February, 2007
My well water is very hard. I would prefer to use well water only for fire suppression (sprinklers) and irrigation. I would prefer all fixtures in the home to be supplied with low or medium hardness water. I do not want to use a conventional
water softener because salt (or potassium) is added to:
- the water as a result of normal use
- the environment as a result of filter regeneration
What is an unconventional water softener, you ask? Mother nature will drop about 23,000 gallons of rain on my rooftop during an average year. A
rainwater harvesting system has the potential to store about 18,000 gallons of this free, soft water. The stored water can either be kept separate and treated for domestic use. Or, it can be mixed with well water, treated for domestic use and supply fire sprinklers. Mixing the water is a little simpler than having separate storage systems for sprinkler and domestic use. Mixing soft rainwater with very hard well water will result in a hardness somewhere between the two extremes. The primary green features of rainwater harvesting are:
- free water softening - without using salt or potassium
- reduced fixture maintenance from hard water scale when mixing treated rain water with well water for domestic use
- preserving groundwater supply by reducing well usage
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