I’ve had a simple cartridge filter for 25 years with a culligan water softener. Looking to upgrade bigly. Looking at the Aquasana Rhino with salt free softener and a UV filter at the tail end.
www.aquasana.com/whole-house-water-filters/rhino-well-water-with-uv-filter-100237393.

Anyone have experience with this or another system you’d recommend?

Unless you have bacteria, you don't need UV& that's really about all it's good for on drinking water.

Depending on your water quality & type of contaminants, a simple sediment filter to remove larger particulate, followed by an iron filter & then your softener works fine.

On the kitchen sink (separate from main faucet & for drinking only) & ice maker you may want small RO units for a final polish & complete taste enhancement.

Depending on your daily water usage, be sure to get a softener larger enough such that it will only regenerate at about 3 day intervals.

Also if you have tannins present, have them add some tannin specific resin to the softener as well.

Good luck.

MM

The easiest, cheapest, most effective way is to go with one of this company's models. I used to be a dealer and need to get a new business license and renewal so I can help you guys out. I'm not lds like the guy who is a customer doing the video, but there's missionaries all over the third world countries who use these. A village, church, home or community can produce potable water with these.
I just watched this test the other day

We’ve had a Kinetico Mach 4040 for 17 yrs it is a twin system with a carbon filter. We built a house in an area with rural water. In two years the chlorine started to eat flapper valves and faucet seals. The chlorine smell was extremely strong out of the shower. Smelled like a swimming pool. We don’t use salt, we use potassium. It is a mechanical system. No electric required.

Yes, carbon works wonders for a while. Let it sit and stew in the housing and see what you get. The Happy_Camper is not very well educated. His response to problems is predictable.

It also depends on your source of water. Rain water is naturally softened. Well water and surface water will vary greatly depending on local ground conditions.

I'd start with a test of your source and make a plan from there. Regardless of the source, the cleaner your input, the less strain on your filters. We're currently in the planning stages for a rainwater catchment system for non-potable uses (toilets/showers/garden) with jugs of water for drinking and cooking.

LOL😄

Back at ya M&M, you goober .
Do you have any idea what the purification elements in the Berkey systems are even made of?
Did you so much as do a cursory search before opening your mouth to insert your size 6 boot?

They aren't some grocery store Britta plain carbon filters. Maybe you think that because they both start with today's letter of the alphabet, "B".

Assuming that you have the same issues with water as we do down the chain here[limestone].
We started with a simple cartridge 22 years ago.
About 10 years back we added a salt based softener and have had very good results.
Pre softener we were going through elements in WH and dishwasher regularly.
We replaced the WH when we added the softener and haven't had to replace any elements since.
Crust on faucets/shower heads is also a thing of the past.

Like I said "predictable"

Get a water test to see what you are working with. Not all filters are equal and they target different problems.

We have a well (never dealt with a well before), had the test and two different companies made essentially the same suggestions. We ended up installing a softener, a filter, and an RO filter. So well water comes in, goes through a simple filter, into the softener, then out to the house. Two exceptions: outdoor hose spigot to water the garden and lawn bypasses the softener, and we added an RO filter that comes after the softener and goes to the kitchen sink with an extra faucet for drinking and to the freezer for the ice maker.

first thing we noticed, aside from taste, was ice cubes are crystal clear where before they were cloudy.

Filter we change monthly, it's usually crapped up with dirt/sand. RO is maintained once/year. Salt I have to put in about every other month.

We have had MULTI PURE under the kitchen sink for 23 years.




....which means I have had to change the Carbon filter 23 times.

A friend installed the Aquasana with the UV filter for city water. His biggest issue was high calcium. The system has basically resolved that issue.

He installed a second one at his daughter's home. City water also, different water works. Her biggest issue was discoloration in the water. Their problem is basically resolved.

Both systems have been in place around two months, time will tell how it does long term.

Hi Jack,

Since you got some good answers on the softener and already happy for 25 years with the Culligan, I'm just addressing the more important potable water portion of the answer. Since Glyphosate / Round Up is all over the environment these days, here's the results from an excellent independent lab on a lot of filters and a purifier. Since you aren't looking for anything for the field, you can skip past the small sports bottle tests.

For a well water system I would reccomend a KDF-85 filter/softener. Have the water tested and if your iron level is low enough the KDF-85 systems work great. Go larger that you need because of higher pressure drop in the softener, fine mesh media, KDF media and gravel.

