Softener or GAC first?

[Ian Wilde]

What is people's opinion on the order of the components of your pre-treatment systems?

We have always gone with Softener followed by GAC however we have lost some longevity of our softener resin due to our chlorine levels supposedly turning it to mush.

Putting the GAC 1st in line would cure this however is there still the concern about have dechlorinated water within your softener and it becoming a breeding ground for bugs?

I know of one renal unit that has a smallGAC-Softener-GAC but that seems a bit crazy?

Any thoughts?

[Garry]

Agree with the logic though I'm not aware of any adverse effects with both arrangements at our sites.  Configuration seems  to depend on installation company if not specifically specified.  

We have a softener before GAC set up with average chlorines of 0.3ppm over last 2 years with no adverse effects on softener.  

We have a GAC - Softener - GAC set up at several sites.  We did see micro issues at one site but that was after about 16 years of use.  Other sites with similar are fine

We have a new site with an organic scavenger first in line.  That also removes chlorine below recommended levels but, being fairly new, to early to comment.

A question I don't know the answer to - would bacteria that proliferate in water systems survive the brine backwashes of the softener?

[Ian Wilde]

That's a good question - I feel an experiment could be in the pipeline (no pun intended!)

[fraser gilmour]

counter question, what kind of bacteria counts would you expect to see in your pre-treatment system?

your pun was definitely intended

[Chris Bates]

In Reply to Garry's question,
Not sure if bacteria would survive the brining in a softener; but when we store a softener for any length of time, we do a regeneration and switch off after the brine draw to prevent bacterial growth.

[Ian Wilde]

We have 4 plants on site here - all in lovely warm and sweaty plant areas - all running 24/7.
I may do a sample from each pre-treatment point of each plant out of curiosity.  I may even write it up!

[Ian Wilde]

we store food in brine to stop it going off so seems logical to me?

[Gerry Boyle]

Have you spoken to your local friendly bacteriologist?  Gerry