What to Consider when Buying a Water Softener for Business Use…

One of the main concerns to cover when choosing a commercial water softener is to be sure you size it properly to supply the continuous flow of soft water into your business or Apartment building.

Commercial Water softeners vary in size and depending on the application, your water softener might not be the correct size for your application. Having the wrong size can cause issues such as not enough flow rate through your business or apartment building, to low of flow through the softener for an extended period of time causing channeling through the resin bed that will affect the quality of the water, low flow rates can also affect the accuracy of the fleck water softener meter which can affect the regeneration of the softener.

So when you are shopping for a commercial water softener be sure to reach out to a professional water treatment company so they can help you with sizing and choosing the proper and regular softener for your application.

Compare Sizing

Here’s the link to our easy to use Water Softener Sizing Calculator There are several factors that play into determining the proper water softener size and certain criteria may be needed in some applications. Below are the general key factors to consider in finding out what size water softener is needed for your business or apartment complex.

Flow rate (Gallons Per minute or GPM) Flow rate is how many gallons per minute is running throughout your business or apartment complex during peak times and during non peak times.

Water Hardness (Grains Per Gallon aka GPG ) Water hardness is important to know, if you are not sure then if on municipal supply lookup the water quality report for your area on line or call your local municipality, if on a private well then have it tested. You want to be sure that you don’t undersize the softener causing it to regenerate to often costing your business a lot of money in maintenance, salt and waste water.

Total GPD (Grains Per Day ) Total GPD is  the daily softening requirement measured in grains per day, as a example if your water hardness is 20 GPG and you use 500 gallons per day on average the softener will remove 10,000 grains of hardness per day.

How to Size Your Fleck Commercial Water Softening Needs?

Water Softener Calculator – CLICK HERE

There are several factors that play into determining the proper water softener size and certain criteria may apply on a case-by-case basis. However, the following are the general key factors to consider in finding out what size water softener your commercial business should implement in addition to filtration and other US water treatment you already have.

We use these factors to calculate water softener size with a simple equation:

Flow Rate × Water Hardness = Total GPD

Answer These Questions…

1. What are my peak flow rates through the building?
2. What are my non-peak flow rates?
3. What is the water hardness?
4. What are my business hours?
5. What size is the water supply line pipe in the utility room where the softener and filters will be installed?

REVIEW: Water Softeners are NOT all the Same…

One the main mistakes we see is that only the peak flow rates are considered when sizing a water softener to treat hard and dirty water. In some application the ignored non-peak flow rates are to low for the softener to meter the water usage properly ( this can cause the system to miss hundreds of gallons that has passed through the softener causing the system to run out of soft water before a regeneration ) The low flow rates can also cause issues with water channeling through the resin bed which will cause the softener to miss hardness minerals.

Here is some examples on channeling:

Tank diameter:

• 16” tank needs an average daily flow rate of 2.79 gallons per minute to reduce channeling
• 18” tank needs an average daily flow rate of 3.53 gallons per minute to reduce channeling
• 21” tank needs an average daily flow rate of 4.8 gallons per minute to reduce channeling
• 24” tank needs an average daily flow rate of 6.3 gallons per minute to reduce channeling

The Solution

Use a smaller twin tank softener that is set up as a progressive flow softener to achieve peak flow rates needed without having metering or channeling issues. For more information on sizing a commercial water softener and filter properly please contact Quality Water Treatment at 1-866-278-4130 or email us  help@qualitywatertreatment.com

Water Softener Options by Fleck

Fleck Commercial Water Softener is one of the most popular water softener solutions for both residential homes and commercial applications. Here are our most popular commercial and industrial water softening systems key features:

Fleck 3900 Water Softening System (3-inch Valve)

So if you are looking for a whole house water softener or even for commercial use, you must consider the complete features of the system and compare factors such as how hard water do you have, price, Amazon star rating and comments, performance, warranty, etc. You can always visit our website if you have questions and stay tuned for discounts and promos so you can add the product to your cart lower compare to the regular price.