Just wanted to say thank you so much for the videos! First time homeowner, first time needing/having a water softener. These videos have been a life-saver.
I just bought my house and ran out of media and salt recently. The salt bags were easy enough to replace from HD. When I called the local plumber about the filter and media service (previous elderly owner used them) they wanted almost $300 for service. HD sells a while new tank with NEW meter for $600!.. The old meter doesn't even have a readable screen. Should I just buy a new meter and attached it to the old tubes?
I'm not sure what you mean when you say ran out of media but I'm assuming you mean that the media isn't working anymore and you're weighing the cost of replacing the media vs replacing the whole softener? Media replacement is very expensive, lots of labour involved. If you have a quality water softener and it's not all that old replacing the media makes sense. If it's just a disposable inexpensive Big Box store water softener, get the new one. Just keep in mind that with the new one you'll likely need to do some extra plumbing to get it to fit and pay to get rid of the old one.
@@water_estore I have 2 tanks that look like torpedoes (acid neutralizer?) , I thought that the pellets inside were called media. The top tank is empty (I shine a light behind it) and they told me that it was 300 to fill it back up. It still runs cuz I hear it cycling. My question is should I upgrade to a digital motor like the ones you show or have them fill it up and just wait until the motor dies to replace it.
Dear Gary, I see you as a great professional in this area. My question is regarding the ozone generator. It's difficult to find the right info about how much ozone should be used and also how to avoid changing the taste of water...
I don''t like or use ozone generators so I don't know. They are expensive, don't last very long, work inconsistently and the ozone they produce is not compatible with the plastics in the valves. Sorry, but I can't help you.
Thank you so much for your videos. We just got our first softener system and learning how to use it. I am struggling on how to set-up the right salt usage level. Our municipal water hardness is about 40.2ppm, and iron of 0.104ppm. I don’t see magnesium on water report. Installer initially set the machine for 10gpg with 8lbs of salt. I have re-set hardness in setting as 5gpg after watching your video, and 3lbs of salt. I am not sure if 3lbs of salt is right setting for my family of 2. According to the product manual, salting should be as follow High: 26,100@11.2lbs Medium: 21,300@7.5lbs Low: 9,900@2.25lbs Efficiency: 4,400@2.25lbs. I am not sure what those numbers are for. Does it look okay for you? Or should the setting be changed differently?
Hi Gary! Great video thank you for sharing your knowledge. Quick question if you don’t mind as I am new to owning a water softener. I am one person in the home. How many lbs of salt should I set? It currently is set at 7. And the metered regen is set for 600. Thank you!
Hey gary, have a big problem for high salt consumption. Hardness is roughly 200 ppm, average consumption is nearly 1600 ltrs as per calculation salt consumption should not be more than 30-35 kg, but it consumes more than 70 ltrs. Any suggestions
Hi there, do I need to lower my alkalinity if it’s high? Also our MPS is low (white/clear) on stick. Do I need to fix that as well? How do I test our water for iron? Thank you!
Hey Gary we are in Gladwin close to Midland. Does your store carry test strips? I feel as though our settings are off, the waterboss 900 is guzzling salt over here!
I think you mean Midland, Michigan. We are in Midland, Onatio in Canada. You can oreder the test strips here waterestore.com/products/hum-water-hardness-test we offer free shipping and discount pricing.
@@water_estore ohhhhh my goodness!!!! I swear you sounded like a Michigander 😂 Thank you for the link! I would add that to every single video description from now on!!!!
Hello Gary, my softner has a 'backwash cycle', a "Brine and Rinse' cycle, a 'Rapid Rince' cyle and a 'Brine tank refill' cycle. To reduce the salt usage, which 'cycle' time should I reduce. I am using three to four 40lb bags of salt every month and we are only two in our household. And I am regenerating only once a week!!
Hi Gary, my Whirlpool water softener has a setting for “salt efficiency”. Should this be ‘on’ or ‘off’? I’m on a well, and have a sediment filter and carbon filter, before it enters the water softener.
I'm having a build up of black, slimy, gunk on faucet heads which I'm reading is a result of harmless bacteria feeding off of manganese. Does this mean my water softener settings are off? I never had this issue before the system was installed.
I have super hard water and we used 4 bags per month for five years. Dishes started coming out all foggy again so I checked and the three softeners we have all had the wrong regen schedule. I guess power went out? Reset them all the the same schedule they had and now it’s taking 6 bags per week! Plus the dishes are still a little foggy (minerals). No leaks, what the hell? 24 bags per month?
