Is this system best for my home?

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Hello, I am new here so please be gentle. I had a small tantrum when I was browsing this forum last night, I hope I didn't ruffle anyone's feathers; I'm impressed by all the knowledge here but rifling through the arguments was frustrating me.

Anyway, I hope you all will be generous enough to give your advice. Smile

I had a rep from an Ecowater/Water-Right dealer come to test my water last night (free, yes) and have a look at my home. I live in a small home with a private well. My personal "layman's" issues with my well water are 1.red-brown staining, 2.sulfur odor, 3.metal taste/odor, 4.hardness, and 5.hard-to-remove white scaling.

Here were the results of his tests:

pH: 7.5
Iron (ferrous): 1.0
TDS: 100
Hardness: 5 gpg

*I gave him 35 dollars and a bottle of water to have it tested for V.O.C.

Question1: The first hardness test he took showed 10 gpg, but said "the iron dissolved in the water was interefering with the results", and his second test resulted in 5 gpg. Is this theoretically true?

Question2: He did not officially test sulphur content, but "trusted his nose" to say it was a moderate amount (1.0 - 2.0). Is sulphur content harmful other than to cause unppleasant odor - for instance, does it cause a lot of staining, and is it worth it to have sulphur offically tested if I'm already going to be taking care of an iron problem?

His system recommendation is as follows:
- Water-Right IMS 1054 (to take care of my iron and sulphur issues)
- EcoWater ESS2000 R30 (to soften the water after the Water-Right filter does its job)
* The combined cost of both systems installed together, including labor and plumbing, is $3198.00

Again, my home is small and 2 adults live there.

Question3: This seems like a fair price for a local dealer and for the systems. What do you all think of the price? The warranty is pretty standard and the systems claim to last 10-15 years. (*I am not looking to just save money, of course - I want to know what the best, most cost-effective solution is for my home, even if it does cost a bit more... but I also do want to know if I can save a few hundred dollars that I don't need to be handing over unecessarily.)

Question4: What do you all recommend as alternatives to this setup - any brand, any dealer is fine, I'm still totally open to suggestions. I live in PA, if that helps. Or if you think this is a perfect setup, that's ok too. Smile

I guess that's about it for now. Thanks for taking the time to give me your opinions.

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I forgot to mention, I already have a 10-year-old softener installed that I'm not currently using.

It's a Marlo ML series - the resin is totally shot (chocolate milk water). It's got a manual float to regulate salt amount, and a 6-day regeneration timer (doens't meter the water use, you just set a day or days, or regenerate manually).

All the plumbing/drainage/bypass is set up, though.

Is this Marlo softener system worth buying new resin for, or is it just totally obsolete?

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meechity wrote:

Is this Marlo softener system worth buying new resin for, or is it just totally obsolete?

Any timer based softener will be less efficient than contemporary "on demand" softener designs. You're wise to look at replacing that Marlo.

Might want to get another two or three local water treatment pros in there to inspect the site and install, and quote you on your needs.

Ask your neighbors what they're doing for water treatment. They may recommend someone or tell you who to avoid.

Do your homework... it will pay off down the road.

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I don't know what other homework I can do. My neighbors all have wells, but this is a redneck slum and no one treats water. "What's a little stink?" they say. My closest neighbor actually just has a rubber hose running to the creek between our houses. Seriously!

I was pretty sure I was going to replace the Marlo. Maybe I can donate it to charity... Razz

Due to the low water usage in my home I didn't think it was worth it to shell out for a system that measured water. And with iron in my water, I didn't want to accidentally overload the (softener?) resin with iron while the system was only calculating for hardness. Does that make sense? Maybe I am misunderstanding it the way the systems work?

I will have more pros come in and look - all that's left in my area is Culligan, I think.

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meechity wrote:

I will have more pros come in and look - all that's left in my area is Culligan, I think.

Look in the phone book under water treatment for ads with no logos. They will usually be independent water treatment companies and will offer industry standard softeners.

On demand water softeners actually save you money. When properly sized for the installation and water conditions they make the most efficient use of salt and water. Actually on demand softeners are only marginally more expensive than timer based softeners and pay for the slight increase in cost pretty quickly.

Regardless of the number of people in your home the quality of the water you consume seems important to you (and it is) so let us know what other quotes you get so we might help.

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The ECOwater system is top of the line and worth every penny.

Look for an independent H2O specialist that builds with Fleck valves if you don't have many pennies.