cabin water softener ideas

[fletcher]

I have a seasonal cabin on Lake Miltona iron hard water smells and leaves rust color on shower sink toilet

We had rented seasonal kinetico in Alex but prices are $400 per year so we quit that a couple years ago

Any ideas to economically soften our water? We have a water cooler for drinking.

Would a water softener not last? re generate only on demand or once a week approximately.

Thanks for any ideas.

[Tom7227]

Have you tried shocking the well at the begining of the season with bleach? The chlorine oxegenates the water and the iron presipitates out. At my house I dump a gallon of chlorine bleach down the well and then about 50-100 gallons of water to mix it in. Let it sit over night and then flush the system by running a hose out to some place that won't be a problem if ketchup red water gets on it. That would last for nearly 6 months at my house. You can get detailed instructions from the UofM extension service on how to do it.

[jerkbait]

We have a little Waterboss 700 in our garage. Works really well for the price. The hardness of our water is 25 grains. I use the iron out salt from morton. The only complaint I have is even though it is set to regenerate after so many gallons and at 2:00 am it still hits a limit and will regenerate during the day. It only takes 15 - 20 minutes though. It doesn't use much for salt either. I would give it a 4 out 5 stars.

[ripper]

We had a similar problem at our seasonal cabin. We have the portable tanks brought in from Culligan each year. We get by with two that are hooked up together. Culligan comes out in the spring to hooks up and out in the fall. Very slick, our water is perfect. Not sure how it all works but not complaining...I want to say it's about $75/per tank, so $150 for the season. Not great, but worth it I think.

[Tom7227]

A friend was having a problem at his cabin with rust in the water and found that his air tank was the culprit. He has an old fashioned steel tank and it is rusting up over the winter and creating the mess. He flushed it a number of times and it got a bit better. You may have a similar setup if the place is older. The solution should be an air tank with a bladder but the cost of that deterred my friend.