Metered water softener with 3/4" Autotrol 255/460i control, 48,000 grain capacity with by-pass valve

We needed a new water softener. I didn't want another one from the big box stores (been through 2 of those... they have a limited life span). Yet, when I had one of the big name softener companies in their products started at over $2000. So, I started to research the Internet. I found that there only a few companies that make almost all the parts for softeners (Autotrol - owned by GE, Fleck, and Clack). Before I made my decision, I called CAI Technologies and asked some questions. They were great. Spent plenty of time on the phone with me; even though I told them I was going to buy the product through Amazon. You can get this unit with either a Autotrol or Fleck controller (I got the Autotrol). Delivery was neat. There were 4 boxes total. One had the softener tank itself, second had the brine tank with the controller and all other parts inside. The third and fourth had the resin that you add to the softener before screwing on the controller. During the installation I had a couple of questions, so I called CAI again. They had a "Tech" call me back within 10 min. and he talked me through all of my issues. And the best part, I saved a ton of money. You know the price of the softener. On top of that I had less than $30 in pipe and fittings (would have been less but I used high pressure hot water heater flexible hoses), and the cost of the 6 bags of salt for the brine tank.

Live in Ohio with hard city water. Looked at the Big Box retailers, units seemed cheap, bad reviews, staff seemed ignorant on how they worked. Found this water softer on Amazon on sale, did the 12 months SAC. Unit arrived quickly in seveal heavy boxes. Had a friend who does plumbing do the install, this is not a job for a weekend warrior. Unit is not assembled, you must put much of it together. Had difficulty getting the three O rings to seal and not leak. Filling the pressure tank with the sand media is not fun and takes a bit of time. Made 3-4 trips to hardware store to get proper fittings, fittings provided needed adaptors to fit existing house plumbing. I also installed a whole house water cleaner at the same time. Took a day and a half to get fully installed, put a bypass valve in for watering with the hoses. Seem very high quality and well made. Good instructions. You will need an electrical supply and a drain for hookup. Unless you have had some plumbing experience I would hire someone. I did note the water pressure in the home fell a bit also.

Had an issue with the flow meter right after install. Sent them an email through Amazon on a Saturday and a live person responded within an hour. Promised to call me back on Monday and they did. System is running perfectly now.

So this company did a free water test. The results were:Hardness - 16 GPG (grains per gallon)Iron - 0.05 mg/l (ferrous, dissolved)pH - 7.3 unitsTDS (total dissolved solids) - 194 ppmIn my case the softener fixed the hardness issue. It also removed the white deposits from my cookware.I like the product a lot. It is very well made compared to the box store bought one I had previously installed. The old one had broken after about a year.Just an update. This softener is still working perfectly. No issues.

Installed and working. So far so good. It is producing lots of soft water, and our area is noted for its hard water. The only problem in doing a self installation was the instructions are minimal to say the least. However, a Saturday call to the help line, cleared everything up. The technician was knowledgeable, courteous and helpful. Also directed me to a download that covered questions not in the package.I would recommend this unit.

I purchased the unit on June 9 2013.Setup was easy enough. Had to redo the plumbing from a previous Sears softner.Only had about a week of soft water since purchased.I'd say this unit may be OK if your are connected to city water and just want it soft.I have a 220 foot well and it contains minerals. Not near as good as the one being replaced.Contacted Help and they were helpful about how to clan all of the parts that may be causing the issue.It worked for about a week and then stopped.Will be replacing unit soon. I pretty sure it's not up to the task.This one goes to the trash pile.

Have had this installed for about six months now with flawless operation. Installation was straight forward despite having to read through 2-3 different manuals to get all of the details.