KDF-85 Well Water Softener

tag

Curious myself. Bought the retirement home and we will have well water. Actually two wells on the property and two homes. One is manufactured. Planning on moving that one out. One well house has a filter and a softener (manufactured house) the main house just has the pump and pressure tank.. Thinking I might transfer the stuff from one to the other and perhaps upgrade. Waiting on the water test, but when we viewed the property no deposits on the faucets, and the water was clear and did not taste or smell bad. Wells are are about a 1/4 mile apart, I would think the same aquifer, but perhaps not.

Ain't nuffin' that slappy ain't done.

I'd like to filter, treat rain water safe enough to drink.

Might also look into reverse osmosis systems. Not sure how many microns they filter out, but might be a consideration.

While I agree that bigger is almost never a bad idea, if there's more than a 2 PSI drop across the resin bed, then it's probably fouled.

MM

It's not difficult at all Wabi.
Depending on how you do water collection, the cost starts around $300. The sky is the limit with water collection. If you already run a basement sump pump, and the water is available year around, there's your rain collection. $3 For a new food grade 5 gallon bucket. Pour it through a premium gravity fed purifier.and you are set. I have a couple elements from my Berkey that I have replacements for waiting. 10+ years later and still working good from the shallow well.

If you collect off of a roof, there's YouTube videos of high end catchments with IBC Tanks and pvc plumbing for the DIY. Here's a good video on acquiring them low cost if available near you.

Your asking some pretty generic questions here, So your going to get generic answers,

Your link took me nowhere in particular so I'm not sure what Unit/s you're looking at,

You did mention "salt free", which means it's technically not a softener but a 'conditioner' , They do not produce soft water, and the life of the resin is but a few years at best. Then it will need replacing.....Be very clear on that...

UV, why? you have live organisms in your water? Otherwise, whats the goal here also?

Ignore most advice here, from people who have no clue whats actually in your water, and get good advice/info from the local pro's who do this stuff everyday.

I've seen many uneducated homeowners throw so much money into plumbing systems and water treatment systems just for the 'feel good' of it.

But, hey, if mama's happy...everyone's happy.......I totally get that.

Good advice here.

Filtering though activated charcoal?

The one that I have is not a disposable charcoal filter.
It is mostly carbon, but doesn't perform like all of the lower quality companies. They won't say what the proprietary purification units are made of or how they are made. What I was told many years ago is that they have silver which continuously disinfects over their lifetime. That has proven true for me.
Here's the conservative lifespan and how to clean them. Depending upon water quality used will determine how often to clean.

The labor involved is carrying water from source, ie. Sink, to the unit. This is why I like mine for convenience. Top chamber holds 5 gallons. Lower holds 6. I store the purified in glass 1 gallon jars and pour from half gallon pictures for ease much of the time.

https://www.berkeyfilters.com/pages/when-to-replace-berkey-water-filter-lifespan

https://www.berkeyfilters.com/pages/comparing-berkey-water-filters

If you want actual useful advice you need to provide more information.
What is your water source/supply? Municipal? Rural Water district? Private - Shallow well? Deep well? If a well is it protected from surface water/runoff? Stream? Pond? ???
Why was your existing treatment system installed? Did you really need a water softener or did you run into a good salesman?
Why do you want an upgrade?
What is it about your water that you don't like?
When is the last time you had you water supply tested? Who did it? What did they test for? Results?

Take a look at this site for some info: Virginia household water program

If you really need a water softener you may be disappointed with a salt-free water conditioner - they are not as effective for high hardness, and work very differently.

I move into a new house about a year and a half ago. Private well, drilled, about 25 yrs old, don't know how deep and don't have drill logs. Obvious signs of hardness and minerals in house, obvious sulfur odor. House had a cartridge filter and water softener, but previous owners were bypassing the softener! I had it tested for just about everything except radon. Have high calcium and manganese hardness and hydrogen sulfide in the water. Ended getting the softing system rebuilt, adding a hydrogen sulfide removal system (hydrogen peroxide injection/contact tank/catalyzed carbon adsorption), and adding a UV lamp disinfection stage. Wasn't cheap, but I'm happy with the results - and I used to work in environmental engineering/public health/water supply fields, so chose to go fairly aggressive on protecting my own water!