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No Softener in Automatic

wash12

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If your softener goes out can you truly get RO water? Hardness out of city water is about 5 grains. The site has been running it this way for over a month is this going to cause damage to the RO system and will it actually truly produce spot free water?

How would I test the RO water to see the quality is there a kit online I can buy?
 

kentadel

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You can get ro water but your ro unit will not last as long. It will scale up.
An operating softener would allow your chemicals to work more efficent.
 

MEP001

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You need a TDS tester to check the RO quality. Most say it should be below 50 PPM to be truly spot-free, but in my experience it's not good over 30. You should get good quality RO on hard water but it will always be a little better with soft.

Hard water will foul your membrane(s) faster, but at 5 grains it may be a minor difference. You might consider a small softener just for RO pretreatment or for everything except high pressure on bays and auto, or track how long the membrane(s) last on hard water.
 

br549ms

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Why add a Softener if not needed? Most water utilities will give you a report on water quality and most will give you historical data. You can also sample and get tested a pool supply store. if water is already "soft" and low TDS why fight it. Consider yourself fortunate.
 

wash12

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Why add a Softener if not needed? Most water utilities will give you a report on water quality and most will give you historical data. You can also sample and get tested a pool supply store. if water is already "soft" and low TDS why fight it. Consider yourself fortunate.
Ok I was way off on this I was going off what a chemical rep told me, I bought a kit and tested it and we are at 13 grains! Does this change everything?
 

carwashireland

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Yes. 13 grains is pretty hard and can mean you need up to 50% more chemical to do the same job as soft water. Your membrane life on the R.O will be dramatically shortened also. You need that softener!
 
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