I want to install a water softener that will give close to 0.0 hardness in hopes of helping my wife’s dry skin problems. We have city water with no iron and hardness of 6 gpg. Just the two of us (retired), with average daily usage of 120 gallons, 3/4″ plumbing. I’m thinking of using a Fleck 5600 12 day timer at 3# salt dosage, if I can get it that low. Also, I am wondering about using a turbulator. Will it help achieve reliable low hardness? I am afraid of the possibility of the valve not sealing well, and allowing a hardness leak. Your comments, please.

Answer:  While use of a turbulator is primarily advantageous in an onsite well application where iron and sediment may be contained in water, there would not be any downside in using it on city water.  In normal down-flow water softener operation, the water path is down through the resin bed, and up through the riser or turbulator.  It makes  no performance difference in either case, as the water path is the same.  The difference between the two is is that a turbulator mechanically reorganizes the resin bed, to help keep it uniformly packed and eliminate channeling, and assist in sending any accumulated sediment to drain.  A standard riser just uses an up-flow backwash during regeneration to clean the bed (which is normally fine in municipal water applications).  By the way, all of the units we offer come standard with turbulators – including the Fleck 5600 12-day timer system which is featured in our model WS4C – same price if you prefer a standard 1.05 inch riser with gravel underbed – just let us know if purchasing.

However, you are likely to run into a different problem in using a low salt dosage like 3 pounds per cubic foot.  We would recommend that you use at least 9 pounds per ft3 in a standard application to minimize hardness leakage when water passes through a partially exhausted resin bed.  Best regards!

I installed a new Fleck 5600SXT water softener yesterday.  I noticed my faucets running slower and a sandy looking substance in my toilets.  I finally figured out that it was the resin from the softener.  I obviously did something wrong on the installation, but I was wandering if it may have done any damage to the softener itself or the plumbing in general.  I am having a plumber come and check it out this week.  He told me to go ahead and buy some new resin.  Do you know of a company that may stock resin?  I need to get it asap and if I get it online, it may take a week.  I live in the Chicagoland suburbs.

Answer: If you are noticing resin in your household piping, then it is probable that the water softener is installed backwards.  In other words, the water supply inlet is connected to the outlet, and outlet connected to the inlet.  Check the direction of flow, there will be directional arrows imprinted on the valve, and inlet water will flow into the valve in the same direction as shown by the arrow.  If you are missing resin, we have it available in 1 ft3 bags at http://www.caitechnologies.com/shopping/ShowItem.asp?ItemID=C-249.  We do have a location in the Chicago area.

By the way, it is unlikely that you damaged the water softener – you will just need to purge the resin from your line.  You may want to drain the tank in your hot water heater (there may be some resin in the bottom of the tank).  You will probably find that resin appears in your sinks for some time as is slowly  moves through your piping.

I have been researching water softeners and I seem to hear a lot about variable brining but there is not much information on how well it works, or if this should be a factor to consider when purchasing a water softener albeit one exception. I have seen on several boards that variable brining as it pertains to the Fleck 7000 is basically a hoax and that it does not save salt (might actually use more salt) and that this features uses 2 to 3 times more water than without variable brining. The problem I am having is that all the negative information on variable brining is coming from one individual that seems to be on all the information boards. He is selling another valve (I think it is the Clack valve). So is this person giving out correct information or is he just giving disinformation to push his product? Confused.

Answer: Some truth & some mistruth – takes quite a bit of education to correctly understand this process.

We offer both the Fleck 7000 and the Clack control, and the truth is that while both of these are very good valves, neither is really designed for extreme salt efficiency.  It’s not that they are not good salt efficient controls, it’s just not their primary design purpose.  One thing to understand, that variable brining only effects salt consumption during regeneration, not water softener performance.

