Thread: The advantage of soft water

I posted this picture on Shavemyface a while ago and thought this might be of interest in this water related thread. This is a picture of our water system at home that treats our well water. While we are blessed with plenty of safe drinkable water, it is very very hard, and also has plenty of iron and organic tannins (we are surrounded by swampy areas). Each "problem" has to be separately treated. We also have a reverse osmosis system under the kitchen.

The system goes in this order:

1. Well water pumped into house into pressure tank (not shown)
2. As water is pumped into the pressure tank, an air pump runs injecting air into the water line. The air oxidizes the iron so it can be filtered.
3. Water enters the mixing tank on the right where the air and water mix (so you don't get air pockets in the pipes)
4. Water goes through the iron filter, this process does not require salt and will back wash after a set amount of gallons.
5. Water softener, self explanatory. Will backwash with brine after set gallons (800).
6. Organic colour (tannin) remover. Will backwash with brine after set gallons (1800). This filter is last in line as it has the most expensive resin and needs to be protected from iron and hard water.
7. UV filter, just in case. Our water has been tested for bacteria and came back negative. With little ones drinking the bathwater and so on, it is a good idea to have.