Buying a water softener, need assistance

Forums: Water Softener, err3500, Home Improvement, Water Softeners, Question
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Dear all,

I am looking into purchasing a quality water softener for our home. We are 2 adults and 2 small children, 2 and 1/2 baths. I have looked at water softeners from all of the big box stores local to me, Waterboss, Whirlpool, and Kenmore to name a few. We have also entertained Ecowater and Culligan sales people. From what I gather from their tests, we are at 8 grains hardness today but I remember at one time a few years ago when we looked at softeners it was at 11. We are on municipal water. We are looking to make at best an educated decision on what to buy. We like the Ecowater because of the all in one unit, its smaller size (will fit where I would like it installed), warranty, and most of all the salesman was very polite and personable, not pushy. We also have a second issue besides the hard water we are trying to solve. It is low pressure supplied by the city. I just purchased a Grundfos water booster pump MQ3-45 that will help with this issue.... So now my questions.....

Should we decide on the Ecowater (we are leaning heavily towards this because of the local dealer, years in business, etc), here are my questions:

1) Shoud we buy a softener with carbon installed in the resin tank? My understanding is that it is a bad idea as gathered from these forums.

2) If I buy an Ecowater without the carbon in the resin tank, shoul I install a whole house carbon filter (Big Blue was a name used by a plumber) prior to the softener? My understanding is that chlorine will break down the resin.

3) We are looking at the ERO 175 water filtration unit as well. What we cant find out is how many gallons of waste water are needed/generated to make 1 gallon of drinking water.

Now I seek your advice. Thank you all in advance.

Thank you,

Marvin

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There are many water softener experts here on A2K. I'm sure one will come by to answer your question soon!

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@mfwade,

Marvin,

The ECOwater ERR3500 is designed for municipal water and is the premier softener/filter on the market. Top of the line.

There are no issues with carbon in the ERR3500 softener.
Don't waste your time or money with a Big Blue.
I recommend a Multi-Pure drinking water filter over the ERO 175 or any other RO.

I suggest having the ECOwater dealer install your booster pump when they install your ERR 3500

1 Reply

@H2O MAN,

H2O Man,

Yes, The Ecowater dealer stated that they will install the boster pump for me as well as re-plumb my outside faucets prior to the softener. My real and only issue is with the carbon in the softener. Based on my reading on these forums, the consensus is that it is bad to have the carbon in the same chamber as the resin. Also, it appears that the carbon only has a life span of about 5 years, is this true. Maybe it is a moot point as the Ecowater medai has a lifetime warranty minus the labor to replace it?? Am I missing something here? Internet answers were, breaks down, ruins the resin, etc...

The Ecowater salesman said to not waste my money on the perceived better unit (ERO375) as the ERO175 can be upgraded over time by replacing the 175 cartridges with the 375 ones. Basically the same unit with different cartridges??

As for the Multi-Pure unit you refer to, I was going to have the installer put the RO unit near the softener and run lines to both the sink and the fridge. Is this still possible with the Multi-Pure? Is the Multi-Pure a better unit, if so why?

Thank you very much for your extremely helpful answers.

marvin

2 Replies

@mfwade,

You will want to confirm this information with your ECOwater salesman
in writing, but I believe the effectiveness of the carbon is warrantied.

The solid carbon block Multi-Pure is NSF certified for health effects.
It is a no wait, in and out filter that has no waste water and the only maintenance
is a yearly cartridge change. It does not remove salts/minerals.
I offer my clients Multi-Pure filters at a discount.

For optimal performance the RO requires a constant pressure and temperature.
It also requires manual flushing of the membrane and frequent pre & post filter changes.
The RO membrane rejects water to the drain and also needs periodic replacement.
The RO is also slow, it can only process so much water in a given time frame.
I don't offer an RO to my clients.

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@mfwade,

Yes

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Everyone always worries about how much water a reverse osmosis system wastes to make a gallon of water but no one seems to care how much water gets wasted to flush a turd down the toilet. Not to mention how much water gets wasted to keep the grass green. I bought my Eco Water system 6 years ago and would recommend it to anyone. They service the RO annually and bring me salt twice a year.

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@josh2009,

mfwade wrote:

H2O Man,

Thank you very much for your extremely helpful answers.

You are very welcome Very Happy

josh2009 wrote:

Everyone always worries about how much water a reverse osmosis system wastes to make a gallon of water

It's not just the rejection ratio, it's the slowness, the maintenance and the ongoing cost.
The ECOwater RO systems are excellent, but I prefer the Multi Pure in most situations.

1 Reply

@H2O MAN,

Well, I was going to try and PM H2O Man but cant seem to figure it out Sad

Can you send me your website URL so that I can get your information and call you?

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@mfwade,

mfwade wrote:

Well, I was going to try and PM H2O Man but cant seem to figure it out Can you send me your website URL so that I can get your information and call you?

http://able2know.org/user/h2o_man/

1 Reply

@H2O MAN,

Well, so now I am not having the ECOwater softener installed today. The why, I asked the dealer for his Certificate of Insurance and BAM.... He had some real attitude. I go the I have been doing this for over 20 years and never had a problem blah blah blah. Looks like I need to figure out how to get one from another dealer. I wonder if other ECOwater dealers are allowed to cross existing ECOwater dealers territories??

1 Reply

@mfwade,

mfwade wrote:

I asked the dealer for his Certificate of Insurance

I wouldn't let that be a deal breaker and no, ECOwater dealers do not cross into other dealers territories.

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Buying a water softener, need assistance

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