Water softners for Calgary hardwater

[taco.vidal]

Anyone using a water softner in their home? Were thinking about getting one and are not sure where to start.

-What type are you using? Anyone using anything other than the salt type?
-What brand is yours and who installed it for you?
-Are you running any type of water filtration system along with the softner?

Heres an interesting link:
http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server....rdness+FAQ.htm

I never knew the water was harder in the south than in the north part of calgary.

[onetwo_threefour]

Originally Posted by taco.vidal

Anyone using a water softner in their home? Were thinking about getting one and are not sure where to start.

-What type are you using? Anyone using anything other than the salt type?
-What brand is yours and who installed it for you?
-Are you running any type of water filtration system along with the softner?

Heres an interesting link:
http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server....rdness+FAQ.htm

I never knew the water was harder in the south than in the north part of calgary.

Bought a Kenmore one a couple years ago and installed it myself replacing an old one that was there. If you are fairly comfortable with soldering it can be a DIY job. Mine was a little easier since the pipes were already in approximately the right locations.
The Kenmore has been good, we bought the second best one. (The one that never goes on sale because the price ends in .97) The only thing that's bad about it is that there are some little plastic collars and O-Rings that have to go on at one point and it's fairly easy to damege the parts if you're not careful. I had to get replacements after getting frustrated and bending one just a little too hard. As for the hardness, I ended up having to set the hardness to about 45 grains to get good softening. I think we have high iron content in the pipes in Fairview or something.

[ericschand]

Bump.

I'm looking for a water softener as well.

I phoned Culligan, but the guy quoted me $2000! That seems a bit high.
I'll be phoning a couple of others.

Knowing nothing about water softeners or plumbing, perhaps someone can give
advice, recommendations and/or answer taco.vidals questions?

Thanks,
ers

[Shazam]

Fleck is generally considered to be the best water softener out there. Culligan sells them as their own brand. Does the $2000 also cover install? If so, if you have PEX lines, I'd see if you can just get the unit and install it yourself, since dealing with PEX is brain dead easy.

Trail Appliances sells the Kinetico brand of water softeners, but they're extremely expensive.

The Kenmores and others of those ilk (plastic tub, plastic parts, etc) use a lot more salt and are considered to be less reliable.

[Fobby]

Bump:

Didn't want to create a new thread.

Any recommendation on brand of water softener? What's a good estimate for hardware + install?

Any help is appreciated.

[Gundo]

Ive got a Kinetico system in my house, yes its pricey but it works much smoother than the plastic tub kind we had before there is no downtime where they go offline to clean, they dont use any power they are all water driven. I think it ran me around $3200 installed.

[ricosuave]

thanks for this, I was wondering and in the market too

[Fobby]

Thanks Gundo,

I wonder if I will be able to get some deals at the Home Show this weekend.

[Fobby]

Update: Just got my Kinetico installed today. Both softener and RO system. Got the deal from the homeshow which gave 10% off both system.