Water Softener or Conditioner? Don't want to waste water

T

talkirvinekiwi

New member
For our 20yo home in Irvine, we've had two very expensive pipe leaks in the last two years, and we've only owned it for two years, too. Possibly just crap luck.

I want to get a water softener but I'm anxious about the water wastage, not to mention the fact that the brinewater cannot be processed by IRWD for their recycled water purposes according to their website.

But my understanding is a "conditioner" will not do enough to reduce the scaling, which is the issue, right? Because our pipes have pinholes from the minerals?

I wanted to know what others have done/how they feel about the issue. WIth water being a precious resource, I do not feel good about contributing to water wastage, or even worse, completely unusable water that cannot be recycled. Nor have I found the "water service that takes away salty wastewater" that the IRWD website talks about.

Or should I just pony up the dough for a full PEX repipe?
 
The PEX repipe is a must. 1 pinhole is the start, and often a $1k or so repair. Then another $1k repair, and so on. By the 2nd or 3rd pinhole leak, you would have paid for the repipe. Remember also that you may have a minor pinhole leak. Wait until you see what happens with a significant pinhole leak! Aye Caramba!

Add a conditioner/softener/etc while you're digging around. Short term cost, long term benefit.

My .02c
 
Soylent Green Is People said:
The PEX repipe is a must. 1 pinhole is the start, and often a $1k or so repair. Then another $1k repair, and so on. By the 2nd or 3rd pinhole leak, you would have paid for the repipe. Remember also that you may have a minor pinhole leak. Wait until you see what happens with a significant pinhole leak! Aye Caramba!
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akkord said:
Do the full re-pipe.

Get the softener, the conditioner does nothing from past research.

How much does a full repipe go for these days? If I have the budget for one not the other, would you put repipe over softener?
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You have other pinhole leaks waiting to blow. It is inevitable.

Any conditioner/softener you install will not prevent this from happening. It might slow the break, but break they will.

My .02c
 
Thanks @Soylent Green. Sorry I'm still figuring out how to use this platform. So you say full pex repipe over softener asap then?

How much does a full repipe go for these days?
 
Us - 2250 SF, 2 story, 2.5 bathrooms. Re-pipe itself was $3,800 but you have to build in the cost of texturing and repainting the holes in your walls and stucco. All in all 5-7k is reasonable for our SF/Bed/Ba count. As for water conditioning systems the cost widely varies.

We used Repipe1

My .02
 
Soylent Green Is People said:
Us - 2250 SF, 2 story, 2.5 bathrooms. Re-pipe itself was $3,800 but you have to build in the cost of texturing and repainting the holes in your walls and stucco. All in all 5-7k is reasonable for our SF/Bed/Ba count. As for water conditioning systems the cost widely varies.

We used Repipe1

My .02
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$3800 for just the repipe? When was this? Quotes my friends got were at least double for the same size job.
 
Any recommendations for which Water Softener or Conditioner products and installers to go with?

Ideally someone who can also install an RO filter system at the kitchen sink.

Thanks.
 
2018 re-pipe. Neighbors with similar SF were 4k in 2019 then zip first hand knowledge for the last 2 years. $3,800 to $7,600 in 4 years? YOWZA! With that in mind a $1k pinhole repair 2018 might be $2k in 2022.

My .002c adjusted for inflation
 
Soylent Green Is People said:
2018 re-pipe. Neighbors with similar SF were 4k in 2019 then zip first hand knowledge for the last 2 years. $3,800 to $7,600 in 4 years? YOWZA! With that in mind a $1k pinhole repair 2018 might be $2k in 2022.

My .002c adjusted for inflation
Click to expand...

My copper repipe last summer for a similar size was $8k. Patching the holes was included, but no painting. PEX would have been $6k.
 
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