Finishing up the plumbing on my house & shop. I'm leaning toward running all our water through the softener. We have pretty high iron in our well water and I don't want to deal with iron stains on my concrete and siding and whatever else. We aren't big on sprinkling our lawn, so I don't think I will use a ton of outside water. I know most don't do this, but curious of anyone else has run it this way?
Outside Spigot on or off soft water?
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JRC3
Well-known member
Eventually I'm gonna have one of each. Raw water for watering and whatnot on one, and iron filtered and water softened on the other. Considering hot water too.
gnpenning
Well-known member
Do one of each. You don't want to water trees or plants on softened water. Softened water as mentioned is great for washing vehicles. Washed 2 of my trucks last night. Found a bunch of water spots I missed last night.
I have mine plumbed so it can be either softened or not. I prefer not softened for my outside water. For washing the car, it might be best to be softened but I chamois the water off anyway, so I save salt by using unsoftened water. And since we also use it to water the veggie garden, probably better to have some minerals in it.
Tom
Tom
Dirtydan69
Well-known member
I have one of each. Well sort of. I have a whole house filter. I abhor softeners.
LS6 Tommy
Well-known member
A water softener will not eliminate iron stains.
Tommy
Tommy
If it removes the iron it will.
JRC3
Well-known member
A softener will filter lower levels of iron. Best to do that separately before the softener. Most people don't want to spend the money to do it properly.
Wanna Ride
Well-known member
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Same here. Despise that feeling when showering and drying off.
Vintage Veloce
Well-known member
Softened water has added sodium (from salt). It will kill plants.
So, it depends what the spigot is for... but don't use it for watering plants.
So, it depends what the spigot is for... but don't use it for watering plants.
If you treat the water for iron and minerals then it is not suitable for pets. We had a neighbor come close to losing a dog nursing pups. I have the house on treated water and the yard, garden, and barns on untreated.
lg
no neat sig line
lg
no neat sig line
mrobins297aaa
Well-known member
LS6 Tommy
Well-known member
No matter what it does to the water, a softener will not remove the STAINS.
On the subject of iron removal, only a true ionic exchange softener removes iron and even then, only if it's soluble iron. Oxidized iron needs to be filtered separately.
If the iron is coming from the home piping only a filter at the point of use will remove it.
Tommy
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That’s a myth..........along with many around drinking soft water:
https://www.culliganmidmissouri.com...reated-water/is-softened-water-safe-to-drink/
https://www.uswatersystems.com/blog/2014/11/is-softened-water-bad-to-drink/
Same for the outlet of the softener regen water which is far more r salty. The area of my regen water outlet the plants flourish. This has been discussed at length on the forum along with the theory of regen water in the septic is bad for the septic tank.
Of my 5 outside faucets only one is softened.
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The only outside spigot (in the garage) is softened, as is the entire house. However, the supply line for my garage comes off the pressure tank before it goes into the softner.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I have two, but more so because of arsenic. One goes through an iron breaker, softener and arsenic filter and is what we use for the kids to play with at a water table, sprinkler, etc. The other is raw well water for watering the lawn
Sluggo0018
Active member
The spigot nearest my driveway is plumbed to deliver softened water. This is the spigot I use for washing cars. I have it arranged so that I can have hot water in the winter and cold in the summer. The other three spigots are typically used for watering plants and are plumbed to deliver non-softened water. No sense wasting softened water on a garden sprinkler that will be running for a while.
I call BS on the thought that softened water will kill vegetation because of the salt contained. Yes, ionic exchanged softeners use salt to reactivate the ion exchange resin, but the amount of salt remaining after rinsing is very small and certainly not high enough to harm vegetation.
I call BS on the thought that softened water will kill vegetation because of the salt contained. Yes, ionic exchanged softeners use salt to reactivate the ion exchange resin, but the amount of salt remaining after rinsing is very small and certainly not high enough to harm vegetation.
