Filter before or after Water Softener?

[Sky_Boss]

I now have a Pur-Flow water softener that I am setting up. Those of you with water softeners, do you run a whole house filter before or after your softener. Do you really need a filter at all? (I think so but thought I would ask.)

[wildtoad]

My preference in order... Faucet -> Pressure Regulator -> Filter -> Anything else -> MH.

[JFXG]

Originally Posted by Sky_Boss

... Do you really need a filter at all? (I think so but thought I would ask.)

All I need to do to answer that is look at my used cartridges when I'm changing them about every 3-4 months. Eeeewww!

I don't run a softener. We have a regulator, then a dual cartridge system filter, then into the system!

[FlyingDiver]

You definitely want to put a sediment filter before the water softener. You might want to consider a carbon filter after it, if you don't already have one.

Ours is: 10micron sediment -> softener -> regulator -> 1micron sediment -> carbon

[HOHDR]

Softener controls usually have small passages that are easily plugged by sediment, to you would put a sediment filter ahead of a softener.

Softener resin is degraded slowly by chlorine, so manufacturers typically recommend a maximum of 1 ppm chlorine into a softener. More than that, put a carbon filter ahead of the softener (but after the sediment filter so the carbon doesn't get plugged).

[Doug Sage]

I agree with the others. The filter should go before the softener. You want to keep the softener as "virgin" as possible.