Bypass Water Softener?

[atxjmy512]

Need some advice. Should I turn my auto fill off if I can't bypass the water softener?

Context: I have a water softener for my house. It is not installed on a loop, and the hose spigots use softened water. My auto-fill - connected to one of these spigots - therefore uses softened water. Everything I've ever read says not to do this. While i can bypass my softener, the only practical way to do that with an auto-fill is to turn the softener off full time to the rest of the house. Someone else pointed out to me though that I might actually want to use softened water given the high calcium content of my tap water (~ 200 ppm) particularly in the summer where its regularly above 100F and i expect evap to be an issue.

My CH is currently 340 - 350. TA is 70.

Beyond the lack of calcium, is there any other reason I wouldn't want to use softened water? Should I turn my AF back on?

 

[mknauss]

I would suspect in Austin TX it is best to use the softened water. With evaporation you do add fill water, do you not?

There is no adverse effects to using softened water. Simply monitor your CH level and when it goes down to about 300 ppm, use non-softened water.

 

[MITBeta]

Generally, you want to fill the pool with unsoftened water and top off with softened water. Turn your auto-fill back on.

Where did you hear that it was bad to use softened water to fill?

 

[an1vrsy]

Where did you hear that it was bad to use softened water to fill?

In many cases, terminology is mixed. From an empty pool to a full of water pool, no you do not want to use softened water. Adding water due to evaporation with CH at or around 300, softened water connected to an autofill is a good thing.

 

[atxjmy512]

I would suspect in Austin TX it is best to use the softened water. With evaporation you do add fill water, do you not?

There is no adverse effects to using softened water. Simply monitor your CH level and when it goes down to about 300 ppm, use non-softened water.

Our water is extremely hard here. Our reservoir is a dammed river that fills a limestone canyon and they call a lake. I do add fill water, but Ive been bypassing the softener when needed and filling with un-softened tap water. I had the impression that softened water was somehow bad beyond the calcium levels, so glad to hear that's not the case as that will certainly make my life easier.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

You're lucky to have the softener. Assuming you're not using solid forms of chlorine, you may never have to drain the pool.

 

[atxjmy512]

Generally, you want to fill the pool with unsoftened water and top off with softened water. Turn your auto-fill back on.

Where did you hear that it was bad to use softened water to fill?

Googling here and there before I found TFP. I think my builder paper work said something about bypassing the softener too but to your point I believe that was initial fill related upon a second read.

 

[atxjmy512]

You're lucky to have the softener. Assuming you're not using solid forms of chlorine, you may never have to drain the pool.

I'm using liquid chlorine exclusively. I have an automatic chlorinator, but I pulled the tabs out to avoid the slow creep of CYA. I'll reserve tablet usage for periods of time where I can't do daily chlorine maintenance - like a vacation.

 

[atxjmy512]

In many cases, terminology is mixed. From an empty pool to a full of water pool, no you do not want to use softened water. Adding water due to evaporation with CH at or around 300, softened water connected to an autofill is a good thing.

That's exactly where i got confused. Since my pool is only a few months old - the info I saw related to filling. I never saw anything that said "but once full go ahead and use softened water"

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Do you know how big your water softener is in terms of “grains per gallon”?

The only downside to using a water softener on an auto fill is that the trickle flow from an auto fill is rarely enough to activate the flow sensor on the softener. So even though your softener is providing water to the pool, it’s not counting towards the regeneration capacity. So, in extreme situations, you can exhaust the capacity of the softener before a regeneration cycle is initiated. All that means is that the water coming out of your faucets will be less soft until the next regeneration cycle kicks off. It’s not a big deal but some people get surprised when the hard water starts to come on again and their showers no longer feel silky and smooth.

 

[atxjmy512]

Do you know how big your water softener is in terms of “grains per gallon”?

The only downside to using a water softener on an auto fill is that the trickle flow from an auto fill is rarely enough to activate the flow sensor on the softener. So even though your softener is providing water to the pool, it’s not counting towards the regeneration capacity. So, in extreme situations, you can exhaust the capacity of the softener before a regeneration cycle is initiated. All that means is that the water coming out of your faucets will be less soft until the next regeneration cycle kicks off. It’s not a big deal but some people get surprised when the hard water starts to come on again and their showers no longer feel silky and smooth.

It's a 40,000 grain system. In my case - the auto fill does trigger flow sensor ( I can see the blinking water drop that indicates flow and I can see the remaining gallons decrease). But its a valid point - it'll be something i keep an eye on and may manually put the softener into a regeneration cycle.