Water Softeners and Air Filtration Systems - water softener and chlorine
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Heard
06-12-08, 09:48 AM
Can someone explain to me if a water softener should be consuming or removing chlorine? I have a system on my house where we use a chlorine injector right after the well. The water then goes to a 120 gallon holding tank, then through the softener and into the house. The chlorine injection is to get rid of the sulphur odor. When I test the chlorine at the top of the holding tank, I have quite a bit of chlorine, say 2 to 3 ppm. But I cannot detect any chlorine at the faucets. Is this normal? I was under the impression a softener shouldn't add to or consume/filter any chlorine.
AndyC
06-12-08, 11:39 AM
Is the chlorination removing all the sulfur, all the time? I always place a backwashing carbon filter after the retention tank. Between the two a test valve is placed to monitor chemical residue. are you using a diaphram or peristaltic pump?
The chlorine after the tank should ne be more than 1.5ppm even after heavy draw.
The chlorine will damage the resins and at the quantity that is pushing through the retention into the softener is quite high.
I am not sure why NO chlorine is making its way to the faucets unless there is additional contaminants that it is removing or it is being adsorbed by the resins, thus causing damage. Try letting the water run for about five minutes and test again at the faucet.
Andy Christensen, CWS-II
The chlorine after the tank should ne be more than 1.5ppm even after heavy draw.
The chlorine will damage the resins and at the quantity that is pushing through the retention into the softener is quite high.
I am not sure why NO chlorine is making its way to the faucets unless there is additional contaminants that it is removing or it is being adsorbed by the resins, thus causing damage. Try letting the water run for about five minutes and test again at the faucet.
Andy Christensen, CWS-II
Heard
06-12-08, 12:18 PM
Hey Andy,
Thanks for the reply. It is actually a much longer story and yes, I'm aware that you would normally have the carbon filter in the system. I'm also aware that the level is quite high. I was just trying to find out if it was possible (or normal) for a softener to affect the chlorine level.
To answer your question, it is a Stenner injection pump with a duckbill injector drawing from a chlorine tank (that I accidentally mixed too strong). This is being driven by a flow switch.
This is an older system I moved from my old house to a new house, and I'm trying to get it to work correctly. I had some trouble with the softener (Fleck 5600) and just yesterday replaced the piston, seals, and brine valve. I was told the level of chlorine at the top of the tank should be about .5-1 ppm. Well...it was a little low and I still had sulfur smell at the faucet so I increased it. I still have some odor there (although not much) so I thought I would check the chlorine at the faucet....not detectable. I have let it run for quite some time...no change.
I should mention that for about 3 weeks or so, I had the chlorine injection happening as the last thing before going into the house. This seemed to work OK sometimes, but not all the time. So I decided to move it back to where it was at the old house, that is, right off the pump. I think this allows better mixture in the large tank.
I don't have the levels in front of me, but I know I have iron and considerable hardness in this water, also.
Thanks for the reply. It is actually a much longer story and yes, I'm aware that you would normally have the carbon filter in the system. I'm also aware that the level is quite high. I was just trying to find out if it was possible (or normal) for a softener to affect the chlorine level.
To answer your question, it is a Stenner injection pump with a duckbill injector drawing from a chlorine tank (that I accidentally mixed too strong). This is being driven by a flow switch.
This is an older system I moved from my old house to a new house, and I'm trying to get it to work correctly. I had some trouble with the softener (Fleck 5600) and just yesterday replaced the piston, seals, and brine valve. I was told the level of chlorine at the top of the tank should be about .5-1 ppm. Well...it was a little low and I still had sulfur smell at the faucet so I increased it. I still have some odor there (although not much) so I thought I would check the chlorine at the faucet....not detectable. I have let it run for quite some time...no change.
I should mention that for about 3 weeks or so, I had the chlorine injection happening as the last thing before going into the house. This seemed to work OK sometimes, but not all the time. So I decided to move it back to where it was at the old house, that is, right off the pump. I think this allows better mixture in the large tank.
I don't have the levels in front of me, but I know I have iron and considerable hardness in this water, also.