There were several very good questions asked last week. Here are a few that should interest everybody.

Question: need to know of a store in the Edmond, OK. area that i can go into and see your Clack WS1 water softener.
thanks

Answer: This may seem like a complicated answer, but when you keep in mind that the Clack WS-1 is a Professional Grade piece of equipment and they are not available in retail stores, it starts to make sense. See, we’re really not even supposed to be using the name Clack to describe these water treatment systems. Yes, they are made by Clack Corp. and they are without a doubt the finest, highest quality water softener/auto-filter controller out there, but they have been, and always will be, designed for the water treatment professional. Clack allows us to market their equipment but under our name only. While these systems are arguably the most popular controller available, you will not find them in the local hardware store; at least not under the name Clack. Note: Now that this has been posted, the pressure is on to come up with our own name for these systems. Look here to see what we come up with.

Question: I have an Autotrol 255 with logic controller. It is a relatively new unit. It regenerates every 3 days. The salt is set at 14 minutes. The total regeneration time is 30 minutes. The problem is that it is not softening the water at all. When I observed the regeneration process I noticed that the Brine draw stage of the process only last for less than 30 secs.(For this 30 secs. it does start to draw up the Brine) It then moves onto the next stage of the regeneration. It is literally using no salt. What is the cause of this? Is there some setting wrong that I can change. Any help would be very much appreciated appreciated.

Answer: The Autotrol Logix controller is very versatile and can be used to control automatic backwashing filter systems as well as water softeners. The 760 Logix controller can mistakenly be set to Filter control mode. Automatic filters do not require a brine cycle, so chances are your softener’s media bed is not getting the brine water needed to exchange hardness ions and regenerate properly. See the Logix service manual for details on how to program the Logix controller.

Question: I need a PURA L-20 #20 UV Replacement Lamp, how long would it take to get to La Quinta CA?

Answer: We are constantly striving to answer common questions and this one is quite common. The best answer to this question is right here on the Water Value blog.

Question: Where are your r o water filters (Aqua Classic or Aqua Elite) made? And where are the filter elements made? As you know water filters are very much a health issue. Thank you for your response.

Answer: This is a very popular question of late, and for good reason. Over the years, Water Value Company has been contacted by countless overseas manufacturers wanting us to distribute their product(s). Because Water Value Company honors the manufacturer’s warranties – and for some other obvious reasons – we will not sell or distribute overseas products. One of the jobs in this office is to browse the World Wide Web and check out the competition’s web sites, sales strategy and products. When comparing prices, one thing that stands out are the systems (Reverse osmosis, softeners, UV filters, etc.) that seem priced at a level that’s too good to be true. That’s because it is too good to be true. We are not allowed to provide links or examples here, but if you find a water treatment system or device online with a highly attractive price, be sure to find out where all of its components are manufactured before buying. We do not have anything online that is not US or Canadian made with one exception: The HM Digital TDS-4 meter. Those are made in Korea.

Question: I have a Model 5600 water softener.  I’ve been using water softener pellets since it was installed but occasionally have problems with what I call salt bridging in the brine tank — the pellets fuse into one big solid, hard mass.  I break the mass up with a broom handle, drain the hot water tank, and things get back to normal for a while.  I had the same problem with my old water softener.  Question:  Can I use rock salt or brine block salt instead to prevent this problem?

Answer: Yes, a salt block would prevent this salt bridging. Actually, the pellet-style salt is the best and if your brine tank has a salt grid in it to help prevent salt bridging, then it is best to stick with those pellets, but a salt block will work just fine. I have heard from someone in Ecuador that the rock salt is more popular there. Something about the heat and humidity that causes the pellets to fuse together too easily.