Full timer needs water help!!

[flaggship1]

Originally Posted by Davdeb1

I've got the 10,000 grain. I use it when I'm out west mainly, and stow it about 5 months of the year.

Mines is10k grain as well.

The filters are good up to 14k gallons. http://www.hydropuretechnologies.com...zes-available/

[NY Camper 86]

I just wish there was a most cost effective solution. :-(

[flaggship1]

Originally Posted by NY Camper 86

I just wish there was a most cost effective solution. :-(

Many RVs come abysmally equipped to treat water. Full time can mean changing water conditions frequently. Knowing your good wherever you go is priceless.

[NY Camper 86]

Oh I agree. I am parked in the same place most of the time so this hard water is really an issue. The camper is too old to come with any of the new things!! Really appreciate your help!

[emuller1]

Water filters do not remove hardness (minerals) in the water, they are designed to remove basic sediment and maybe organics at the most if they have activated carbon in them.

The minerals is the water will only cause scaling in your hot water system not cold water system. To remove the minerals you will need a specific ion exchange unit or RO system.

I would recommend RO system for the hot water only as minerals in you drinking water is vital for good health and cannot be replaced taking vitamins (might as well chew on some rocks).

You can get relatively cheap RO systems through Costco etc.

[Stealth01]

Originally Posted by NY Camper 86

Oh I agree. I am parked in the same place most of the time so this hard water is really an issue. The camper is too old to come with any of the new things!! Really appreciate your help!

To keep this simple, there are three things you should have...

1. A high volume water pressure regulator (we use a whole house regulator with hose attachments)
2. A whole house filter
3. A water softener

They do not have to be built-in, they can be connected in-line, external to your coach.

[flaggship1]

Originally Posted by emuller1

Water filters do not remove hardness (minerals) in the water, they are designed to remove basic sediment and maybe organics at the most if they have activated carbon in them.

The minerals is the water will only cause scaling in your hot water system not cold water system. To remove the minerals you will need a specific ion exchange unit or RO system.

I would recommend RO system for the hot water only as minerals in you drinking water is vital for good health and cannot be replaced taking vitamins (might as well chew on some rocks).

You can get relatively cheap RO systems through Costco etc.

These are listed as eliminated using the metal trap ultra filter (first in line, then the sediment filter...)

The sediment filter is...
Sediment/Bacteria*Filter technology is unique in that it has multiple layers of filtration. Each layer of our spun-wound fibers can provide a different degree of filtration. While the outside layers start removing contaminants at 30 microns, the inner-most layers can remove even the finest particles as small as 1 micron. That’s 1/10th*the size of every day pollen!

I don't see much on that list I need or want to drink, much less run through the plumbing...

[paz]

Originally Posted by NY Camper 86

Ok so what I need to find is a water softener

What you really need is both. A filter cannot reduce hardness. That's a job for a water softener. However, a water softener should have a pre-filter because sediment will eventually build up in the unit and clog the ion exchange bed. Filtering out sediment is also a good thing for your water heater and for water you intend to drink.

There are many portable water softeners available for RV use. Most use ordinary table salt for recharging. Small units take less space and weigh less, but need to be recharged more often. We have a 16,000 grain On The Go water softener. We have hard water (about 20 grains of hardness) where we stay in Florida for the winter, and I have to recharge the unit about every 2 weeks. It should be noted we have an onboard washer without which we could probably go 3 weeks.

You may also need a taste/odor (charcoal) filter depending on the quality of the water where you stay.

[Dr4Film]

Originally Posted by flaggship1

Mine went in the bay next to the water bay.

No room left in any of my storage bays so it sits outside the service bay.

Originally Posted by flaggship1

Many RVs come abysmally equipped to treat water. Full time can mean changing water conditions frequently. Knowing your good wherever you go is priceless.

Originally Posted by Winepress

I have the same unit as you have flaggship. Your unit looks more permanent than mine. How do you do a regen on yours without taking the unit out? I have to remove mine to drain water out to make room for the salt. Maybe I am doing this wrong?

I also have the same water softener and have used it full-time for the past 13 years. However after using it for sometime I decided to modify the regeneration procedure to maximize the softener and reduce the regen frequency.

I added about 20% more resin beads to the tank where the salt would normally go leaving about 1/2 inch of empty space at the top to allow room for the beads to bubble around during back-washing the softener beads. I now use a clear water filter housing to infuse the salt into the resin beads.

With 2 people while using southern CA hard water the softener would last about 2 weeks. In Florida on the east coast the softener would last us about one month.

Every location will be different depending on how hard the local water that is supplied to your coach happens to be, or how many grains it needs to remove to make the water soft.

I use both litmus/test papers and a digital probe to measure the hardness of the water.

I can expand upon the procedure if anyone is interested. Some photos attached.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[Melmoses]

Richard, that looks really good but I do have a question. On my Flow Pur it says to let the salt sit for a while before flushing. How do you do that with your setup? To get the salt water out of the filter housing and into the unit looks like that would push a lot of the salt out. What am I missing?