Water softener needed?

[Dan-Ark]

This summer we bought our second SS wash, a 3 bay. It was apparently built as a low budget project and we are doing lots of changes in the equipment room, as funds allow, trying to get this place back open. There is no water softener on site and my first impluse is I need one. but the city water is coming in at 35 ppm on my TDS meter. My question: Do I even need a softener? If so starting at 35ppm, estimating 30,000 gallons per month, how big a system would I need?

 

[I.B. Washincars]

What is the hardness?

 

[Greg Pack]

If TDS of the water is truly 35ppm, the answer is no,you don't need one. That could be a max of around 2 grains of hardness, and is probably less.

 

[Jeff_L]

Agreed, if you are 2 grains or less, you're soft. Consider yourself lucky not having to deal with a softener and the brine tank. More room in your equipment room!

 

[Dan-Ark]

Ive got some hardness test strips coming, to be sure but this is good news. I still may add a small RO system with charcoal filter for spot free, (depending on the consensus reached on my other thread)

 

[Dan-Ark]

Tested at 25 1.5g, so city is selling me soft water, great, thanks all for the advice. I'm still going to put in a small RO system for the spot free rinse. I know keeping my other wash fed with salt is a bit of a pain. It tested closer to 50ppm so guess I'll keep doing it.

 

[Greg Pack]

Tested at 25 1.5g, so city is selling me soft water, great, thanks all for the advice. I'm still going to put in a small RO system for the spot free rinse. I know keeping my other wash fed with salt is a bit of a pain. It tested closer to 50ppm so guess I'll keep doing it.

Do you customer's need RO? I know we are in the business of selling time but you're pretty much putting out spot free water through your HP rinse, or close to it.

 

[Dan-Ark]

I have another thread posted on here trying to see what demand for spot free rinse is. Seems most who offer it see it used. I have it in my first wash but it does not seem that popular. I have not way to actually gage use because the IBA at that wash uses quite a bit of it. My new to me meter boxes have 10 position switches. the wash as I bought it only uses 6 with 2 off positions. PLan to add tri foam (have a system to install for that), Possibly a bug off type product (also have a spare wall mount tank/flojet set up for that). was going to do spot free and possibly in bay dryer. No thinking a bit more, maybe with dryer, spot free rinse will be a total waste?

 

[MEP001]

FWIW when I wash my own vehicle, especially when I had a dark blue one, I wanted spot free even with a dryer because of the water that runs out of crevices after being dried. Have you polled your customers?