Skip to content
  • Menu Item
  • Menu Item
  • Menu Item
  • Menu Item
  • Menu Item
Purgatory Auto Works and Dinosaur Farm

Purgatory Auto Works and Dinosaur Farm

Where we do stuff

  • About
    • The Cast
    • The Contractor List
    • Weather
    • Stay
    • Privacy Policy
  • Aerial
    • Original Aerial Photos
    • December 2017
    • November 2016
    • May 2018
    • April 2019 Aerial Photos
  • Other Media
    • Vista
      • Current Time Lapse
      • Past Videos
    • Stega on Instagram
    • The Boys on Instagram
    • Building Race Cars
    • The Race Team
  • North Garden Stream
  • 2024 Timelapses
    • 2023 Timelapse
    • 2022 Timelapses
    • 2021 Timelapses
  • Toggle search form
Kinetico old-school water softener

More Water Work and Coining a New Phrase

Posted on September 19, 2015February 1, 2025 By stega

One of the smaller things on our list of house to-dos was to sort out the existing water softener. Because we’re on a well, we really need one, else we get nasty scale stains everywhere. Case in point: we use small amounts of not one but two rinse aids in the dishwasher even with the old softener; otherwise we end up with a film on our dishes.

The existing water softener was a very, very old Kinetico. I did some research online and found they stopped making tan tanks in the late ’80s. Amusingly enough, it was made just one town over from where my grandparents used to live. The unit is not original to the house though, as Kinetico was founded in 1970 according to their wikipedia page. Still, the thing was old and replacing it with a more modern system seemed like a good idea.

I did a bunch of reading online to determine what the new system should be, and decided on a Fleck. I then used my online searching skills to find a few places in the area that sold and installed the unit I wanted. I decided to go with City Water Filter out of San Jose, but the guy there actually steered me away from Fleck and towards Hankscraft.

I called them yesterday afternoon to set up the install, and they asked if they could do it immediately. Figuring sooner is better than later, I said “sure.” While Friday traffic for them was a bit of a nightmare, they arrived at 6pm and promptly got to work. The only real hiccup was when they went to pull out the old system–there was no valve to shut the water off and we had a small flood, so things got a bit soppy until Agent Smith went to the main junction and shut off all water to the house.

Once the sediment filter was removed, we got a good look at how much crap the previous owners let accumulate due to (probably) not replacing it for a few years. Pretty nasty. Even the interior of the sediment filter canister was gross. We’re pretty certain some of the crap was from rust and sediment buildup in the old well, so we’ll see what the new filters look like in a year when we replace them.

Kinetico old-school water softener
Kinetico old-school water softener
Obsolete water softener
Obsolete water softener
Obsolete water softener w/wall iron
Obsolete water softener w/wall iron
Old Kinetico
Old Kinetico
Old filter canister
Old filter canister
Yecchy old filter
Yecchy old filter

Which brings up a new term we use here at Purgatory–whenever AS or I run into some half-assed fix the previous owners did, like, say, putting in glass sliding doors at $10K a pop but failing to address the dry-rot surrounding them, or putting in exterior wooden French doors with no awning or other feature to keep water from running down them in the rainy season, we say “They really [PO’s last name]ed that one!” There are countless such examples, as we’re pretty certain they were having income issues, but seriously, who builds a deck over the septic tank, complete with hatches so they can pump the thing–and then never actually pump it?

But I digress. Below is a shot of the new softener head. It’s pretty stout and actually tells us what is going on–quite an upgrade from the old system, which you could only tell was working when you’d hear the sound of water moving through it. It’s more robust than the Fleck head, as the plastic quality is higher and the interior bits are all ceramic.

The installers from City Water Filter did a simple hardness test on our non-softened water, and we come in at a stunning 32 grains per gallon (gpg), meaning it is very, very hard. They also checked out the reverse osmosis system that came with the house, and recommended a mineral filter be installed and hooked up to our refrigerator since I like to use the tap from it for cold drinking water. As I type this I’m currently waiting for them to arrive to do that little bit of work today. While we hate our primary fridge (more on why at a later date), at least this work will easily transfer to the new one we have picked out, as it will be plug-and-play.

The guys worked for about two-and-a-half hours and now we have sediment and charcoal filters in place. They left us the original salt tank and I will clean it out this week and store it away, as we may find a use for it later.

Here’s a last pic of the finished work. Note the random iron attached to the wall is now gone–anyone need/want it? We have no use for it. Also now I get to try using the dishwasher with just one rinse aid!

Pretty new softener
Pretty new softener
Pretty new softener
Pretty new softener
New softener brain
New softener brain
Projects Tags:Plumbing

Post navigation

Previous Post: Great News Everyone! They’ve Fixed the Slime Pipes!
Next Post: The Magic Bucket
  • Not horse-proof
    New Fencing Update
  • Give this apatosaurus a name!
    Contest Restart Contests
  • Guest room 2016
    Guest Room Make Over Projects
  • Too close for comfort
    Post-Fire Wrap-up Every Day Things
  • 10 Reasons to Never Buy from Lumber Liquidators Interior
  • Old 'n busted
    Replacing the Second Hot Water Heater Interior
  • 2022 End-of-Year Video Update
  • The Wall Saga: Left Turn to Albuquerque Projects

Archives

Timelapse Video

Administrata Animal Auction Birds Computer Courtyard Crafts Driveway Electrical Exterior Fence Flooring Furnace Furniture Garage Great Room History Interior Kitchen Lights Neighbors North Garden North Hallway North Office Painting Panorama Plants Plumbing Pool Race Car Road Shed Stables Studio Stuff Trash Tree Vacation Vehicles View Wall Water Weather Well Wildlife

On This Day

  • Corporate office park hell
    Great Room “Note”–Outside Design Service
    2021
  • Telehandler to the rescue
    The Wall Saga: 18-Wheelers and Inclines
    2017

See all...

Stega's Other Sites
networkgirl-icon
Stega All Around the World
diving-icon
The Diving Stega
voice-icon
The Talking Stega
flying-icon
The Flying Stega
stega-icon
Outside My Window

sdat-icon
All Content Copyright: Stega Doggie and Tree LLC

Copyright © 2025 Stega Doggie and Tree LLC