I have a Culligan HE Series Aqua Sensor & it was serviced 38 days ago & it has not regenerated yet. The display says "softening". Do I wait longer, or regenerate myself by setting the controls? We are Husband & Wife & do get lots of suds in the shower & kitchen sink from the water softerner. Hate to call back Culligan since they charge $100 plus for a service call. Thanks.
Do you have a video that explains what your salt dosage should be set at on a 24,000, 32,000 or 48,000 grain water softener? Should they be set at 6 lbs, 9 lbs, 12 lbs per backwash or etc? Thank you
my softener uses a 40 lbs. bag every day, it is a metered softener, I have wondered if the company that installed it set it to high? no idea how to adjust it
That is an extreme amount of salt. Yes, I would check with them, either it is set too high or you have a leak somewhere and you are going through massive amounts of water every day.
i had a salt clog 2 days ago & watched your videos to break it up but there is still some salt at the bottom of the tank (they’re like the pellets not the salt mush) so can i start adding new salt again? or do i have to wait for all of that salt to come out too
Hello sir hope you are doing well. I live in a house with 8 adults and we usually have to use a 23kg bag once a week. Do you think this is too much? It regens every night. Also should the salt be higher than the water level?
Yes, you need to have the salt higher than thew water. I would have your water tested for hardness and make sure that the water softener is programmed for your level of hardness correctly.
Yes, but it could also be a number of other things too. For the water softener , I would make sure you know how hard your water is and the water softener is set correctly. That would be your first step.
I started renting a place on softened well water and the unit downstairs has the softener. My tap water is coming out way too salty. Is it safe to say the softener isn't adjusted right if it's dumping excess salt?
Gary, I have a newly installed WS1 water system for my well water with very hard water; since installation there has been a great deal of difficulty setting the salt levels and although the technician has been in numerous times I still can taste the salt (brine) in my water when I shower. My worry is if I set the salt too low then it will not soften the water leading to problems in the future. Typically only 2 people in the house and not a great deal of water usage. Any suggestions?
Assuming that you have a 4 or 5 button control valve you set the hardness at 2 above your hardness number. Assuming the system has been programmed correctly you never need to change the salt settings. What is the TDS of your raw water in parts per million?
"Efficiency of water softener". That's where I am stuck. How do I know the water softener is efficient? We use very little water. I calculated 4,704 grains per week, so I'll be regenerating once a month or even 6 weeks on a 35000 grain softener.
We have 10 GPG, about 1.5 ppm manganese and about 0.5 ppm iron, 2 adults, 1 teenager, 2 kids, and a baby. We have an Autotrol 255 with 760 Logix controller, 64K 2.0 cuft system. How do I even begin to figure out what to set my softener system to? Is there a calculator somewhere I can put all this info in to know what settings to put in?
Is your water softener using too much salt? Check this out to find out why!
Just wanted to say thank you so much for the videos! First time homeowner, first time needing/having a water softener. These videos have been a life-saver.
Glad to hear they helped! Please share video with friends and family!
I just bought my house and ran out of media and salt recently. The salt bags were easy enough to replace from HD. When I called the local plumber about the filter and media service (previous elderly owner used them) they wanted almost $300 for service. HD sells a while new tank with NEW meter for $600!.. The old meter doesn't even have a readable screen. Should I just buy a new meter and attached it to the old tubes?
I'm not sure what you mean when you say ran out of media but I'm assuming you mean that the media isn't working anymore and you're weighing the cost of replacing the media vs replacing the whole softener? Media replacement is very expensive, lots of labour involved. If you have a quality water softener and it's not all that old replacing the media makes sense. If it's just a disposable inexpensive Big Box store water softener, get the new one. Just keep in mind that with the new one you'll likely need to do some extra plumbing to get it to fit and pay to get rid of the old one.
@@water_estore I have 2 tanks that look like torpedoes (acid neutralizer?) , I thought that the pellets inside were called media. The top tank is empty (I shine a light behind it) and they told me that it was 300 to fill it back up. It still runs cuz I hear it cycling. My question is should I upgrade to a digital motor like the ones you show or have them fill it up and just wait until the motor dies to replace it.
@@water_estore I also have the salt tank right next to the torpedoes which I've filled from HD (super easy)
We have a WaterBoss 900 installed 3/19 and is now using more salt than before. What do we do/check? Thank you
Check the settings to be sure they are correct? Also, be sure there is no water running in the house, like a leaky toilet.
