For a single-wide and double-wide mobile home. Single residents in each. Both on same well pump. The cheaper the better. Best price I've seen is ~ $350 at Amazon - free shipping.
Trying to cure staining of toilet bowls, sinks, etc. and their frequent required cleaning. Maybe even drinkable water.
TIA
May be more complex than that if you have a septic system. Here a softener requires a separate leach field. Neighbor had to put in a field when he sold his house as rules had changed to require it. No problem if you have sewer service.
Do you have a good water analysis? Our state offers it for practically nothing. I put in an iron filter with total costs more than $350. Helped somewhat but did not entirely solve the problem.
Your best choice of unit should consider your medical history as well as your budget. The economy whole house water softeners must be charged with salt and work by exchanging sodium ions for the hard mineral ions they remove. The amount of added sodium you ingest depends on the hardness of your water supply (the harder the water, the more sodium gets added to the softened water) and how much water you consume from the tap for drinking, ice cubes, coffee, tea, soups, etc. If you have salt sensitive high blood pressure that requires a low salt diet and/or multiple medications to bring your BP into acceptably range, you may need to consider the more expensive reverse osmosis softeners that don't add sodium to the water. Multiple factors to consider.
Culligan will do it for free too if you are willing to endure a sales pitch. When I bought this house 35 years ago I took the Culligan proposal to a plumbing supply and duplicated it for about a third of what they wanted. (DIY install).
As for the water softener discharge, it really doesn't take much. I agree I would keep it out of the septic tank tho. I ditched in about
40' of perforated drain pipe and a bunch of gravel 35 years ago and the water is still going down. I also drain my spa out there when I need to.
ANd if he's got high iron and manganese he may very well want the softener to soften ALL the water and a reverse osmosis to remove the sodium for drinking - really extend the life of the RO unit.
Might also want an iron filter ahead of the softener - - - -
Also - OP doesn't say whether it's a replacement of an old unit or brand new installation ? For my recent softener replacement - my priority was finding a non-electronic control and large enough capacity for many-years of iron removal - using the "rust remover" softener salt. < iron level is ~ low - but it is evident on the raw water taps >
My neighbour - fed from my well - was sold an expensive "iron removal" system - and was a little peeved to learn that my $ 600. softener has served as our family's only softener/iron remover for about 15 years. ~ no staining. As others have said - test the water first - determine the requirements - determine if the septic is adequate .. etc.. It's NOT a cheap-price and GO decision. John T.
ROs are not softeners. You need to put the RO behind a regular softener to get the salt out.
At my house the softener seems to add about 400 PPM to the water 0.4 milligram per liter of water and the RO gets most of that out. As you say YMMV based on the hardness of your water. If you have a heart condition and you don't have an RO, it does make a decent excuse for drinking that evil bottled water or tap off your kitchen faucet before the water softener. A gallon of water puts you over the total recommended daily dose of salt. That would include any used for cooking.
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