Water softner recommendation

[desertwater]

Any plumbers have a water softner/ conditioner they swear by or which you would rather have, softner/conditioner.

My application is a 5000 sq ft. home, I havent tested the water yet but there old unit is ancient and needs replacing. I dont deal with softners to often but would like to. Are there any hard water test kits available.

One more question. I need a good cleaner to remove hard water build up on chrome shower fixtures. Any recommendations.

 

[havasu]

I use either vinegar or CLR.

 

[IFIXH20]

I purchased a water test kit from Lowes. If Lowes has them ,than maybe all bigbox stores have them.

 

[speedbump]

If you want a good test kit, go to HACH.COM. Or to be specific, the test kits are here: http://www.hach.com/test-kits/category?productCategoryId=7640199346

Most people are interested in hardness, iron content and PH.

There are proprietary units like Culligan, Kinetico, Rain soft etc. For my money, I buy from a distributor that sells them assembled or by individual parts. You can mix and match whatever you like. They all need a fiberglas tank, a control head, the media for the intended use, a distributor tube and a few other variables. Fleck, Autotrol and Clack are the most popular control heads. I have since switched to Clack for both iron and hardness. Fleck and Autotrol have both been bought out by larger companies and things are changing fast. And not for the better in my opinion. They are becoming more and more throw away.

 

[desertwater]

Thank all for your opinions.