Need help with Very hard water

[blueraz]

The water coming out of my tap (well) measures anywhere from 1000-1300ppm

it has VERY high sulfur and other mineral content. We have a water softener but that doesn't really help much (i realize it wont help lower ppms).

I realize the water is bad and no we do not drink it, we use it for showers, laundry etc and it works just fine.

I currently run a Stealth RO system and get it down to about 200 ppm.

I am looking for info from others that have above average hard water and what they have done to get close to 0 ppms

Telling me to drill a new well or buy water are not the responses im looking for.

Who has extremely hard water and what products (RO, DI, etc) have you used to correct it?

Thanks

 

[CronicHempHog]

I luckily don't have to here as the water quality on my island is great but
there are some great r/o systems out there that can get it below 200ppm
theres people who use r/o water exclusively so I don't see a problem with r/o
I think distilled would be fine too as long as your distilling it yourself
and you also stated not drilling another well or buying water, buying distilled water is no good anyways some bottlers add salts and minerals into the water so id stick with what you got r/o water then soften it if you have to
but the r/o should take out the "hardness" in the water shouldn't it? or distill your own

 

[blueraz]

I luckily don't have to here as the water quality on my island is great but
there are some great r/o systems out there that can get it below 200ppm
theres people who use r/o water exclusively so I don't see a problem with r/o
I think distilled would be fine too as long as your distilling it yourself
and you also stated not drilling another well or buying water, buying distilled water is no good anyways some bottlers add salts and minerals into the water so id stick with what you got r/o water then soften it if you have to
but the r/o should take out the "hardness" in the water shouldn't it? or distill your own

i know several folks that get their water under 10 ppms, i would just like to get close to this. not sure i would be able to distill the volume i need

 

[CronicHempHog]

yea distilling your own water will be work
basically its like having a still but just for water

 

[David Bowman]

Cronic what is the source of fresh water for the Hawaiian Islands? Are de-salination plants in use there at all?

 

[blueraz]

yea distilling your own water will be work
basically its like having a still but just for water

anyone have any experience with a high volume distiller?

 

[CronicHempHog]

Cronic what is the source of fresh water for the Hawaiian Islands? Are de-salination plants in use there at all?

we have deep wells
the water we drink takes about 20 yrs to get to the well so its filtered for 20 years and when it hit the deep wells its pretty clean and pure
but that's not all the islands some islands have crappy water
the age of the island defines how good the water is here
Oahu and Kauai have the best water going down the chain the islands are newer and the water isn't as good
so from maui on down youll find a lot of chlorinated water
on the big island on the kona coast they use rain catchment for water
I don't think they have any wells there considering the lava down below lol

 

[CronicHempHog]

high volume would mean bigger tanks more heat
its basically just a still just make sure someone don't mistake you for making moonshine lol
at least you don't have to worry about blowing up distilling water
a propane element to heat the tank and a line out the top youd need a condenser too like a worm or youll lose all your water through steam maybe distill 2/3 or 3/4 of the water out and dump the rest cause you don't want to start getting the stuff in that your trying to distill out

 

[blueraz]

high volume would mean bigger tanks more heat
its basically just a still just make sure someone don't mistake you for making moonshine lol
at least you don't have to worry about blowing up distilling water
a propane element to heat the tank and a line out the top youd need a condenser too like a worm or youll lose all your water through steam maybe distill 2/3 or 3/4 of the water out and dump the rest cause you don't want to start getting the stuff in that your trying to distill out

not sure if this is practical for me but ill keep it in mind

 

[KingJohnC]

I just want to confirm you are using a water connection ahead of the water softener for your Reverse Osmosis system? The sodium chloride in water softening pellets is toxic to plants.

 

[blueraz]

I just want to confirm you are using a water connection ahead of the water softener for your Reverse Osmosis system? The sodium chloride in water softening pellets is toxic to plants.

yes. the connection is before the line from the chemical pump/brine tank

 

[blueraz]

im leaning towards spending the $$ (about $1400) on a complete Hydrologic Evolution system with the pre-filter, uv sterilizer and de-ionization post filter but id really like to hear a success story before pulling the trigger

 

[JJ Bones]

blueraz, please email me joey@perfectgardens.com I have a product that you can test for me, if you're interested.

We'll have to get more specific about PPM but I think it can possibly help you out.

Also if you ever want the evolution we can help too Look forward to testing your problem to expand both of our education.

 

[Blazer420]

I used to live in a home with very hard water and a significant sulfur problem. We tried several methods to get rid of the sulfur (35mg/l) including chlorination systems, filters etc until we found a company that had a proprietary activated carbon system where the water was flushed though a tank not unlike a softener tank that contained the carbon. As it went through air was forced through the bottom of the tank under pressure (15 psi). So both the "special" carbon and the air removed the sulfur. The tank would then regenerate at night just like a normal softener but used a "back loop" of treated water to do the regen wash. The "clean" water then went though the softener and into the house. The only time you knew we had sulfur was if we were gone for a while and the water in the well and filter system had stagnated and when you first turned on a tap you'd get a brief whiff of rotten eggs.

For my plants I installed a copper "T" right after the carbon tank and ran that water though a sediment filter (probably not needed) and then to an 100gpd RO system that also fed my fridge ice maker and drinking water.

With a little tweaking of water flow to the RO unit I was able to get down to 45ppm consistently. Subsequent water tests showed only trace amounts of sulfur, lime, and boron (no idea where that was coming from).

The carbon tank would last my family of 4 about 1.5 years and cost about $100 to get rebedded. The RO system needed partial filter changes every 6 months and the membrane about every year. I think a total changeout was about $185.

B-