Pre-softener chlorine reduction?

[stanner]

Hi,

I have a 3 year old water softener (ProFlowSE 5600) with resin damage apparently caused by the chlorine in my municipal water supply. The top 2-3" of beads were cracked, bleached of color, and mushy. It was causing very low flow rates (pressure drop 60psi @ 1GPM).

The city states that the chlorination leaving their plant is 1ppm, and most literature I have read states that sustained levels over 0.5ppm will damage the kind of resin in my system. I have removed and replaced the damaged resin and returned the remaining undamaged resin to service.

To prevent this recurring, I'm considering placing a 20" big blue with the RFC-20BB before my softener. Will this reduce the chlorine levels sufficiently to prevent damage? Also, I notice the warning on the RFC-20BB page about carbon fines needing to be flushed before using the water for cooking or drinking. Will these fines cause problems within my water softener? With 6 people in this house I need high-flow rates, so the RFC-20BB seems to be the ideal cartridge for me.

Thanks,

Steve

[awc222]

Originally Posted by stanner

Hi,

I have a 3 year old water softener (ProFlowSE 5600) with resin damage apparently caused by the chlorine in my municipal water supply. The top 2-3" of beads were cracked, bleached of color, and mushy. It was causing very low flow rates (pressure drop 60psi @ 1GPM).

The city states that the chlorination leaving their plant is 1ppm, and most literature I have read states that sustained levels over 0.5ppm will damage the kind of resin in my system. I have removed and replaced the damaged resin and returned the remaining undamaged resin to service.

To prevent this recurring, I'm considering placing a 20" big blue with the RFC-20BB before my softener. Will this reduce the chlorine levels sufficiently to prevent damage? Also, I notice the warning on the RFC-20BB page about carbon fines needing to be flushed before using the water for cooking or drinking. Will these fines cause problems within my water softener? With 6 people in this house I need high-flow rates, so the RFC-20BB seems to be the ideal cartridge for me.

Thanks,

Steve

How did you determine that it was the 'top 2"-3" inches of resin? Did you take it apart? The resin damage should be universal as the resin backwash and rewconstitute themselves after each regeneration.

To detemine how long a carbon filter will last is by the concentration of chlorine in the water and the number of gallons, primarily. Other factors like other contaminants may also shorten carbon life.

Get a cheap chlorine test kit. When you install the filter, put a small testing port with a ball valve between the filter and the softener and test it periodically.

Don't worry about the fines; they will backwash out of the softener and their volume will be very little. If that is a concern, by-pass the softener and run water at a cold water faucet (without aerator) nearby until the water clears. Should not take long.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

[stanner]

Thanks for the info Andy. I wasn't sure if the fines were going to act like a sediment in my softener, but it sounds like it shouldn't be a problem. I'll be sure to flush it clear in bypass when I change the cartridges.

How did you determine that it was the 'top 2"-3" inches of resin? Did you take it apart? The resin damage should be universal as the resin backwash and rewconstitute themselves after each regeneration.

I took the softener completely apart to make sure there wasn't some other obstruction. I verified that the strainer baskets are all clean, valves operate properly, etc. Everything looks brand-new, which actually surprised me a little considering how hard our municipal supply is.

I siphoned all the resin out into 5 gallon buckets using a 1" clear tube, and it was pretty obvious as I was doing so that there was a problem. The stuff on the top was pale and non-spherical material, whereas the lower I got the beads became dark and obviously round. You could crush the damaged material into gel-like goo with your fingers, but the healthy beads were too hard to break (at least with fingertips).

I took a sample of the resin beads down to a local water treatment company and they verified my chlorine damage conclusion.

The damaged resin is lighter and floated to the top of the bed during backwash. This was apparently sitting on the top of the bed and reducing the flow rate. I was able to exploit this and wash out the damage using a hose and a few buckets, so at least visually everything I put back in was in good shape (dark and spherical).

I'm less concerned about the longevity of the filter than getting the chlorine levels down below the damage zone at typical flow rates. The RFC-20BB is rated 70,000 gallons @ 4GPM for 2ppm chlorine reduction, but it doesn't say what level it reduces it to. The EP, EPM, and GAC series datasheets all indicate the percentage they reduce it by (75%-90%) but the RFC series datasheet doesn't have that information. I guess at this point I just need to buy it and see if it takes it below 0.5ppm (which I imagine it will do easily).

Thanks,

Steve

[waterfilters]

Steve,

The RFC-20BB (RFC-20BB water filter and Pentek RFC20-BB carbon filters 155247 with granular activated carbon) would be a great filter for removing chlorine while maintaining sufficient flow rate. Unfortunately, all filters are not put through the same tests for determining the levels of chlorine reduction. In this case, you're right that it doesn't appear that the manufacturer publishes information on the amount of chlorine that would be reduced. As you suggested, one option would be installing the filter and measuring the amount of chlorine reduction it achieves in your system.

Another option for you to consider would be installing two GAC-20BB filters (GAC-20BB drinking water filter and Pentek GAC20-BB water filters 155249 for 20 inch Big Blue whole house systems) IN PARALLEL (which would involve splitting the water line before going through the filters). The two filters in parallel would provide greater surface area for filtration, so should keep sufficient flow rates (as you know, only one filter would not likely be able to provide sufficient flow rate for your needs). Additionally, you can have greater confidence that you will achieve the amount of chlorine reduction that you desire since the GAC datasheets indicate the capabilities of the filter.

Hope this information has been helpful!

[martinumairwat]

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