EcoWater WATER REFINING SYSTEM (ERR 3500R20)

[LIAndy]

Does anyone own the residential water filtration system from Eco Water (ERR 3500R20)? Here is the link to the unit in case you are not sure:

http://www.ecowater.com/ERR3500R20.php

I had some questions about the RECHARGING that's done by the system. What exactly is the recharging doing and is it OK to use the water while it is recharging?

Thanks in advance!

[ecorom]

Good Question!

The RECHARGING Cycle is a broken down into 5 stages:

1. FILL
Salt, dissolved in water, is called brine. Brine is needed to clean the hardness minerals from the resin beads. To make the brine,water flows into the salt storage area during the fill stage. Fill cycle length depends on how much
softwatermaking capacity you have used since the last regeneration. As you use more water, fill time increases so more brine is made. The greater
amount of brine cleans more hardness minerals from the resin bed.

2. BRINING
During brining, the brine is moved from the salt storage area, into the resin tank. Inside the resin tank, brine cleans hardness minerals from
the resin beads and they are discharged out the drain. How much brine is needed to clean the resin depends on:
- - the amount of service water used between regenerations,
- - the amount of resin in the softener,
- -how fast the brine goes through the bed.
The nozzle and venturi makes suction to take brine fromthe salt tank and put it into the resin tank. They keep the brine flowdown to a very slow rate to get the best resin cleaning with the least salt.

3. BRINE RINSE
After all of the brine is moved into the resin tank, the brine valve closes. Water keeps flowing the same way it did during brining except the brine flowhas stopped.Hardness minerals and brine flush from the resin tank to the drain. Brining and brine rinse together vary in the length of time they take, relative to the fill cycle length.

4. BACKWASH
During backwash, water flows UP through the resin tank at a fast rate to
flush ironminerals, dirt and sediments from the bed and to the drain. The bed lifts and expands for good ceaning.

5. FAST RINSE
Backwash is followed by a fast flow of water down through the resin tank. The fast flow packs the resin bed and gets it ready for return to service or normal operation. After fast rinse, the softener returns to service. Hard
water goes into the resin tank where the resin bed again takes out the hardness minerals. Soft water goes to the house soft water pipes.

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It is and isn't OK to use water during the RECHARGE cycle. If you have very hard water, or Iron in your water, then you will allow that to 'bleed' through to your water outlets (ie, showers, sinks, taps). However, something life flushing a toilet should be OK. Also, at certain water usage rates, the water pressure will drop in the machine, affecting the efficiency of the recharge cycle.



HOPE THIS HELPS!

You may contact EcoWater's help line at 1 800 752 3273 if you have any further questions.

[LIAndy]

Wow! This is great info ecorom. Thanks!

[LIAndy]

ecorom, or anyone, do you know what kind of salt bags I need for this filter? The guy who installed it said use Solar Salt pellets (not crystals). I'm having the hardest time finding them in my neighborhood stores. I'm searching the web and see there's many different types (mostly crystals). Is anyone better than the other?

Also, I have my filter scheduled to recharge every morningat 3am (this way I'm sure no one is using the water). Does this use up more salt? I don't think it should. If my capacity goes down roughly by 15% (to 85%) every day then what's the difference between charging nightly or doing 1 big recharge when the capacity is down to 10%?

Thanks again!

[ecorom]

I do not know exactly where you are located, but generally here in Canada, Wal-Mart and Home Depot Stores carry the equivalent to what you were suggested. It is called 'Windsor System Saver Pellet Salt'. The equivalent in the USA is 'Morton Pellet Salt'.

For your second concern, the best thing to do is add 10 GPG to your actual hardness level and let it regenerate automatically.

This way the system will work on flow detection and not user initiated recharges. The computer is engineered to let the machine regenerate when it absolutely needs to, leaving the guess work out by the home-owner.


Are you off a private well/lake or treated city supply?

[LIAndy]

I live in Long Island New York. The water is not from a well, it is from a treated county supply. It is hard and rich in minerals and iron, that's why we got this unit.

Hate to be a pain in the @$$ but can you please explain how the system will work on flow detection and not user initiated recharges? I thought if I set the Recharging to AUTOMATIC then it will just charge when it hits a low capacity of 10% (or something).

My only concern with Automatic Recharging is that I may not be aware of when the system is recharging and I could be watering a garden, taking a shower, running the dishwasher or washing machine while it recharges. And based on your earlier post this may cause rust,iron, and whatever other minerals are in my water to bleed into the house pipes. That's why I schedule it early in the morning when everyone is sleeping.

[LIAndy]

I have a question about the HARDNESS setting on this filter. When the person came to my house to test the water he said my hardness was 8 gpg (grains per gallon I believe). The filter unit does not go by gpg. It only has a setting for grains (g). It's currently set at 23g.

Does anyone know what the HARDNESS setting should be based on this information?

Thank you in advance!