Water Softeners

[ABfish]

Dock water at my home slip is extremely hard. Can't keep the spots off of the shower doors and plumbing fixtures.

I'm considering a small softener, perhaps a portable unit.

Should I fill my tanks through the softener or plumb it to the outlet of the water pump? I already have two charcoal whole- house filters on the pump outlet.

 

[Comodave]

We had a portable softner that we used for washing the boat about 20 years ago. It did a good job. Not sure about using it on the water going into the tanks but it probably would be ok. Maybe query The Head Mistress Peggie. She know a lot about this type of thing.

 

[Bigsfish]

We had a portable softner that we used for washing the boat about 20 years ago. It did a good job. Not sure about using it on the water going into the tanks but it probably would be ok. Maybe query The Head Mistress Peggie. She know a lot about this type of thing.

On Gitcha we have a water maker and a water spit filter, no water went into the tank that didn’t go through those filters. No spots and the the water was pure and rated great. Showers were a pleasure.

 

[Takoradi]

Dock water at my home slip is extremely hard. Can't keep the spots off of the shower doors and plumbing fixtures.

I'm considering a small softener, perhaps a portable unit.

Should I fill my tanks through the softener or plumb it to the outlet of the water pump? I already have two charcoal whole- house filters on the pump outlet.

Most of us on my dock use On the Go portable softeners and the do a good job. Not built for installation but I suppose you could. Pretty hard well water so we recharge them about every 2weeks.

On The Go OTG3NTP1DS Double STD... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SQFXLNE?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[Don L]

man I feel like ex boat scum reading this thread

am sure I never worried about water spots from washing my boat, ever

 

[rslifkin]

man I feel like ex boat scum reading this thread

am sure I never worried about water spots from washing my boat, ever

Same here. Rain or spray while underway leaves worse water spots than washing the boat ever will, so I don't worry about it. If I'm feeling motivated I'll towel dry at least the windows to avoid spotting after a wash.

 

[mvweebles]

This comes down to how hard your water is. >7gpg is considered 'hard.' >10gpg is considered very hard. >14gpg is extreme. As I write I'm having a water softener installed in our condo in Mexico. The building has a water softener but its not set at very 'soft' level. Water coming into our condo is 13gpg. Spotting is the least of our trouble - toilet flush mechanisms get clogged and gunked-up within a year; faucet aerators get gunked-up too. We've had to replace a couple faucets over the years and figure a Water Softener will eventually pay for itself (well, might be wishful thinking, but you get the idea).

At the expensive 'sport fisher' marinas, dockside water softeners are very common to wash down the boats.

If you live in an area where the water isn't hard, consider yourself lucky.

Peter

 

[Maerin]

Yes, fill the tanks from the softener! I made a number of softeners from 6" PVC pipe. They make a huge difference in the onboard water quality, your fixtures will last longer, no spotting if you keep it regenerated. Regen at 2/3 capacity. Tricky to establish how much water you run through the softener, if you fill the tank & run from that, you can guesstimate gallons. Your softener spec will give you capacity in total grains, divide that by the hardness of the source water, then use 2/3 of that value for a total gallons you can run through the tank before you need to regenerate. Regen is the downside of using a softener. If you routinely overload it, it will become progressively more difficult to get an effective regen, and you'll lose capacity.
I fabricated a salt injector from 3" PVC with a cap on one end and a threaded cleanout cap on the other. Threaded hose adapters provide the connections. It attaches to the outlet of the softener inline to backwash and provide the salt charge at a slow pencil size trickle. It works perfectly.