Water Quality
 

We just moved to Buttonwood; already we have calls from Ecowater System and LCRG Enterprise to speak to us about water quality.

Feedback would be appreciated--has anyone used these. Are water softeners needed in TV?
Thanks!

We moved to the Village of Amelia 4 years ago and were besieged by salespeople. It's a long story but we ended up with a water softener from a new company that went out of business a few months later. People here will tell you that you don't need a water softener but we do notice a difference when I have forgotten to turn it back on after shutting it off to water the flowers(all the same water line, don't want salt water on the flowers): water tastes bad, hair doesn't shampoo well and my skin feels different. The only thing I hate about soft water is that when I wash my hands with soap it feels like you never get all the soap rinsed off even though it is. ECOWATER SYSTEMS has an ad in the Paper Net, one of those coupon/advertising magazines that come in the mail. I like it because the ad says they have been serving The Villages since 1980, not a "new" company like the one we bought from, has a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval on a water softener & a drinking water system(probably the most expensive models) and they donate a % of every purchase to the WWll Veterans Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. I have not heard of the other company. I would definitely check both out with the Seniors vs Crime unit at the Sumter County Sheriff's Office at the corner of 466 & Morse. Good luck & welcome to The Villages!

I didn't care for the taste of the water so I had a whole house water filter installed for a little less than $100 total. That's for the filter unit and installation. I get replacement charcoal filter elements in Home Depot, 2 for about 12 bucks. The filter lasts for several months. The water tastes fine and I kept a lot of money in my wallet.

Where did you install that kind of filter? Our water shutoff is on an outer wall of the garage.

That's where the filter goes too. Same place as a water softener.

Who did the installation for you? I assume you were happy with their work.

Where did you get your unit? I too hate the taste of the water. My bottled water would have paid for your $100 unit......

we also purchased a ecowater purifier, it wasn't so much the taste, as to what the water is doing to the pipes below the floor in the slab. down the road, we certainly don't want to dig up the flooring and slab to replace pipes. florida is number one with the worse water conditions.
everyone has an opinion, educate yourself and find the right system for your needs.

OK... so that being said... I think I read somewhere that you could get a water softener/purifier combination. If you have both, the the purifier cancel out the salt of the softener? If you get a purifier, does it cut the hardness? Where do you go to get these answers? I've googled and find it daunting!

Another 64er I sent you a P.M.

Jaspal, I sent you a P.M.

Excellent advice D&L. That's exactly what I did.

Who did you use to install this and where did you purchase it from.

Thanks!

Can you tell me who did the installation and the type of unit, Thanks Phil Winkler

Phil I sent you a P.M.

Several people have asked me about the details of the Whole House filter I had installed. Here goes: I priced these things at the local Home Depot here in NY yesterday. Both the filter unit and filters were made by G.E.
Filter Unit....Item GXWHO4F priced at $17.98.
Charcoal filter 2 pack...Item G.E. FXWTC...$10.97
I thought I paid closer to $50 for the filter unit but $17.98 was the price on the shelf.
After watching the handyman install ours I have no doubt that any homeowner who's at all handy can do their own installation. If you prefer to have it installed by someone else, any handyman or plumber can easily handle this job.

Water Conditions
 

Is the issue with the water in The Villages due to hard water or water impurity? Has anyone had the water tested for a "gpg" rating? Has anyone on this post used Easy Water? There seems to be a consensus that something needs to be done with the water, but I'm not sure it's purification or softening? Personal insights and experiences are welcomed.

I'm not concerned with the safety of the water, I just don't like the taste. Sometimes it's worse than others. Some people like softeners, I don't feel the need for one.
Up north we have a lot of sediment in the water which is why I first went to a water filter. It removed the sediment but I still had a chlorine taste which I really don't like. For that I installed a faucet filter which removed the taste from the drinking water. Then I discovered the charcoal filter elements for the whole house filter which seem to work well for sediment an taste.
There are purification systems out there but I think that's overkill. I've lived in places in the world where there was no doubt that the water was unsafe. For those places we used water purification kits. I don't think that's necessary in TV.

Thanks Bluedog.