Water Softeners and Air Filtration Systems - Need a water softener, help me choose.

Sears is having a huge sale on water softeners and I need one for the house I am building, but how do I know which one to get? I do not know the level of hardness in the water and only have 2 more days before the sale ends. Heres some info to help you help me.

There will be 3 people living in this house. We are in a rural area of S. N.M. Our water comes from a co-op, not city water. It is well water. The water tastes very good and looks pretty clear. However when doing dishes there is resedue left on them. I am guessing the level of hardness is just a little but is there a way to test without buying a fancy kit?

Before you do ANYTHING have your water tested. You have to know what is in the water and then a decision on how to treat it can be made.

Softeners from HD and Sears generally don't have the capacity to treat S NM water (which is usually very hard) or the durability to deal with your water situation. You may need a more complicated water treatment solution than the average urban household with just hard water.

Check around with your neighbors and see if they recommend anyone. Don't overlook shopping around locally. If you find a local dealer that you trust to provide a complete solution to your needs and will service what they sell and has competetive prices give them consideration.

Remember that with an Internet seller service is non-existant, advice is always a phone call and timezones away, and parts are always FedEx or UPS away.

Your water quality is important ... take it's treatment seriously.

Keep in mind that know-it-alls don't.

Thanks for the advice. I have asked many of the neighbors and most of them don't use any type of softener at all. They grew up here and don't mind the hard water. I am from california and like soft water! I'm going to stop by the co-op today and see if they have any information on the hard levels and whats in the water. If they do I'll post it up and maybe somebody can help me make this choice.

Thanks again.

Find out what the condition of the water is. Hardness, iron, manganese, etc.

Then you first stop is the Yellow Pages. Get a quote from local water treatment pros. Then you have a baseline for what is recommended and how much they will charge for it. Then you can compare other options.

Heres what they told me.


550 mg/l (hard to read his writing on this one)

32.13 grains/gallon



That sounds high to me. :(

Yup, 32 grains hardness is about right for Carlsbad ... just look at the caverns :)

That's pretty hard water and you'll need a higher capacity and more reliable softener than a Sears for that stuff.

Anything else in the water? Iron?

Have you checked around for a local dealer?