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Weird looking water softener in rural house

DougK62

DougK62

Diamond Member
So my brother bought an old, small rural house recently. When showing me around he points to this odd looking thing in the corner of the kitchen and says "that's the water softener". It is about 4 feet tall, looks like a torpedo, and has no electricity going to it. It just has two pipes connected to it - water in and out. I've never seen anything like this. I'm trying to look up information about it on the internet but am running into trouble. What is the name of this device? How does it get "refilled"? Any info about this would be great. We cannot just remove it and put in a "normal" weater softener for a variety of reasons.

 
I believe you usually just pour a bunch of salt into the device and then as water runs through it, it softens it.
 
Originally posted by: cjchaps
I believe you usually just pour a bunch of salt into the device and then as water runs through it, it softens it.
Click to expand...

This is completely self-contained. It's made of metal and does not look like it opens easily.

 

its just an ion exchanger. the media in any ion exchanger has to either be replaced or renewed by some process

does it have any tag/label on it at all? if not, you are going to have to dismantle it and take :camera:'s for us to check out how it works
 
Originally posted by: FoBoT

its just an ion exchanger. the media in any ion exchanger has to either be replaced or renewed by some process

does it have any tag/label on it at all? if not, you are going to have to dismantle it and take :camera:'s for us to check out how it works
Click to expand...

It has no tag or label on it. It's also very heavy. I've disconnected it and can't find any way to open the thing up. Pics when I get home later tonight.

 
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
It might have been a water softener at one time, but used up now.
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Well that's my question. How does it get "refilled". It's definitely not serviceable by your average joe. And I've never seen a water softener that didn't require electricity.

I just talked to my dad and he says he remembers seeing them in mobile homes a lot.

 
Originally posted by: HybridSquirrel
its a rural house? maybe its his water recylcer so when you use the pooper it purifies than recylces your water?
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It doesn't do that. It is definitely something that conditions the incoming water. It's completely disconnected and bypassed at the moment and everything still works fine.

 
maybe it is a filter or reverse osmosis unit?

those are pretty self contained and don't need electrcity. just water in and water out and a waste line.
 
Without a picture, I can't be sure but it sounds like a tank which is recharged by a water softening company.

I've had the service for years and the company changes the tank twice a month.

Of course, I could be wrong.
 
Originally posted by: spidey07
maybe it is a filter or reverse osmosis unit?

those are pretty self contained and don't need electrcity. just water in and water out and a waste line.
Click to expand...

There is no waste line.

 
Originally posted by: jadinolf
Without a picture, I can't be sure but it sounds like a tank which is recharged by a water softening company.

I've had the service for years and the company changes the tank twice a month.

Of course, I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

This is what I was thinking it was. Does this sort of service have a certain name? I explained what I had to a couple water softener places and they thought I was retarded. Is this common?

 
Originally posted by: DougK62
Originally posted by: jadinolf
Without a picture, I can't be sure but it sounds like a tank which is recharged by a water softening company.

I've had the service for years and the company changes the tank twice a month.

Of course, I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

This is what I was thinking it was. Does this sort of service have a certain name? I explained what I had to a couple water softener places and they thought I was retarded. Is this common?
Click to expand...
Water softeners don't "Require" electricity and The company back in the old days was "Culligan".

 
Originally posted by: AlienCraft
Originally posted by: DougK62
Originally posted by: jadinolf
Without a picture, I can't be sure but it sounds like a tank which is recharged by a water softening company.

I've had the service for years and the company changes the tank twice a month.

Of course, I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

This is what I was thinking it was. Does this sort of service have a certain name? I explained what I had to a couple water softener places and they thought I was retarded. Is this common?
Click to expand...
Water softeners don't "Require" electricity and The company back in the old days was "Culligan".
Click to expand...

Yes, they are still around. Another one is Rayne.
 
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