water heaters and water softeners

[johnb300m]

You're all gonna hate me
But I got one of those EcoWater (GE rebranded) water softeners at Home Depot. No timers. No calculations.
Just set my hardness setting, and added a bit for iron in the water.
It's worked great. Honestly. And I know where to find replacement parts.
It sounds like GE Repair won't even touch these, which is unbelievable.

But yeah my water is really soft now. No weird salty taste. It's easy on salt on the "saver" setting. Only regenerates on demand, which so far is only every 2-3 weeks! (It's just me).
It does seem to be keeping the iron under control. Very minimal red/pink staining thus far.

 

[washer111]

@john

From what I've read - I think those GE/Sears (etc) units are all based on the rotary control valve design by NorthStar. Perhaps not the most reliable, but very cheap to repair if it comes to that.

New units do away with manual setup, set your hardness, number of people and it goes from there. Some will even do a "smart regeneration" based on historical water usage and that sort of thing.

 

[askolover]

 When I bought this house everything was scaled badly...the shower head barely sprayed at all.  I replaced faucets and such and purchased a RainSoft (RipOff) system and was happy for a while.  It was so unreliable I eventually replaced it with one from Lowes that worked for 10 years.  When it died, I refurbished the RainSoft with a new Fleck valve, new resin, and new brine tank valve.  Works great and easy to service in 15 minutes if valve seals need to be changed out.  All my faucets are still clean and like new, my shower head never clogs, I use minimal detergent in the Asko and it rinses 4 times.  I'm not sure I like the DW pod/tab detergents because I think they are too harsh for soft water, but I bought some of those specifically made for softened water and they seem to do well.  I enjoy showering in soft water...when we vacation and I have to use hard water it makes me itch. 

 

I'm more educated now than I was 10 years ago when I replaced the previous water heater.  I'm going to make a point of checking or changing the anode regularly.  May eventually try one of those powered rods.  The new Rheem WH is awesome.  I hope it holds up.  It has a new redesigned gas control on it...not sure how that will pan out, only time will tell.  It is only the 6 year model, but it is so well insulated that the sides and top of the cabinet is actually cool/cold.  I hear it fire up when significant hot water is used, but it doesn't stay on very long at all.  Hopefully by the time it needs replacing we will be in our new house somewhere else...

 

[beekeyknee]

OK. I'll show you all....again.

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?41978

 

[sudsmaster]

If I'm not mistaken, iron stains are not pink or red, but rather brown.

 

Pink/red stains are from an airborne bacteria. Serratia marscesens, to be exact. There's a gubmint story behind that, as well.

 

The bacteria count can be reduced by rinsing off soap/dirt residue from the plumbing appliance after each use.

 

 

 

 

[retro-man]

I always believed the pink/orange stains are from the calcium in the water.

Jon

 

[johnb300m]

pink stains

FASCINATING!
And unsettling.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8085087_causes-water-stained-red-pink.html

It IS from a bacteria. Every website I looked at, corroborated the same thing.
Serratia Marcescens

I've seen these pink stains around every bathtub drain, and shower curtain seam and toilet bowl my whole life.
I always figured it was from low levels of dissolved iron in the city and well water.
Oddly, my old apartment in Wheaton, IL which fed off of Chicago lake water, had very strong and fast pink stain buildup.
But my house now with local well water and water softening; the pink stains have been very slow to build up.
So I naturally thought it was because of the minor "iron management" from the softener.

Either way, it's good to know it's much less of a problem in my current house, as from past dwellings.
But I'll be MORE diligent in keeping this pink stain clean.

 

[whirlykenmore78]

EcoWater made WP,KM,GE softeners:

While well made and decent performing units, ARE NOT the same as the EWS-3000 series units sold by EcoWater dealers. The basic softener is different in that it has a much enhanced valve and cap with higher flow characteristics and better iron removal. Next up is the water conditioner which I use adds some filtration to softening. The EWR-3500 water refiner adds a full filtration bed (like a water treatment plant) to a conditioner.
WK78

 

[sudsmaster]

Yes, and the gubmint link to S. marsescens is that back in the 50's or 60's, the Department of Defense decided it needed to measure the spread of biological weapon fallout in an urban area.

 

So they chose the San Francisco Bay Area, and then proceeded to spray vast quantities of S. marsescens from planes above it. They chose this particular bacteria because its pink color could easily be detected on air sampling filters, and because it was thought to be harmless to humans.

 

Not entirely. At least one known death occurred afterward from S. marsesens infection - an elderly man, but dead none the less. Unforeseen consequences, but I don't think the military has tried something similar since. At least I hope not.

 

I do know the bacteria seems to me far more prevalent today than I recall back in the 60's through 90's. That is, shower stalls and tubs seem to go pink far more readily than in the past. Is it that our soaps and shampoos are far more tasty to the bacteria? Or is it that the bacteria has launched an all out assault on our homes?

 

 

 

[dartman]

heat pump water heaters

Been thinking about upgrading to one from the builder grade A-O Sanford? That they put in here when they did a major but quick and dirty rehab on this house before I bought it in 2012.
It's a manufactured on its own lot and has a small closet/room area where they put a electric furnace and a normal 50 gallon electric heater.
Anyone tried one here, they say it needs airflow and space but the area has a large wall vent in the top of the wall in the kitchen and room a bit around the furnace that is open so you can easily change the filters and give it plenty of air flow.
They are spendy but supposed to use the warm air around it to run the heat pump and avoid the main heating elements to save a lot of power.
If it would save a bunch on my electric bill and provide good hot water might be worth using most of my tax refund to upgrade if it can work in the space.
Anyways, any thoughts or already using one out there?