Boilerhouse
Well-known member
Just to add to this. "Hard" water contains, calcium and magnesium salts, which are responsible for leaving the white scale deposits in the kettle. A softener removes the calcium and magnesium salts and replaces it with sodium salts, which are very soluble, and do not cause white scale deposits. Hard water may very well be better for plants, but as Sluggo says, soft water should not kill them.
JRC3
Well-known member
The myth about getting minerals from water is just that. When I went RO I really researched it. Seems most of the misinformation generated online is from the bottled water/"drinking water" industry to keep you from going RO. You get your minerals from the plants you eat...The plants that grow in the soil that contains the minerals and elements your body needs. There are people in other parts of the world who only get their drinking water from rain collection. In this country, for many years it is how we used to get our drinking water. Not everyone had a shallow well or spring. And we didn't have electric pumps to bring it from the ground. Ever hear of a cistern? Every older house had one that was fed by the gutters and downspouts from the house.
And yes, softened water and its sodium content killing plants is another myth. Now the water discharge water during the regen is a different story. It could have up to 3 lbs of salt per gallon and will kill plants. And no regen wastewater will not harm your septic. It gets diluted with the other water and the bacteria will grow to be tolerant of the salt, just like freshwater, brackish, or saltwater aquariums.
There is roughly 560 milligrams of salt in a gallon of softened water. That's about 1/5 of a teaspoon. The real reason we don't soften spigot water isn't because of the plants, it's because of the volume. If you watered your lawn you could have to regen daily...Or worse, run out of softened water and even potentially foul the resin bed. Some softeners have clocks instead of meters and will only regen after a specific time.
And yes, softened water and its sodium content killing plants is another myth. Now the water discharge water during the regen is a different story. It could have up to 3 lbs of salt per gallon and will kill plants. And no regen wastewater will not harm your septic. It gets diluted with the other water and the bacteria will grow to be tolerant of the salt, just like freshwater, brackish, or saltwater aquariums.
There is roughly 560 milligrams of salt in a gallon of softened water. That's about 1/5 of a teaspoon. The real reason we don't soften spigot water isn't because of the plants, it's because of the volume. If you watered your lawn you could have to regen daily...Or worse, run out of softened water and even potentially foul the resin bed. Some softeners have clocks instead of meters and will only regen after a specific time.
6768rogues
Banned
I have them all piped to my hose bibb. Inside the house I have ball valves so I can select which I want, and check valves so they cannot back feed each other. Then I go in the cellar and turn on the one I want, including hot.
Vintage Veloce
Well-known member
Your links are all about DRINKING water. My comments were about water used for IRRIGATION for plants.
I didn't check your location, but here in California, where it seldom rains, it is commonly said to avoid using softened water for your irrigation, and not just because of the volume of water wasted that way.
Obviously, a quick sprinkle may not be a problem, but using softened water for years on your yard, garden or potted plants could be a real issue.
http://soilplantlab.missouri.edu/soil/waterirrigation.aspx
rattle_snake
Well-known member
Another vote for both, that's what I did for minimal extra work or money.
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Another vote for both, that's what I did for minimal extra work or money.
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We can't see your photo btw. you need to upgrade apparently.
Personally, I have an iron curtain system (media bed + aerator tank to remove the smell), with a softener after. i use KCl instead of NaCl. outside faucets are pre-iron filter, RO in the kitchen for cooking, drinking, and humidifier.
if it weren't impractical i'd keep the iron curtain and try out a whole house RO system.
texas123
Well-known member
All of mine outside faucets are soft. I learned after washing my car & it actually was dirtier from the disgusting city water in West Houston (well water). You might want to install a carbon block filter while your there. 20"x5.5" big blue is very common. It goes before the softener & makes a HUGE difference. I did put a faucet before the softener to water the trees. The sprinkler is not soft either.
rattle_snake
Well-known member
Use the 'photobucket embedded image fix' for this and everyone else's photos held hostage by PB.
PB won't get a dime from me, I don't use them anymore.