Low Cost Soft Water system

Blackmagic1

Blackmagic1

New member
Anyone build/assemble/put together, a low cost soft water system to wash their car(s). The water here in AZ is WAY salty/minerally. I tried the MrClean system(which the soap stripped off my wax!So I only use the rinse)but it takes forever to use the softwater rinse. Any suggestions?
 
http://www.pwgazette.com/gardenhosefilters.htm
I have that with the water softener cartridge. By no means spot free but it is an improvement. Any spotting though seem to be easy to remove. If you can but the cartridge housing cheaper then may be able to save a little by just getting the filter. Someday I'll get something to measure the hardness before and after as I'd be curious to see how much it changes.

I'm sure there are better filters out there but that was what worked in my price range.
 
If you have a Sears hardware near you, they should do water testing (FREE). That's where I purchased the Kenmore water softener for my house. I would think that Lowes & HD do water testing also since they sell water softeners.
 
joyriide1113 said:
Where can we find a water test kit?
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Pool supply stores, pet stores, or order them online. If you have municipally supplied water, contact them directly. They often publish reports as a matter of public record at least on a yearly basis.
 
buy a water hardness test kit at a aquarium supply center....they have reagent types done with chemicals.....and also meters....called TDS meter....Total Dissolved Solids...it will tell you the hardness of your water....will not tell you what minerals you have..but how hard the water is....the minerals that create spots are Calcium..Magmesium..high flourides...and some mineral salts...

Most water softner dealers will test your water..but then they try to sell you the systems...

LaMotte makes a nice reagent test kit...for about 40.00

a Meter will cost you about 60-90 for a decent one...

if you buy a hose end softner you need a tester to see when your resins are exhausted and need regenerating...the resins only hold so much minerals and then they become useless till regenerated...

Al
 
you could try an in hose RV filter from WalMart for $18. Also the Mr Clean leaves a polymer film on the surface and probably didn't strip your sealant.
 
I purchased the settup that Auotgeek sells and love it. It has helped so much with the hard water. Well worth the cost.

Richard
 
I just had an idea. I think if you can find a Motorhome supply place that they sell filters that you can put inline attached directly to the hose for when they hook up water at RV hookups.

RIchard
 
97F1504x4 said:
I just had an idea. I think if you can find a Motorhome supply place that they sell filters that you can put inline attached directly to the hose for when they hook up water at RV hookups.

RIchard
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That's what wannafbody was referring to from Wal*Mart.
FWIW, the company I used to work for sold water filters for ice machine and coffee maker use. Good ones are not cheap and the amount of water used can make the cartridge replacement become a pretty frequent thing. It might not be terribly expensive if you only use it for rinse water, but it most likely would require filter changing often enough to be a nuisance.
Of course, having hard water spots would seem to qualify as a nuisance as well. :)

Charles
 
the ones I seen at wal mart for RV's are carbon block filters..these are for taste and odor removal mainly...they do not soften water...or reduce minerals...they go inline with the water feed hose...


you need a mixed bed resin cartridge or a 2 resin cartridge system..one anion resin and one cation resin cartridge....these remove minerals...total disolved solids...producing soft water..

Al
 
Padron said:
I want one of these:

Water Filter

I heard they work great and regenerate quite easily / affordably.
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appears to me it's kinda like a D-I unit. IMO, if I'm paying $0.10/gallon to fill my tank from my local detail product supplier, or I rent D-I tanks for about $35 each (500g/d-i water tank) from US Filter. Unless I'm doing my math wrong, I don't see all that much in "affordably". :confused: If I was, however, a not for profit detailer this might not be such a bad thing.
 
dr_detail said:
appears to me it's kinda like a D-I unit. IMO, if I'm paying $0.10/gallon to fill my tank from my local detail product supplier, or I rent D-I tanks for about $35 each (500g/d-i water tank) from US Filter. Unless I'm doing my math wrong, I don't see all that much in "affordably". :confused: If I was, however, a not for profit detailer this might not be such a bad thing.
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The unit is expensive, I meant recharging with salt is cheap.

How big is the tank you rent? Do you haul it around with you? How long does it last? How much is a refill?

I was thinking of this also as an alternative to purchasing a water softner for my home.

Thanks
 
The only way to get spotfree rinse is to remove the mineral content of water below 50 ppm. This can be accomplished by either DI resin (anion/cation) or reverse osmosis. Water dofteners add sodium at a greater amount than the hardness minerals they are removing. The water will be soft but it will create the same amount of spots.
As far as a low cost version goes....... I have not seen a new technology in 25 years to address mineral content in water.
DI is less espensive to buy but much more expensive to maintain.Reverse osmosis is more expensive to buy but less to operate.

Some day soon I hoep there is a product or technology that splits the differrence between softening and DI.
 
You can put together a very decent filter for about $45-60 using a Pentek filter housing and a Pentek WS-10 Water Softening filter cartridge. A lot of the online retailers sell the same filter, but by adding all of the quick disconnects and brackets, the cost increases accordingly.

I'd say a barebone system should be about 30 bucks on the filter housing (3/4" version), about 15 bucks on the cartridge, and about 10 dollars on the brass hose ends and 2' ext hose to connect to your hose bib.

I have always been opposed to clear filter housings that will be subjected to any outdoor enviroment. Any filter housing that will be subjected to sunlight should be blue or black to prevent the growth of mold and algae. Just something to think about. Hope this helps.
 
travisdecpn said:
You can put together a very decent filter for about $45-60 using a Pentek filter housing and a Pentek WS-10 Water Softening filter cartridge. A lot of the online retailers sell the same filter, but by adding all of the quick disconnects and brackets, the cost increases accordingly.

I'd say a barebone system should be about 30 bucks on the filter housing (3/4" version), about 15 bucks on the cartridge, and about 10 dollars on the brass hose ends and 2' ext hose to connect to your hose bib.

I have always been opposed to clear filter housings that will be subjected to any outdoor enviroment. Any filter housing that will be subjected to sunlight should be blue or black to prevent the growth of mold and algae. Just something to think about. Hope this helps.
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Very true, I purchase a filter system from.Pure Water Products, LLCOnline Water Filtration Products Catalog of Pure Water Products, LLC

The people over there were really nice. I ended up purchasing a double inline hose filter with a resin and sediment cartridge.

The resin cartridge is rechargeable where as the sediment filter just has to be replaced when it gets old/used up.

I may have been out of $60 total including shipping and handling.
 
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