Whole-house Reverse Osmosis system?

9 years ago

We are in the country on extremely hard well water. We built our 2000 sf house 10 years ago, and we are on our second washer and dishwasher. We installed an instant-demand water heater after our second traditional water heater gave up the ghost. (Elements needed replaced about every 2-3 months.) All faucets, bibs, etc., are always crusty and/or "frozen".

Culligan came out and said a water softener would not help the problem we have and suggests, based on their water analysis as well as our local city analysis, that we get a whole-house RO system for about $15K. With all the other things that go along with an RO system, this seems like a gigantic pain. It might be easier to get brand new appliances every 3 or 4 years! And this would not help the probable condition of our pipes. Anyone have any suggestions or thoughts?

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Comments (4)

User
9 years ago
I'm VERY curious to know why "a water softener would not help the problem..."

You need to get a comprehensive water test from a certified independent lab. Then we'll know what needs to be treated and how to accomplish that with the most reliability, ease of service, and reasonable cost.
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chiefswan thanked User
chiefswan
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you for your comment. Of course, I can not find the Culligan report. I do remember it took more than a week to get the results as it was sent to a lab in another state. She said the problem was the dissolved solids. Actually, that a softener would only help in the sense that it might buy a little time, not solve the problem, i.e., our appliances might last one or two more years than with no treatment at all.

I did find the very small report from the city which puts the hardness at 260. I guess I'm wondering if there is any way to reverse damage already done, and would a water softener be worth trying? Thanks
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User
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
If you're on a well then why would you have a city water report? Are you on a community well?

Regardless of what any water treatment salesperson says... you need to get a comprehensive water test from a certified independent lab. Then we'll know what needs to be treated from a safety standpoint and what you want to be treated from a nice water standpoint and then we can can speak intelligently about what is needed.

I'm on 45 gpg hard water with considerable TDS and just replaced a 20 year old A.O. Smith LP water heater that was functioning properly. I drained it every 6 months and my water softener paid for itself many times over with what I saved not replacing water heaters every 3 years or so as my neighbors do. I replaced it because I didn't want to have to use one of the new regulation water heaters down the road so I scored one of the last of the old regulation ones.

In 20 years I've never had to repair or replace any water using appliance and never so much as a faucet or a hose washer.
Tinfish
3 years ago
We are in this exact situation and trying to determine what to do at this point. Just curious what you decided to do? did you install the whole house RO? if so, ate you happy with your decision? input? Thank you!