Dear Gary, I see you as a great professional in this area.
My question is regarding the ozone generator. It's difficult to find the right info about how much ozone should be used and also how to avoid changing the taste of water...
I don''t like or use ozone generators so I don't know. They are expensive, don't last very long, work inconsistently and the ozone they produce is not compatible with the plastics in the valves. Sorry, but I can't help you.
Thank you so much for your videos. We just got our first softener system and learning how to use it.
I am struggling on how to set-up the right salt usage level.
Our municipal water hardness is about 40.2ppm, and iron of 0.104ppm. I don’t see magnesium on water report. Installer initially set the machine for 10gpg with 8lbs of salt.
I have re-set hardness in setting as 5gpg after watching your video, and 3lbs of salt. I am not sure if 3lbs of salt is right setting for my family of 2.
According to the product manual, salting should be as follow
High: 26,100@11.2lbs
Medium: 21,300@7.5lbs
Low: 9,900@2.25lbs
Efficiency: 4,400@2.25lbs.
I am not sure what those numbers are for. Does it look okay for you? Or should the setting be changed differently?
Glad you liked the videos. I would set it to medium @7.5 lbs. Your hardness settings look good.
Hi Gary! Great video thank you for sharing your knowledge. Quick question if you don’t mind as I am new to owning a water softener. I am one person in the home. How many lbs of salt should I set? It currently is set at 7. And the metered regen is set for 600. Thank you!
There are lots of variables depending on the size of water softener and your water chemistry but it sounds about correct
Hey gary, have a big problem for high salt consumption. Hardness is roughly 200 ppm, average consumption is nearly 1600 ltrs as per calculation salt consumption should not be more than 30-35 kg, but it consumes more than 70 ltrs.
Any suggestions
Check the settings to make sure that they are correct, this video will help ua-cam.com/users/livec6r7qUK8to4
Hi there, do I need to lower my alkalinity if it’s high? Also our MPS is low (white/clear) on stick. Do I need to fix that as well? How do I test our water for iron? Thank you!
Don’t need to lower alkalinity, don’t know what mps is, have your water tested for iron at a lab
Does the water work on time or usage for regeneration ?
All of our water softeners are fully metered. see here waterestore.ca/products/hum-deluxe-water-softener-30-000-grain
Hey Gary we are in Gladwin close to Midland. Does your store carry test strips? I feel as though our settings are off, the waterboss 900 is guzzling salt over here!
I think you mean Midland, Michigan. We are in Midland, Onatio in Canada. You can oreder the test strips here waterestore.com/products/hum-water-hardness-test we offer free shipping and discount pricing.
@@water_estore ohhhhh my goodness!!!! I swear you sounded like a Michigander 😂 Thank you for the link! I would add that to every single video description from now on!!!!
We are right across lake Huron from you.
Hello Gary, my softner has a 'backwash cycle', a "Brine and Rinse' cycle, a 'Rapid Rince' cyle and a 'Brine tank refill' cycle. To reduce the salt usage, which 'cycle' time should I reduce. I am using three to four 40lb bags of salt every month and we are only two in our household. And I am regenerating only once a week!!
Before you do anything else have your raw water tested to see how hard it is and then make sure your water softener is set correctly for your hardness
Hi Gary, my Whirlpool water softener has a setting for “salt efficiency”. Should this be ‘on’ or ‘off’? I’m on a well, and have a sediment filter and carbon filter, before it enters the water softener.
On well water it should be off.
@@water_estore Thank you for the response sir!
I'm having a build up of black, slimy, gunk on faucet heads which I'm reading is a result of harmless bacteria feeding off of manganese. Does this mean my water softener settings are off? I never had this issue before the system was installed.
Maybe, maybe not but I would certainly have them checked.
I have super hard water and we used 4 bags per month for five years.
Dishes started coming out all foggy again so I checked and the three softeners we have all had the wrong regen schedule. I guess power went out?
Reset them all the the same schedule they had and now it’s taking 6 bags per week! Plus the dishes are still a little foggy (minerals).
No leaks, what the hell? 24 bags per month?
There something very wrong here. I would check out this troubleshooting video ua-cam.com/video/_ws88RC9KYk/v-deo.htmlsi=0dyUXVbnoChGB5VT
I have a Culligan HE Series Aqua Sensor & it was serviced 38 days ago & it has not regenerated yet. The display says "softening". Do I wait longer, or regenerate myself by setting the controls? We are Husband & Wife & do get lots of suds in the shower & kitchen sink from the water softerner. Hate to call back Culligan since they charge $100 plus for a service call. Thanks.
