Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hard Water

way off topic,
That's technology from the '60's,,,,,Like, 1960

All softeners can use potassium, or the much cheaper Morton Water Saver (yellow bag) in the brine. Not sure why you didn't just use salt, unless your water isn't really that hard.....water stains, metallic water taste and smell, poor lathering of soap, etc

Softener is the answer. Cheap and harmless, all things considered.

If it’s just hard (ordinary calcium carbonate) it won’t come out of solution unless it comes in contact with oxygen, so pipes are fine. But shower heads, faucet tips, coffee makers, kettles, anything that exposes water to the air is going to be a mess.

Water softeners aren’t a big deal, most houses in areas with hard water are plumbed for them, so fetch one up and plug it in. NBD.

You're thinking of ferrous iron.

Depends on what is in it as to the fix, if any.

We use an iron remover salt in ours, otherwise things get yellow and dingy, from toilets to clothes. Prior to our softener, we had to clean things, including the washing machine, with an iron-remover chemical to whiten it up again.

Hard water drinks better, makes lots better coffee, and leaves your showered skin feeling squeaky - softend water like ours leaves skin feeling silky- or a bit slimey - depending on your perspective. Takes more soap/detergent with hard water.

At our rental units, where we first lived, the water is hard, but with little iron? manganese? - no yellow clothes or toilets, but a very slow calcium? build-up. That water remains well, no softener. For the first year after we moved out here, we brought that water out for our coffee....got to be too much hassle

We have a valve on our softener here to by-pass the softener to water plants, lawn, etc. Salt really isn't very good for them, and you don't need to be pissing away money on that portion ofyour water use.

A bit of a PITA, but manageable.

Have it tested by a reputable firm, and go from there, on their recommendation, keeping in mind they are sales oriented. Maybe the best bet is to take it to your ag agent or an independent tester, rather than a dealer.

We have liquid rock here,mostly gypsum.

I just finished doing both shower stalls in the house.

The one in the large bathroom had been there about 7 years and it is a Moen.

The one in the half bath was a Delta and it was put in 23 years ago when we moved in the house.

The large room has a bath tub and got used more than the smaller one.

the Delta is a ball socket valve and has dripped on and off for years,and to replace it i had to tear down a closet.

Sink faucets last about 7 or 8 years on average.

I hate inside plumbing with a passion.

We have so many minerals that when the water dried on a canning
jar it has a white film. You could blow on it and see the dust.

Get a conditioner.

Kinnetico is the Cadillac.
Here's the thing, they have two selling points.

1, They use no electricity, they are controlled and operated by water flow.

2, They use 2 resin beds and switch on the fly.
If you hit the point of regeneration, they regenerate that bed, while treating
the dirty one.

At twice plus the cost of other dealer installed units.

Pondering this, I had an epiphany.


I have electricity, so...big deal.
If my power goes out, so does my pump. No electric, no water.



As for getting unconditioned water if it regenerates?

My house sat here 10 years without one.
So a couple hours, no big deal.
And it's not like it's poison.

So I saved over a thousand dollars and got a different type.


P.S.
A lifelong friend was in the water business, from drilling to taps, for decades.
He pushed using iron out in conditioners. Even if iron wasn't
really an issue in your water. Said "It keeps them clean".

I didn't get mine from him, but...

Ours was about 5 years old and wasn't working, so I tore the head apart.
It had a red iron film on the parts.
Cleaned it all up, and it still didn't work.

Then I remembered Bernie telling me about Iron Out, many years ago.

Treated the brine tank, forced a regent.
Repeated daily for several days.

It finally started working.

So now, every time I add a block of salt,
I put some Iron Out on top of it before the next block.

That way it automatically gets some every few months.

No more issues in the last 12 years.

Iron-Out. Danged if I could remember the name of what we used.

I still keep some for when we forget to put our conditioner on line, off well water, to clean up any residue.

You don't want to treat toilet tank water with it on a regular basis tho- it, being potassium acid, will eat the innards. Ask me how I know....

Drain the tank, treat the iron buildup on the porceline inside, flush...

If you’re having clogs and stains after one year I’d say it’s a no-brainer.

I lived in Breathitt county and the water was so soft you couldn't hardly use soap. It wouldn't rinse off so you put a tiny bit on your wash cloth. If you weren't careful, the shower looked like an I love Lucy episode. A jug of detergent lasted a year and a half because you only used a spot like a nickel.

Long haul trucking I showered all over the place.
We have a lot of limestone here. I have outcrops in the yard and
a big quarry has operated for almost a century within 2 miles.

Old limestone kilns everywhere.

All to say, hardwater js my norma.

Anyway, sometimes I'd shower somewhere with real soft water.
Would have shampoo suds running down my crack clear to the floor.
Couldn't get rid of it.


After we got a conditioner here, we cut all our soap use by half or more.
And your skin feels better too.
All those minerals aren't nice dried in your hide and fur.

Yup. Been places with high iron and calcium. A softener is unavoidable with either. Especially if you have a pressurized power-flush eco turlet. It doesn't take much mineral build up on the valves and moving parts to render them completely useless.

Used a Home Depot self test. Per color chart it was in middle?

Any issues with Dishwasher, refrigerator or water pressure overall.

No stains just a slightly clogged shower head. But I rather an ounce of prevention is worth s pound of cure.

Meh......get some CLR and soak your shower head once in a while.

Does it give you the schits if you drink it?

No

But captain D’s does

Unscrew the shower head and soak it in a bowl of vinegar overnight.
Next day before your shower screw it back on and see how it works.

Other than that, I can recommend an extremely good purifier for drinking water.