Asked on main board but not much response

[Thunderbolt]

With the semi annual pilgrimage of the dreaded "love bugs" here in Florida we find it necessary to wash the Valkyrie or the 4 wheeled vehicles each and every outing.  Our water has quite a lot of lime/scale because we live on top of limestone caverns that contain our aquifer.  We have been researching water softeners.  It appears that the cures that have phrases like Wow and Magic and Magnetic are all a ruse.  Some research indicates that the newer offerings of TAC softeners don't perform as stated.  We can buy for less than $100 a small unit to wash the bike and car/truck that uses 2 boxes of common table salt and probably would suffice for the bike etc. attached to a water hose.  I would like some advice on buying a whole house unit that would keep the spots from occurring on the dishes and plumbing fixtures and cause decreased usage of soaps.  I have also read that the salt treated water is not good to drink especially for folks with high blood pressure.  Opinions please.

Copy and paste from main board.

[sixlow]

I am interested in what you find, my bathroom fixtures last about 2 yrs before they look like a science project !

[OLDFRT]

We have had a Rainsoft system for years. I still get very minimal water spots if I don't wipe down the bike, but I am not sure if the water from the hose is before or after the Water Softener. Our Rainsoft system is in the garage, and is definitely before any of the inside plumbing.

[TallRider]

The only cure and I mean "ONLY" is a whole house RO system. That means 215 ppm coming out your tap. No sofftner, (can't drink water if softened) no spotting, no scum, no calsium buildup. Spot free car washing. I am on a well 400" deep next to a spreader canal 3000ppm salt, Hi sulfer gas, keep my pool filled from well, never have to add salt for salt clorinator, water heater every 1 1/2- 2 yrs till I went whole house RO. First year Maint free and 59.00 mo after that they take care of everything above ground. Best investment i ever made. 15 yrs and every appliance in the house and every faucet original. Except the water heaters. Never cleaned shower or tubs. Always wiped dry after use, never left shower or tub wet. Other secret to mold mildew issues. Amazing what an extra 1 1/2 minutes does when you wipe dry with a towl.  Went through 3 heaters before converting. Bottled water is about 400-500ppm. I work for a guy who has about 85 houses maintaining and repairing them for last 12 yrs here in Ft Myers area and are on well, city (Ft Myers), (Cape Coral), (Pine Island) and (Ft Myers Shores) Water stinks, city no beter than well, actualy more damaging to fixtures amd copper than well.System I have is contained in a cabinet outside and has the UV lite which sterilizes the water before entering the house.  System here from Water Medics runs around 4000.00 which includes UV Lite. Most other co charging extra for UV.

[TallRider]

Also you will need a holding tank outside. I have a 300 gal one. Most places with city water do not use Ro systems as there is a general 3 to 1 waste water for preoduct production. making it more costly on city water. I have figured out a system similar to your fuel injection on cars were the fuel is rescycled back to the tank. On city water you will need a supply holding tank to supply the Ro with raw water and recycle it back into the holding tank and let city  water keep the holding tank full replacing the  water produced by th Ro therefore no waiste On well water is free but city you pay for every drop. At some point we here will have to go on city water. I swore I wold never use city water and stay on well as long as possible and if had to switch figured out a way to make it practical to use RO. Once you have been using pure RO water you will never want to go back to anything else. I can make a pot of coffee in am and reheat it at 4 o'clock and you would never now it if I didn't tell you. You cannot do this even on bottled water.

[FloridaValkRyder]

Well, I don't profess to know everything about water softening but I know I love my GE water softener very much. RO, reverse osmosis, for the whole house? RO systems usually are confined to undersink installs as they have to have a storage tank to hold the water after filtering because they are SSSLLLOOOWWW to filter due to the membrane that the water has to cross. They are the best you can get however, or so I have read. I bought my GE system from Home Depot, surprise huh, about 8 years ago. It grabs my county supplied water before it even gets to the house to make sure I get it all. I have a large whole house filter just before the softener with a carbon filter in it. That pretty much takes care of the chlorine smell and taste. The difference it made in things like towels, sheets, clothes, etc was amazing. I really don't get any calcium or lime spots to speak of on anything, even my big clear shower doors. My shower doors don't clog up anyI know that some salt is left in the water although I have never been able to taste it myself, nor have people who drank it right from the tap but did not know about the softener. My doctor had no concerns about the salt levels either. I have a total investment of about $600. in the whole thing and it suits my needs very well. I know you can spend thousands and thousands on these big multi-tank, multi task systems but they seem to be used primarily on well systems to remove iron, sulfur, sediment, etc.  More than I wanted to invest just to remove calcium and lime and chlorine smell and taste. It suits us just great and there is hardly any maintenance required except to add salt about every two months or so. I guess it comes down to how clean do you want the water to be, almost sterile or just safe and drinkable. I chose safe and drinkable which it certainly is. The "Magic" systems are mostly for descaling purposes not really softening. That's my two cents on the subject.

[TallRider]

Hey I'm talking big cahuna here not toys. Filters through a charcoal filter into house adds taiste back into water. There is a high pressure pump running at 150 lbs pressure pushing water through membrain large white tube barely visible in back of cabinet. But to each there own. This removes all contaminents like lead and other heavy metals and chemicals. Eliminates water softner need and maintanance of the system.

[Thunderbolt]

Thanks for the responses so far.  I suppose you just have to weigh the cost vs. reward. Intersting Jeff that your Dr. didn't have a problem with the salt that might be left in the water.  Do you use bottled water for lets say tea for your supper/dinner or just the undersink filter?  Thanks to both of you for taking the time to respond.  

[FloridaValkRyder]

Thanks for the responses so far.  I suppose you just have to weigh the cost vs. reward. Intersting Jeff that your Dr. didn't have a problem with the salt that might be left in the water.  Do you use bottled water for lets say tea for your supper/dinner or just the undersink filter?  Thanks to both of you for taking the time to respond.  

We have an RO System for the kitchen sink which we use for just my coffee and iced tea, that was my wifes idea. Everything else is just straight, softened tap water.  The system profiled by TallRider is no doubt a state of the art system and does what he requires for his well system. I needed nothing that elaborate or expensive. He states that you can't drink water that has been softened but we, and many others I know, do it on a daily basis. There is no salt taste in the water, I actually just went and checked from the bathroom sink. I know there is a salt residue in our water but my doctor said it was not a problem since we have no salt restrictions anyway.  If the system began to malfunction during the regeneration process you might then begin to taste salt but we have never had that problem. If my system ever fails, I'll take it out and put a brand new one back in, the plumbing is all done. Cost vs reward as you say, that's the bottom line I suppose.

[Steel cowboy]

a cheaper solution would be to get a plastic barrel (50 gallons or smaller) and hook it up to your down spout from the roof gutter. One good rain will probably fill it, get yourself a pump from a fountain or small pool and use the water to rinse the bike off. gravity feed would work too.
make sure it is closed up good on top of the barrel so no animals or leaves get in.
just my input.

[allhans4]

Unlike the others, I opted for the small softener designed for car washing. Does the job.