How do you know that it has not regenerated in 38 days? What does Culligan say about it not regenerating?
Do you have a video that explains what your salt dosage should be set at on a 24,000, 32,000 or 48,000 grain water softener? Should they be set at 6 lbs, 9 lbs, 12 lbs per backwash or etc? Thank you
Typically, for a standard efficiency water softener, 7.5 lbs for every 30,000 grains.
my softener uses a 40 lbs. bag every day, it is a metered softener, I have wondered if the company that installed it set it to high? no idea how to adjust it
That is an extreme amount of salt. Yes, I would check with them, either it is set too high or you have a leak somewhere and you are going through massive amounts of water every day.
i had a salt clog 2 days ago & watched your videos to break it up but there is still some salt at the bottom of the tank (they’re like the pellets not the salt mush) so can i start adding new salt again? or do i have to wait for all of that salt to come out too
Great question. I would wait until it has regenerated a couple of time first.
Hello sir hope you are doing well. I live in a house with 8 adults and we usually have to use a 23kg bag once a week. Do you think this is too much? It regens every night. Also should the salt be higher than the water level?
Yes, you need to have the salt higher than thew water. I would have your water tested for hardness and make sure that the water softener is programmed for your level of hardness correctly.
Both mine and my wife’s skin becomes super dry after using our water. Could that also mean that our softener is using too much salt?
Yes, but it could also be a number of other things too. For the water softener , I would make sure you know how hard your water is and the water softener is set correctly. That would be your first step.
Hi Gary, How many litres of water should you use in a start up first fill. Vessel 10 x 54 water softener. Thanks
About 15 litres will work fine.
@@water_estore Thank You
Gary do you sell water test kits for plumbers who install water softeners and water filters
Yes, we have this basic test kit available waterestore.ca/products/pro-products-2401-standard-water-test-kit?_pos=1&_sid=19a052111&_ss=r
I started renting a place on softened well water and the unit downstairs has the softener. My tap water is coming out way too salty. Is it safe to say the softener isn't adjusted right if it's dumping excess salt?
Yes, it sounds like something isn't working correctly. The water shoulkd not taste salty.
Gary, I have a newly installed WS1 water system for my well water with very hard water; since installation there has been a great deal of difficulty setting the salt levels and although the technician has been in numerous times I still can taste the salt (brine) in my water when I shower. My worry is if I set the salt too low then it will not soften the water leading to problems in the future. Typically only 2 people in the house and not a great deal of water usage. Any suggestions?
Assuming that you have a 4 or 5 button control valve you set the hardness at 2 above your hardness number. Assuming the system has been programmed correctly you never need to change the salt settings. What is the TDS of your raw water in parts per million?
How do you test your water? And if values could me back out of range what can I do to fix it?
We have test kits for testing the various water parameters. Not sure about your second question though.
How do I get rid of big lump Of Salt ?
Break it up and toss it on the driveway. The rain will wash it away
"Efficiency of water softener". That's where I am stuck. How do I know the water softener is efficient?
We use very little water. I calculated 4,704 grains per week, so I'll be regenerating once a month or even 6 weeks on a 35000 grain softener.
The water softener needs to regenerate at least once every two weeks to keep from clogging the media.
How about 10 bags a month since installation. It is crazy and expensive.
wow, that is ridiculous! Are you sure your settings are correct? Do you have massive hardness or massive water usage?
@@water_estore it’s for 2 homes but only 5 people. Could be really hard water we are in the Missouri ozarks I really don’t know.
Am a home owner..how can I rise my acidic water level of ph of 4.7 to 7 permanently....using soda ash and sometimes I over dose my water tank...
A calcite filter like this is what you need waterestore.ca/products/hum-neutralizing-filter-calcite-1-0-cubic-foot
We have 10 GPG, about 1.5 ppm manganese and about 0.5 ppm iron, 2 adults, 1 teenager, 2 kids, and a baby. We have an Autotrol 255 with 760 Logix controller, 64K 2.0 cuft system. How do I even begin to figure out what to set my softener system to? Is there a calculator somewhere I can put all this info in to know what settings to put in?
This video will help you ua-cam.com/video/XMY69hdhX44/v-deo.html