Does This Sound Crazy... Water Softener

[DeWat]

I would like to put a water softener in my coach sometime this season. The water/sewage service bay is too crowded and not tall enough for a water softener or even water filters. What I am thinking about doing is running a line from the water fill/city water input about 14 feet to a basement bay that has plenty of room for a water softener and water filters, and then back (return) to the location where the current water input connects to the plumbing. I've looked up under the coach, and none of the water lines are visible. My guess is because they run inside the coach to take advantage of the heating. Outside of quicker exposure to freezing temps, is there anything wrong with running a 14-foot line on the undercarriage to connect to a water softener/filter, then return the 14-feet to the plumbing? Are there any other cons that I might be missing? I probably won't do this job myself, but I would like to have a water softener for all incoming water.

[Veebyes]

We have one of the pure flow softeners. We do not permanently connect to city water. Our method has always been to draw from our own tank which is filled as needed by hooking up the softener. This usually a once a week ritual so no big deal. Water pump is a typical marine/RV pump which has faithfully pumped many thousands of gallons.

[wmoses]

Clay L wrote:
I haven't seen it done but I suppose you could install a bypass valve and let a little hard water go around the softener into the output stream.

Neat low tech idea. I like it, and works with all softeners! 🙂

[Clay_L]

wmoses wrote:
One question for all those with water softeners - any way to regulate the output water softness?

Too soft water will result in increased water usage ... not a good thing if boondocking.

I haven't seen it done but I suppose you could install a bypass valve and let a little hard water go around the softener into the output stream.

[C_SL]

I have my water softener back in a compartment, the only place it would fit. Have not seen it for years, just set up my plumbing to regenerate it in place. We run all our water thru it before it goes into the fresh water tank. Have done it this way for 3 + years. Salt is super cheap! and is to heavy and clumsy to lug around.

[wmoses]

One question for all those with water softeners - any way to regulate the output water softness?

Too soft water will result in increased water usage ... not a good thing if boondocking.

[Clay_L]

We have used a WaterPur Mark 8000 (8000 grain unit) for about five years,
In CO where we spend the summers the water hardness is 20 grains per gallon. We use about 13 gallons of water per day so it can go about 30 days without being recharged. In AZ where we winter, the water hardness is over 50 grains per gallon and I have to recharge every 12 days or so. A Waterstik would have to be recharged here every couple of days.

I have mine and the filter between it and the park hose bib fitted with quick disconnects. The filter is in the service bay and the softener sits upright on the ground just to the right of the service bay.

On the road I use the short connecting hose to connect the output to the input and carry it in the trunk of the toad. If it is really cold I take it in the motor home and store it in the shower overnight.

Now that we are staying in the house during the summer I store it with the recharge salt water in it. That is what the manufacturer said to do.

[trkrhelp]

You put the softener (Mark 8000) outside next to the water faucet not in a compartment. You only put it inside when your traveling. I'd think it would be hard to recharge if you have it in a compartment. Much easier if it's outside (Click the image to blow it up, Mark 8000 set up outside.

We've been using ours for over 5 years (fulltime) and it works great but I wouldn't want to have it inside. Easier to take care of outside.

[JJnLilly]

We have an item similar to the 'water stick' and it works well. However, it is a bear to handle - we have a big one (4" diameter by 28" long). Our current unit has a built in filter and this plus one of those inexpensive throw-away jobs from Wally-World do the trick most of the time for us.

[havasu]

News to me - nothing in the instructions about that - just regen when the soap test shows it's less effective.

The only information I have found online is about every 2 weeks to prevent bacteria from building up - but given the chlorinated water and the constant water flow I can't see it being an issue. I bought the salt to regen this weekend which will be 4 weeks and no ill effects so far.

[LittleBill]

havasu wrote:
I bought a 12000 grain unit from AffordableWater.us and it fits in the cabinet behind the water bay. I installed a 5' line from the city water to the softener and then to a sediment filter and installed a brass hose quick connect to the filter.
In the bay, I mounted the softener to the back wall with some long velcro straps that hold it in place when traveling and allow it to be pulled out for recharging.

We are 3 weeks into the trip and it's still delivering soft water (2 people).

The unit is 18" high and isn't as heavy as I thought it would be compared to our household unit!

Recharging involves 4# of table salt but it is looking like I might get 6 weeks between recharges.

according to everything i read when i installed my softener, the resin in the tank starts to damage if not regened at least every 7-9 days

[havasu]

I bought a 12000 grain unit from AffordableWater.us and it fits in the cabinet behind the water bay. I installed a 5' line from the city water to the softener and then to a sediment filter and installed a brass hose quick connect to the filter.
In the bay, I mounted the softener to the back wall with some long velcro straps that hold it in place when traveling and allow it to be pulled out for recharging.

We are 3 weeks into the trip and it's still delivering soft water (2 people).

The unit is 18" high and isn't as heavy as I thought it would be compared to our household unit!

Recharging involves 4# of table salt but it is looking like I might get 6 weeks between recharges.

[ktmrfs]

DeWat wrote:

ktmrfs wrote:
If height is a problem look into the "waterstick" resin/brine water softeners. they lay horizontal, we have one and it works great and is easy to recharge. The disadvantage is capacity in grains. Less than the ones others have mentioned, so it will need more frequent recharging, but it only takes about 15 minutes to recharge and uses less water during recharge. They also make a unit with iron control.

http://www.watersticks.com/p.htm

Thanks much! From what I have seen thus far, I thought that all the water softeners were upright units. This certainly looks like an answer where I don't have to run the extra piping.

we love ours. just pull it out when we need it, lay it on the ground and hook up water. Price is right, but as I mentioned, the only downside is the grain capacity. not near as much as uprite units, so you may need to recharge more often, but the recharge is quick and takes little water. Fill with brine, slosh it around, let it set 15 minutes, then hook up and flush for 10 seconds or so into a drain to get the salt out.

[DeWat]

ktmrfs wrote:
If height is a problem look into the "waterstick" resin/brine water softeners. they lay horizontal, we have one and it works great and is easy to recharge. The disadvantage is capacity in grains. Less than the ones others have mentioned, so it will need more frequent recharging, but it only takes about 15 minutes to recharge and uses less water during recharge. They also make a unit with iron control.

http://www.watersticks.com/p.htm

Thanks much! From what I have seen thus far, I thought that all the water softeners were upright units. This certainly looks like an answer where I don't have to run the extra piping.

[ktmrfs]

DeWat wrote:
The FlowPur 8000 & 10000 are what I am looking at. The problem is that I only have an available water bay height of approximately 15 inches due to the black/grey/fresh water tanks above. By mounting it in the first available forward bay, I've got something like a 30 inch height available. So if I'm not being very clear (the DW tells me this often), I'm just wondering about the impact of running some piping (possibly outside along the undercarriage) about 14 feet to the mentioned bay, then 14 feet back to where it was diverted from. As for winter, I'm not too worried about this as I always blow my lines out with air prior to the pink stuff, and I would be bring the unit inside. Of traveling in below freezing conditions might present an "exterior problem", but we *normally* button the coach down for the winter.

If height is a problem look into the "waterstick" resin/brine water softeners. they lay horizontal, we have one and it works great and is easy to recharge. The disadvantage is capacity in grains. Less than the ones others have mentioned, so it will need more frequent recharging, but it only takes about 15 minutes to recharge and uses less water during recharge. They also make a unit with iron control.

http://www.watersticks.com/p.htm