First the Fleck 7000.  This control can be programmed to have variable brining.  Variable brining means that the unit measures the amount of the resin bed that is exhausted, and only uses as much salt as is required to regenerate the exhausted portion of the bed.  Variable brining for the 7000 is only available as a “meter delayed” mode.  This means that the control will automatically calculate a reserve capacity when this option is selected.   Reserve capacity means that when the softener is factory set to normally regenerate at (for example) 2:00 AM, and there is some water usage at 2:15 AM, the softener will determine that a re-generation is necessary.  However, the unit will not regenerate until the following night at 2:00 AM. You need to make sure that in this case you have the extra capacity (reserve capacity) to carry you through the next day.

In variable brining mode, the 7000 continues to measure how much water is used during the full day of regeneration, and adjusts the brine tank water refill volume so that only the correct amount of salt is used.  So, with this feature enabled, the amount of salt savings would be the difference between the standard pounds of salt used for regeneration, minus the amount calculated with the variable reserve feature selected.  This reduces salt consumption to some extent, but really does not translate into much of a salt savings in a typical residential application.

Now the Clack WS1.  The Clack control is indeed an excellent control, but it is not available with a variable reserve.  However, it is available in an up-flow (counter-current) design.  Up-flow designed softeners can be more salt efficient, as the high concentration (saturated) salt solution meets the most exhausted portion of the resin bed first during the regeneration process.  This maximizes salt utilization during regeneration, and allows for reduced salt dosage.  However, while this will save a few pounds of salt, up-flow design is mostly an advantage in performance for specific applications requiring removal of higher levels of iron, manganese, etc. – and not really meant for the reduced consumption of salt – although it will use somewhat lower amounts of salt.

There is a design that combines both of the features mentioned above, it’s a countercurrent (up-flow) brining softener with a variable reserve feature.  It’s featured in our WS2FM softener (Aqua-Pro 5000 control).  This is a top performing system – and as salt efficient as it gets – but primarily designed for markets where reduction in salt consumption is very important.  If you do not reside in one of these localities, then the extra expense in purchasing one of these units may not be justified.

I have very hard water, around 50 gpg. I just replaced a 25 year old softener with a new much larger unit, 80,000 grains capacity. This unit includes a meter to measure water usage and initiate regeneration at the appropriate time. The installer started with the meter set to regenerate at 1700 gallons. After 1200 gallons, I was measuring 4 gpg, and after 1300 gallons I was measuring 22 gpg. I turned it down to 1000 gallons, but at 950 gallons I was at 7 gpg. I suspect it is not being totally regenerated.

Is it normal for the hardness to gradually increase as the unit approaches capacity?  I was expecting a more abrupt transition from totally soft to totally hard.

How much salt is required to regenerate an 80,000 grain unit? This unit seems to be using about 17# per regeneration. (1/3 of a 50# block). It draws in all the brine and refills the tank until the float cuts it off, so I don’t see how to make it use any more salt if that is what is required. (Other than manually triggering an additional regeneration the day after the automatic one). Thanks in advance for your help! John

Answer: When a water softener resin bed is regenerated all active sites within the resin bed are ready to remove the hardness (calcium and magnesium) from your water.  As water is passes through the resin bed, an ion-exchange process occurs that exchanges sodium or potassium ions (that are sitting on the resin) for the hardness in your water.  This processed is reversed during regeneration, with hardness rinsed to drain, and resin again ready perform the softening process.  This process is explained in more detail our site’s “ Understanding The Water Softening Process” page.

What you are reporting is exactly opposite of what you would expect.  Sometimes, as a resin bed becomes depleted, just before it’s exchange capacity is completely exhausted, water can have a difficult time finding an active site for the ion exchange process to occur, and it can pass through the bed untreated.  However, this effect is normally eliminated by setting the softener meter below the calculated softener capacity.  Assuming that you are not adjusting the salt dosage, reducing the gallons metered should provide you with soft water throughout the service cycle.  One thing to note is that if water hardness is very high and/or accompanied with a high flow rate – you can have hardness “leakage” occur, that will produce only partially softened water.  This said, while 50 GPG is an elevated level of hardness, you should not be seeing leakage occurring to this extent.

