Like many, I'm doing the research on whole house water systems.
I've lived 14 years off a community well. I had the county come out and do tests at my house and at the well last summer. Our water has high, but legally acceptable levels of manganese, iron, and calcium. The water is treated at the community well with chlorine and polyphosphate before distribution to the homes.
I want to remove the Ca, Mg, and Fe from my inbound water. I'm tired of all my sink and shower nozzles needing to be soaked in CLR every month, and treating brown stains in my dishwasher with lemon juice. The inside of my toilet tanks is pitch black, just gross. When we refill the hot tub, we have to change the filter out in the first 24hrs because of all the accumulated orange iron crud.
I called a local Culligan representative who happened to know of my neighborhood. He knew that our development treated the water at the well with chlorine and phosphate. I was told that the polyphosphate treatment coats iron (and manganese?) particles so they don't attach to things in the water, hence, 'softening' it. (tell that to my shower nozzles and toilet tanks.)
This polyphosphate coating supposedly prevents resin-based ion exchangers in a softener unit from working. That polyphosphate-coated ions can't be exchanged for sodium, hence resin softeners just won't work with our water. Ahem, well, everybody's resins except Culligan systems...
He said Culligan had a patented technology that was able to remove the iron from water that had been treated with polyphosphate. I asked how the technology worked, and was told "it's a secret". And that *nobody else* in the market anywhere, except Culligan, had the ability to remove iron from polyphosphate-treated water.
This sets off my BS alarm. Whenever I'm hit with a sales pitch (informational pitch, whatever you want to call it) that depends on the customer believing in witchcraft, supernatural events, or Patented Secret Technology that Only We Have But Can't Tell You About, my wallet clamps shut hard and fast.
Can anyone (Gary?) verify that Culligan has The One Worldwide solution to softening and filtering community well water treated with polyphosphate? I find it very hard to believe that nobody else's system can do this.
How *should* I deal with the requirements of a system when we've got unsatisfactory well water treated with polyphosphate?
I don't want to spend what EcoWater would want for a system. I'm not sure I'm qualified to choose the right system from a Big Box store like Lowe's. I understand you need different media for different inbound water types and requirements. I want a system that regenerates on demand. I feel like Culligan is a decent alternative, but this Unique Patented Only We Have It technology bit gives me issues.
Comments will be greatly appreciated. Please reply to the list.
Chip