Garrelts Water recently helped the University of St. Mary the Lake upgrade their old water softener to the best commercial water softener possible. This was a really fun job for us, and was a great solution for our customer.
Mundelein, IL city water has no iron, but the water is extremely hard. At 15gpg hardness, the water would cause major damage without a softener.
But the University had a challenge: HUGE fluctuations in flow rates. If a water softener was too small, they would lose water pressure. If a water softener was too big, hard water will actually “slip” through the system.
You need to get the softener size JUST RIGHT for low water flow AND high water flow. Here’s how we did it.
The Best Commercial Water Softener
Single tank water softeners have limited capacity. If you use too much water, you could run out of soft water.
We installed an H151 water softener system with two 16” tanks with 240,000 grains total capacity. Twin tank water softeners offer a nearly unlimited supply of soft water.
When the first tank runs out of soft water, the system switches to the second tank. This is very important for commercial installations that can have huge fluctuations in water use.
But this system gets even better.
Better, Softer Water – No Matter How Much, or How Fast Water is Used
With one 16” tank online, the system will support up to 40 gallons per minute (gpm). Its not “too” big, and will also supply superior soft water with as little as 4gpm flowing.
This water softener uses a central controller called a SystemMate. The SystemMate operates a 2nd motorized valve. When flow rates exceed 40gpm, the valve opens, and the 2nd tank comes online.
This gives the University a peak flow rate of 80gpm. This is the same as a larger 2” valve on a giant 24” tank.
But the bigger valve and tank option has downsides:
A 2” valve doesn’t measure low flow rates accurately
A 24” tank doesn’t soften well with flow rates BELOW 8gpm
Our system is both more accurate, AND it delivers consistently better water.
Save 1,000’s Pounds of Salt with Better Technology
When a water softener regenerates, it flushes itself clean with salt. At first, that salt is bound with minerals. The last 17-20% of that salt is usually clean and fresh.
Brine Recovery allows you to capture that fresh salt.
Our controller redirects fresh brine water. Instead of going down the drain, it is put back into the brine tank. Now it can be re-used for the next regeneration instead of being wasted.
This technology can save a business or school 1,000’s of pounds of salt and gallons of water each year!
Does Your Business Need The Best Commercial Water Softener?
Do you manage a large business or school? Is hard water or iron causing you problems?
We can help design the right system for your business’ needs. You’ll get consistent, soft water. No matter how much, or how fast you use water.
Give us a call at (815) 344-8186 or sign up for a FREE QUOTE to get started!