To answer your other question, you need to look at the relationship between pounds of salt and exchange capacity per unit volume – better quality resins will give you higher removal efficiencies at lower salt dosage.  For instance, a good quality resin will typically state a 32,000 grain capacity equal to 1 cubic feet of resin.  Maximum brining for this resin is 15 pounds sodium chloride per cubic foot – however, you can get by with using less pounds of salt per cubic foot.  Maximum brining means getting the full 32,000 grain capacity per cubic foot resin out of your resin – but this scale is not linear, it is logarithmic – and you will get most of the exchange capacity out of your unit using only ~75% of this amount of salt.  You need to use quite a bit of salt to get the remaining small amount of capacity, and this is normally not worth it in terms of salt consumption and operational efficiency.  Basically, lower quality resins can require more salt to achieve this level of exchange capacity.  It would be typical to set your unit to use 9 pounds per ft3 salt dosage with normal water conditions,  you have a 80,000 grain capacity unit= 2.5 ft3 = 22.5 pounds of salt per regeneration.  3 pounds of salt dissolve into a gallon of water, so to use 22.5 pounds, you would have 7.5 gallons of water refilling the brine tank.

We don’t know the specifics of your softener’s design, but the float you are referring to may be a back-up safety shut-off.  The refill is normally controlled by the control valve, with the float present in the event that the valve fails.  The float stops refill and prevents an overflow of the brine tank.  The float should be adjustable, and you may be able to move it upwards.

By the way, you refer to a “block” of salt.  We would suggest that you consider either pellets or granular salt purified for use in water softeners – while block salt is less expensive – it may contain dirt and impurities that can contaminate you softener and household water supply.

Vincent in OR, I have a water softener with a Fleck model 5600SE Downflow control. The manual that came with it describes the valve as a 2310 Safety Brine Valve. But then there was a loose instruction sheet entitled “Installation Instructions for 474 Safety Brine Valve Elbow” so that made me wonder if I had the right pieces. Also, there is a tube shaped white plastic item that I’m not sure where it is supposed to be located. Thanks!

Answer:
You have the correct parts. The Fleck manual refers to a brine valve assembly manufactured by Fleck – your unit is configured with a similar valve manufactured by the Clack Corporation. The part you describe is an insert that goes into the end of your plastic brine line – in high pressure applications, this will prevent the tube from collapsing. With typical normal water softener brine draw vacuum pressure, it is normally unnecessary. Please let us know if this helps.

Bill in FL, I recently purchased your model ECT9100 (Fleck 9100 Econominder metered valve) 48,000 grain twin tank water softener. I misplaced the programming instructions, and you explain to me how to do it?

Answer:
Sure! We normally pre-set the unit up at our factory, but to make sure, the calculation and procedure for proper setting is below. Setting the brine refill time depends on the color label (sticker indicating the installed injector size) that you will find placed on the rear of the valve head. You should have a black label.

Blue label – 0.25 GPM
Black label – 0.50 GPM
Red label – 1.00 GPM

You should have a 0.5 GPM black label, so let’s try resetting your unit for brining at 12 pounds per cubic foot. 48,000 grain = 1.5 cubic feet of resin. Three (3) pounds of salt will dissolve into a gallon of water – so to have 18 pounds of salt (9 pounds x 1.5 cubic feet) you need to have brine refill at 12 minutes to refill the brine tank with 6 gallons of water (6 gallons at 3 pounds of salt per gallon = 18 pounds).

Each pin hole = 2 minutes, so to check for correct brine refill setting, there should be 8 holes in the wheel before the last two installed pins.

Step#1 = 8 minutes (backwash position, flushes/cleans the resin bed – first set of pins, 4 pins)

Step#2 = 60 minutes (brine draw/slow rinse, draws brine solution into the resin bed – first set of holes, 30 holes)

Step#3 = 8 minutes (rapid rinse, rinses excess brine from resin bed – second set of pins, 4 pins)

Step#4 = (5 gallons water, second set of holes) Black = 12 minutes – 6 pin holes

Step#5 – 4 minutes (re-set, 2 pins)

Thanks, and let us know if you have any other questions!