How to recharge water softener cartridge? - Page 2

#11: Post by **Peppersass** » October 29th, 2015, 2:25 am

If you have very hard water, over the long haul it's more economical to use a rechargeable softener, like these.

I bought a lifetime supply (40 lb) of the recommended salt pellets at Home Depot for about $5.

#12: Post by **OldNuc** » October 29th, 2015, 9:13 am

That is a cation exchange softener that is in the sodium form and is salt regenerated. That would be identical to the common whole house softener. If you are attempting to initially start the custom water process from a base of pure water you will have to add an anion exchange section and for best results a mixed bed polisher section. Some of this can be accomplished with the RO systems. Ultimately I suspect that a distiller and whole house softener will be both lower cost and easier to operate and maintain.

October 30th, 2015, 1:37 am

thank you for reply
my water PPM is very high at 270 PPM
My water readings:
Before Filters After Filters
270 PPM 280 PPM (TDS-4)
7.6 PH 7.6 PH (pH kit)
KH 12 drops 12 drops (GH & KH kit)
GH 14+ drops 1 drop (GH & KH kit)

looks like I have multiple options:
1. commercial softener system for about $300 - 2 filters replacement and recharge every 6-12 months $20
2. RO for about $200 - filters and membrane replacement every 6-8 months $30-$80
3. buy dist water from water store $0.25/Gal
4. existing 2 filters system - every 3-5 months cartridge replacement $30

what to do?

#14: Post by **Richard** » October 30th, 2015, 9:07 am

mikek753 wrote:looks like I have multiple options: . . . what to do?

To your list should be added a softener designed for user recharging. Softeners of that design are not replaced; they are recharged using salt. See Post #11 in this thread.

#15: Post by **OldNuc** » October 30th, 2015, 11:51 am

Resin exchange home/consumer units load the outlet water up with sodium and that shows up on the TDS which makes TDS readings less than useless. If you want to start with pure water then go buy a home distiller. Output is pure water in a basic unionized state but it does need to be buffered slightly to raise the Ph to 7+.

October 30th, 2015, 12:43 pm

Richard wrote:To your list should be added a softener designed for user recharging. Softeners of that design are not replaced; they are recharged using salt. See Post #11 in this thread.

yes, that is option #1
no, resin will not be replaced, but other 2 filters will need to be replaced
Sorry, I wasn't clear

#17: Post by **yakster** » October 30th, 2015, 1:55 pm

OldNuc wrote:Resin exchange home/consumer units load the outlet water up with sodium and that shows up on the TDS which makes TDS readings less than useless.

+1 on this, the test kits that I've seen to determine if the water softener is working test sudsing to see if the water is hard or soft, but a conductivity TDS meter won't show anything useful.

#18: Post by **JohnB.** » October 30th, 2015, 3:26 pm

The TDS readings for my hard water & softened water are always pretty much the same.

October 30th, 2015, 3:43 pm

+1
only GH test results shows me difference
I think I'll use only GH number of drops to determine when to replace softener or recharge if I'll buy CC rechargeable softener

I can't evaluate total cost for 5 years and 10 years

#20: Post by **Richard** » October 31st, 2015, 12:10 am

mikek753 wrote:yes, that is option #1
no, resin will not be replaced, but other 2 filters will need to be replaced
Sorry, I wasn't clear

Reading comprehension failure on my part.