I live in Granbury and the city runs everything through a R/O system. I just need a softner for the whole house. .The prices are all over the place. Has anyone had any experience with them? Thanks

If the city is running water through an RO system then your tap water should not be hard. Hardness must be addressed prior to RO treatment or the RO membranes will scale up.

Have you tested your tap water for hardness (GPG)?

When we have a hard freeze people with water filtertration systems are the first ones to freeze up.

Seems like most put the System in their garage and it where the two pipe enter the house that freeze up.

We had the Culligan guy come out and he did his test on our water. It was hard, but I don’t know what the actual results were. He wanted to do a RO system in the kitchen and a softener for the whole house. For a quick $9400.
My plumber came out and said I didn’t need a RO system since the city runs it through a RO system. All I needed is a whole house softener. About $1600. My wife listens to Jim Dutton and he’s pushing one made by Flow Tech. It’s an electronic unit. I hear pretty expensive. I’m waiting on that one to call back.
Thanks again for everyone’s help. It’s a little confusing.

That’s where mine is too. My garage is foamed and never freezes in there. That stuff is amazing.

At the ranch we have a small out building that has an elaborate Culligan water softener system next to the well pump. We have recently heavily insulated it, wrapped the pipes in heat tape and run a space heater. It is also on the back up generator to the house.

We get great tasting water at the kitchen sink dispenser from the under counter RO system.

Culligan…🤣🤣🤣! Those guys are worse than a used car salesman! I’ve been in the municipal, commercial and industrial water and waste water business for more than 25 years. Municipal water quality results are public record and can typically be found online. Do not believe the test kits salesman present when they come to your house. They are preying on your lack of knowledge about water chemistry and treatment methods. Good luck!

Well....if you want a prayer of any kind of soap lather at the ranch you are glad to have the Culligan softener sytem. Without it....zero, zilch, nada otherwise. Water taste awful and you would want to avoid it unless you were soaking beans or were constipated. The RO does a great job for drinking water and coffee!

We have a filtration/iron removal system (not Culligan) in the well house. A softener system too, but I finally bypassed it. And….and…it froze up during this recent freeze. First time it ever did that, even during the Big Chill. I had a Mr Heater out there with a 20# can, but that wasn’t enough this time. I added a second one. Thawed it all out just fine. When I.had the well house built, I didn’t think to insulate it. Dumb!

Anyway, we have great water. Just had it tested.

Water softening is ion exchange. Culligan is the expensive brand name, there are much cheaper options out there that do the exact same thing. Yep, activated carbon and RO treatment is a great option if you need it. Heat trace and insulation should be considered if the potential for freezing exists. Be informed, spend your money wisely.

I have a Clack softener, works great, installed it was $1800.00 in 2018. The water didn’t taste so great after softening, but an under sink 5 stage RO took care of that It was $200.00 on Amazon. Grab your own sample and send it off to a reputable lab for a real test, then treat to those results.

I have an iSpring system for my whole house that I installed myself and I am FAR from a qualified plumber. You can order them on Amazon. My brother is a home builder and puts their systems in a lot of his builds.

We have a charger system with a Clack head on the unit call this guy he can help.

Texoma Water Systems 903 821 4124 Brent Eubank.

Get a third party accredited lab to test the water. Free testing by anyone selling you treatment equipment is probably gonna say you need whatever they have too much stock of and/or whatever they have the most margin on.

As for cost (in Canada - so gotta be cheaper in the States) I can get the same metered softeners that Culligan sells for $550. Iron filters that Culligan sells I can get for $700. Installation is easy peasy as long as you have space and shouldn't cost more $200. Five stage RO my cost is $120.

Residential water is not even my business so guys that do it for a living are probably getting a better wholesale price. Just food for thought when people quote for you as to how much they are making.

Most people really don't need a water softner, now if you are on well system then I think it's a no brainer there.

I do see people from India or Mexico where the water isn't safe to drink buying them in the DFW area.

Ours…

What are you treating? Iron and hard water?

Calcium carbonate and other forms of calcium. The water is "Gypie."

We inherited the system when we bought the ranch.

Interesting. I've got co-op water at my place, but also a couple of wells which the PO said were gypie. I've been wondering how I might purify the water for use should I need it but never looked into the process much. When the time comes, I may pick your brain about how you went about improving your water quality. Thanks for sharing.