i just got done installing a whole-house water DESCALER. we chose a descaler vs. a salt-based softener because i did not want to have to buy large bags of salt periodically and i did not want to inject large amounts of saline into the environment via use and/or disposal.
why the ao smith descaler? 1) to get rid of scale build-up that gets deposited in the water lines, water-based appliances and on sink fixtures and shower doors, 2) because it was reasonably priced and, since i'm an amateur DIYer, i cannot be sure that buying a pricier one (and there are extremely pricey ones out there) would result in significantly better performance. this is a try-it-out-and-see undertaking for us.
i built a box for the system because our house is constructed such that the access to the main water line is most easily reached outside and i wanted the system to be protected somewhat from the weather (the ispring sediment filters are made for "indoor" use so i thought a protective box made sense for this). i also didn't want the components just sitting outside because it would look unattractive and also make the system open to someone messing with it if they didn't feel like using their time for their school studies like they should be doing.
there's a lot of construction happening near us and one day, two curious workers came up to me and asked me what i was doing. i explained. one of them said, "you should just use PVC pipe." his reasoning was that glued joints won't leak whereas PEX clamps are more likely to leak. HOWEVER, i believe PVC pipe should not be used for drinking water. correct me if i'm wrong, you could use CPVC for this application. plus, i found that properly tightened PEX clamps are pretty good against leaking (so far).
for drinking water purposes, we installed an under-the-kitchen sink reverse osmosis system because we felt that 100% of our drinking water comes from the kitchen sink and after crunching the numbers, the RO was more cost-effective vs. a whole-house water FILTRATION unit.
overall, pretty happy with how this turned out. it was a good learning experience.
why the ao smith descaler? 1) to get rid of scale build-up that gets deposited in the water lines, water-based appliances and on sink fixtures and shower doors, 2) because it was reasonably priced and, since i'm an amateur DIYer, i cannot be sure that buying a pricier one (and there are extremely pricey ones out there) would result in significantly better performance. this is a try-it-out-and-see undertaking for us.
i built a box for the system because our house is constructed such that the access to the main water line is most easily reached outside and i wanted the system to be protected somewhat from the weather (the ispring sediment filters are made for "indoor" use so i thought a protective box made sense for this). i also didn't want the components just sitting outside because it would look unattractive and also make the system open to someone messing with it if they didn't feel like using their time for their school studies like they should be doing.
there's a lot of construction happening near us and one day, two curious workers came up to me and asked me what i was doing. i explained. one of them said, "you should just use PVC pipe." his reasoning was that glued joints won't leak whereas PEX clamps are more likely to leak. HOWEVER, i believe PVC pipe should not be used for drinking water. correct me if i'm wrong, you could use CPVC for this application. plus, i found that properly tightened PEX clamps are pretty good against leaking (so far).
for drinking water purposes, we installed an under-the-kitchen sink reverse osmosis system because we felt that 100% of our drinking water comes from the kitchen sink and after crunching the numbers, the RO was more cost-effective vs. a whole-house water FILTRATION unit.
overall, pretty happy with how this turned out. it was a good learning experience.
