hair. Very nice!

06/03/24 Update:

 The unit was installed on 05-17-24 and yesterday the display finally read "01" meaning we were down to the last 100 gallons of soft water. As we're averaging 50 gallons/day usage, I figured tonight would be the first automatic recharge. And because it's set for roughly 3AM, I decided to force it early so I could watch what happens.

 [By the way, the display starts at "08" and that's 800 gallons. Divided by 50 that's 16 days usage between recharges.]

 So I started the cycle and measured how long it took. I read that 28 minutes is usual; ours took 41 minutes. The process is very quiet and the discharge less forceful than I would have expected. It was discharged upwards and into a line that empties by the road. I went out and watched it run out.

 But in the basement, water leaked from where the lines meet and it was enough to thoroughly  wet the floor. I moved the discharge to the sump pit. I understand that's not optimum because the salt can corrode sump pumps. But it's how my brother's works and also how my neighbor's is set up. It's not so easy in the country without a sewer.

 Anyway, small problem overcome. Next time I'll let everything work automatically. That should be roughly  06/20/24.