Water Softeners and Air Filtration Systems - Water Test Came Back - Options?

I've recently built a new house, which has water provided from a well. The well is 425 ft deep, 6" casing. The county tested for organic and inorganic. The day after I received the report, the official at the county said the water was "very hard" and that I'd most likely want/need a softener.

I'd like to both treat and/or filter the water so that it's "as good as I can get it". If I want to wash, drink, bath, etc with the water - I never want to have to worry about it tasting bad, being too hard, staining clothes, ruining appliances, etc.

To the best of my observations..
- There is no smell to the water
- The water is very clear, no cloudiness/milkiness, and may be just very very slightly discolored.
- The water doesn't taste great, but doesn't taste bad either. It does taste like it has a lot of minerals in it, and is not necessarily enjoyable to drink directly from the tap at room temp.

I have chlorinated the well about 12 days ago. (After the sample was taken). The report was negative for e. coli, but positive for coliform. The county suggested this was because the whole system had not been chlorinated, just the well. They are coming back to test for organic on Monday after the chlorination took place last week.

Given the following inorganic test results, what are my options and where should I start/go? Any and all suggestions or questions are welcome.

All units in mg/l


Alkalinity as CaCO3 - 216
Arsenic - <.005
Barium - .1
Cadmium - <.001
Calcium - 162
Chloride IC - 30
Chromium - <.01
Copper - <.05
Fluoride - .22
Hardness as CaCO3 (Ca,Mg) - 482
Iron - .24
Lead - <.005
Magnesium - 18.8
Manganese - .26
Mercury - <.0005
Nitrate as N - <1.0
Nitrite as N - <.10
pH - 7.4 (standard unit)
Selenium - <.005
Silver - <.05
Sodium - 22
Sulfate - 213
Zinc - <.05



Beyond just softening the water, what other options are there for whole home water filtration? Would this be in additon to a softener? I should add that I'm a novice when it comes to water softeners as I've never had one. I know my parents have a Kinetco (sp?) one - but don't know anything about it.

Water softening is a process where hardness ions are exchanged for sodium ions. The more the hardness, the more the sodium is put into the water. Your hardness 482 ppm converts to 28 grains per gallon. GPG is the measurement used to size a softener. A 1 cu ft softener will remove 30,000 grain of hardness using 15 pounds of salt. Using only 6 pounds, will yield 20,000 grains of removal which is more efficient. Some companys say they sell a 32,000 grain unit. It's still only 1 cu ft and you should use the formula: 30K @ 15 lbs or 20K at 6 lbs.
As water passes through the unit, the exchange takes place. After x gallons, the resin needs to be regenerated. That's where the salt "cleans" the resin and the process can happen all over again. A valve on the of the resin tank does the job of cleaning. It goes through cycles just like a wash machine to regen the resin.

Besides sizing - any systems/designs that are recommended or ones that I should stear clear from?

The Fleck 5600 meter demand unit is buildt to last. Lowes and Home Depot have low prices, but the quaility is not there.