Using softener bypass valve to add harness back in

I bought a new house and I'm in the market for a softener, water was 15 gpg and 270 ppm (pretty sure those are the right units). The wife's complaining about the hard water and I'm afraid she'll then complain about completely soft water and how it feels, or maybe it'll be me who doesn't like it. Point is I'd like to have the ability to bring the hardness back up a bit if necessary.

I've been looking at this softner and their response was just "open the bypass valve a bit" and let some hard water in. Is this a viable option? From my research it looks like the Clack WS1 has a mixing valve option specifically for this scenario, so it seems like a kludge to just "open the bypass valve a a bit".

Thanks for the help.

I have never known anybody wanting to add hard water back in after softening. It sounds counter productive.

I have had a softener most of my life and wouldn't want to be without. Everybody says they can't get the soap off the first couple of showers. Then they start to like it. All your not feeling is the little microscopic rocks that is in hard water. They have been removed, so there is no abrasive in the water any more. Your wife will love it. Dishes look better, clothing looks better and you will use slightly less soap, coffee etc.

I sell them, but that's a pretty decent price on the one you posted the link to.

Opening the bypass a little bit to me makes as much sense as urinating down your pant leg a bit before you point it at the toilet.

This is the first house I've ever had with well water, so I'm new to all this but have been doing plenty of research the past 6 weeks. I've had no less than 6 companies come in, each doing their water tests and giving recommendations. I've learned more about water in the past 6 weeks than I thought I'd ever learn. At 15 gpg it's clear I need a softener, no doubt. One of the things I liked about the Culligan HE system is the "Dial-a-Softeness" valve that "allows you to customize the “feel” of your water, so it never feels too soft or too hard." But is that worth the exorbitant price they charge? No, I don't think so.

However, even the cheapo, throw away GE softener from Home Depot has a "custom select blending valve, allows you to select how soft you want your water". And as I stated in my original post, from my research even the Clack WS1 has a mixer valve that is designed to let in some hard water to control the overall hardness. So from my layman's perspective, this is clearly a feature that is making it's way to market.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's all marketing bull**** and I should just shut up and accept my 0 gpg soft water. Maybe I'm just an newbie who doesn't know what the hell he's talking about, but I find it ridiculous that it's all or nothing. That I have to have 15 gpg hard water or 0 gpg soft water. From everything I've seen, soft water is technically 0-3.5 gpg. What if I want it at 1.5 gpg? That's a hell of a lot better than 15 gpg and if makes the wife happy, all the better. Or maybe this is much ado about nothing and we'll get used to the 0 gpg soft water and love it. I don't know, I just don't like being forced into a no option scenario.

So back to my original question. The guy at Midatlantic Water recommended a softener with a Clack WS1 control valve. When I asked about the mixer valve he said just to "open up the bypass valve a bit". So is that legit? Will that degrade the integrity of the valve, being partially open like that? Or should I just find someone else that'll install the mixing valve?

Thanks for the help.

I am in total agreement with Matt30. I sell the WS1 and didn't know it had any kind of mixer valve if in fact it does. I see no reason to have almost soft water and I'm sure it is a marketing gimmick. If you really want to have half soft water, soften just the hot water.

Matt30 said:

Opening the bypass a little bit to me makes as much sense as urinating down your pant leg a bit before you point it at the toilet.

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At my age, it will not point (hunt either for that matter).

I have to sit while guiding and coaxing...

Actually, according to the WHO (World Health Organization) some intake of elements like calcium and magnesium is essential to humans. Completely softened water may be nice for dishes and pipes, but not necessarily for drinking and cooking. Here is a long interesting read about the effects of drinking hard water and completely demineralized soft water: http://www.lenntech.com/health-risks-demineralized-water.htm

I know I'm new here and I don't want to ruffle any feathers, just trying to share facts. The "peeing in your pants" part is often done by your city water treatment plants already, and not by partially bypassing a water softener that would only remove mostly calcium/magnesium.

For the record, I have a Fleck 7000sxt 48k grain softener that I installed myself with only sprinklers and outside hose bibs on hard water. My city water is about 20 gpg with 1ppm iron, and I am thinking of opening the bypass valve a bit to get a couple of grains of calcium/magnesium back in. I know I can't stand the 20gpg hard water, I love the softener, but I also don't want to deplete my kids from having some necessary minerals in the water.

Just my 2c

I have a Fleck 7000sxt 48k grain softener that I installed myself with only sprinklers and outside hose bibs on hard water. My city water is about 20 gpg with 1ppm iron,

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I agree, calcium and magnesium are good for us. Years ago people would put an extra faucet on the sink just for drinking and cooking water. RO water is even worse for you to drink.

I have never ran across city water with any iron in it. And 20 gpg is pretty hard. But for the drinking water, if it's possible, just add the hard water faucet at the sink; OR drink out of the hose.

speedbump said:

I agree, calcium and magnesium are good for us. Years ago people would put an extra faucet on the sink just for drinking and cooking water. RO water is even worse for you to drink.

I have never ran across city water with any iron in it. And 20 gpg is pretty hard. But for the drinking water, if it's possible, just add the hard water faucet at the sink; OR drink out of the hose.

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Jacksonville, FL ... JEA 2014 Water Quality Report states that Iron content is from zero all the way up to 1.86 ppm on the major grid --> https://www.jea.com/About/Water_Supply/Water_Quality_Report/
Hardness varies, but around 20 in my area. When I cut the main 1" PVC to the house to connect the softener, the pipes were stained in orange on the inside (8 years old house).

A hard water faucet for drinking was my other thought... I will suggest drinking from the hose to the wifey, see how she responds

If it was orange, you've got iron.

I think when we were kids most of us thought nothing about drinking from the garden hose. But back then we didn't have people telling us how bad for us our water was. I presume filtration companies had something to do with this fear.

Back to the original idea of having the bypass partially open, would this void any warranty, since they are not meant to be throttled?