Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What is the quality of this water, suitable for the garden? Sorry if you already said.

Because our water comes into the slab of the house, but I don’t know what it does after that, without a lot of taking walls apart which I’m not going to do. I know it pops out of the floor, on the opposite side of the house (bathroom) and I see no way to easily figure out the flow of the water to catch it all of it with a water softening system, without placing a unit outside the house next to where it enters. Waste water, if it is suitable could be routed to my front plant beds or I could tie it into the pool overflow drain which dumps onto the street.
Depends on the water report your city offers.

Typically what it is is filtered tap that isn't RO yet and mixed with some backwash that never made it into the loop. Assume higher dissolved minerals but less chlorine content. You can drink it but it's not something you'd want to for a long time due to the issues higher mineral content water can cause over time. You can water the lawn or garden with it. Or dump it into your pool.

Salt conditioners pose problems down the line for irrigation and pool intake. You have a lot of options at your disposal from non-chemical conditioning (giant filter similar to RO, salt water (region or fixture specific) and whole house RO. If you've got questions about the whole house units, I'd suggest finding an independent water store in your area and going in to talk with them. They'll be running commercial sized units but they can give you the rundown on what to expect and how much waste water they produce. The better the system, the higher its efficiency percentage. The higher the percentage, the less waste.

In other words, it's the difference of wasting 6 gallons of water to make 1.5 usable gallons versus wasting one gallon of water to make 7 gallons of usable water. Obviously you pay more for better stuff, but what price you buy into saves you money on your water bill.

Check with a contractor/plumber and see what you can get through your members only discount program that you brought up in the other thread. You could probably score a system for much cheaper than what anyone else can.

If it was me, I'd do the salt setup to the heater tank or tankless system only. It makes more sense from an environmental point of view and how minerals present themselves. I'd run an RO unit at the kitchen sink because a whole home RO unit means everything is RO, including your toilet water. There are ways to keep certain fixtures from drawing said water but it adds unnecessary complexity to everything.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Huntn
Tip of the Day: Don’t use a sawzall in close vicinity of copper pipes. ;) Fortunately the pipe I nicked, was to be removed anyway, just sooner than I planned.
 
is your water meter by chance in the house.

water softener and or ro Filter, i would not install it. Just me tho

get a sharkbite plug in case you need to mend another hit, get the removal key too
 
Last edited:
is your water meter by chance in the house.

water softener and or ro Filter, i would not install it. Just me tho

get a sharkbite plug in case you need to mend another hit, get the removal key too
Water meter is outside in yard. Why do I want a Shark bite plug?
 
Day 5*: Pulled off Tub tile and covering, cleaned up drywall at the junction of the wall and ceiling.
The drywall cleaned up nicely at the junction of the wall and ceiling. The goal is not to booger up the ceiling.

Tub Uncovered.sm.jpg

Wall Celing Junction.sm.jpg
* Note, Days listed are work days, not calendar days.
 
Tub with jets? I can count the number of times we've used the ones we've had on two hands. Though it does make bathing the kids a cinch!
 
Tub with jets? I can count the number of times we've used the ones we've had on two hands. Though it does make bathing the kids a cinch!
That seemed to be pretty big back in the 1990s. Not as much today. If you don't run the jets often enough, you get undesirables growing in the pipes, as you probably know.
 
That seemed to be pretty big back in the 1990s. Not as much today. If you don't run the jets often enough, you get undesirables growing in the pipes, as you probably know.
Yep. First one was rounder/oblong, current one is heavy stone or whatever and more rectangular in shape. If it was a regular lie down tub I imagine it wouldn't get any use either. It just isn't efficient to use so much water nowadays, but they're still a must given home values and resale. Easier to put in during a remodel than later come sale time if you sell. Still useful for... one of those nights... :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huntn
If you want a softener for the whole house, find the inside gate valve. should have a blue knob located in a closet or cabinet.
 
Ok I’ll join in. So Pex is great stuff, a lot easier than copper. While I have used shark bites I agree it’s better to use the compression crimp fittings. Unlike shark bites you can’t pull them apart. Pex won’t freeze as easily as copper and you can work them through walls and around corners easier. The cold water line through the slab most likely is a direct route not hitting the hot water tank.
 
I thought shark bites were the fast close system you'd see on a toilet feed, for example, coming out of the wall behind the unit.
 
No, I meant the thing that looks like a wedge and you can turn it to shut off water supply to just the toilet feed.
That’s called a quarter turn shut off valve. Usually they are compression but sometimes soldered. They come in 90° and straight.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 0388631
You also use them under sinks to shut off valves. They are a pain in the ass when they jam up from a lack of use after a few years.
Really? Don't have those on sinks. Just turn the main water supply off. Never had issues of them jamming up but I do move them a little a few times a year. I'm one of those people who believes stuff goes bad if you don't use it here and there.
 
Really? Don't have those on sinks. Just turn the main water supply off. Never had issues of them jamming up but I do move them a little a few times a year. I'm one of those people who believes stuff goes bad if you don't use it here and there.
What connects to the faucet, what kind of supply line?
 
What connects to the faucet, what kind of supply line?

Braided kind for faucets. That's all I know. Never had an issue with a leak or a burst. The toilets have the shutoff, though. Kitchen supply doesn't have a shut off either. How hard is it to install these valves?
 
Braided kind for faucets. That's all I know. Never had an issue with a leak or a burst. The toilets have the shutoff, though. Kitchen supply doesn't have a shut off either. How hard is it to install these valves?
Depends how much room you have under the cabinet and if you want to cut pipe. It's not hard but a little time consuming.

Now I'm curious what it looks like under your sink. I hope it wasn't a straight pipe job.
 
If you want a softener for the whole house, find the inside gate valve. should have a blue knob located in a closet or cabinet.
There is a valve in our laundry room. It’s not a gate valve but a circular valve and it feels like it’s frozen in the open position. I’ve not had the nerve to try to force it shut.

I was out of town for a few days to attend a funeral (31 year old son of close friends suicide), that’s for another thread.
 
There is a valve in our laundry room. It’s not a gate valve but a circular valve and it feels like it’s frozen in the open position. I’ve not had the nerve to try to force it shut.

I was out of town for a few days to attend a funeral (31 year old son of close friends suicide), that’s for another thread.
Probably a standard shutoff valve. I'd change it out to a ball valve.
 
Nope. Never mind. There are those turn valve thingamajigs. Hard to see them without stooping down and sticking your head in.

The only thing I'm competent on when it comes to plumbing is changing a toilet or the mechanism inside if it breaks/wears down. Simple stuff.

Though I usually shut off at the house's main supply rather than relying on a quarter turn valve thingamajig.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MacNut
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.