water.remerrill.com
Residential Water Guide
Short, practical pages for homeowners — hard water and softeners, residential well pumps, and sump pumps / basement flood prep.
Water softeners
Salt-based vs salt-free, sizing by GPG, hardness test kits, Kind family, iSpring & Aquasure salt softeners, Waterdrop filters, AdEdge arsenic / Crystal Quest combo / Eagle High Flow specialty, salt, diagnostics, brine tank cleaning, iron, H₂S, drain / air gap.
Well pumps
Basics for homeowners, sizing by GPM and head, pressure-switch replacement, pressure tank precharge, well water testing, and Grundfos SQ / SQE / SP / SQFlex guides.
Sump pumps
Sump basics, battery-backup sump pumps, choosing a primary pump, check valves — primary vs backup, GPM vs lift, and flood prep.
Start-here overviews
Residential well pump basics
System parts, GPM vs head, constant pressure, casing limits — then dive into the family pages.
Sump pump basics
Basin, primary vs backup, lift, check valves, freeze risk, and when to call a plumber.
New guides
Leak sensors for the basement, softener, and well tank
Where to place sensors, siren vs Wi-Fi vs hub, outage caveats, and auto shut-off valves.
Freeze protection for well houses and pressure tanks
Insulation, thermostatic heat, heat cable, alerts, and fire-safe practices — plus what to do if it froze.
Replacing a brine float or safety float on a water softener
Signs the float failed, matching the right assembly to your valve and brine well, and a safe step-by-step swap.
How to test a sump pump: a seasonal checklist
Bucket test, float, check valve, discharge, battery backup, and alarm — and what a failed test means.
Low water pressure on a well: a troubleshooting order
Gauge first, then filters and treatment, pressure switch, tank, leaks, and finally the pump and well.
How much salt will my softener use?
Work out your own salt use from hardness, water use, and valve settings — and how to cut it without losing soft water.
Sump pump alarms and Wi-Fi monitors: what to buy and where to put them
Battery high-water alarms vs Wi-Fi monitors, outage caveats, and where to place the sensor.
Well pump short cycling: causes and fixes
A triage order: tank precharge, tank size, switch port, leaks, check valves, then the pump.
Softener salt types: pellets, crystals, solar, and block
Evaporated pellets vs solar crystals vs rock salt vs blocks vs KCl — purity, bridging, and which fits your tank.
Sump pump check valves: why they matter and how to pick one
Stop backflow and short cycling: standard vs quiet valves, pipe size, lift rating, install tips.
Well water testing: what to test and how often
Yearly coliform, nitrate, TDS, and pH; when to test more; certified lab vs mail-in kits.
How to clean a brine tank, step by step
Bypass, empty, scrub, check the float, refill with high-purity salt, and regenerate.
Choosing a primary sump pump
Measure inflow, account for lift, pick cast iron and the right float switch.
Pressure tank precharge: how to check and set it
Stop short-cycling: drain to zero, gauge the air valve, set 2 psi below cut-in.
Water softener resin cleaner: when to use it and how
Restore fading softener capacity on iron-bearing or neglected units.
Battery-backup sump pumps: how they work and what to buy
Standalone backup vs combo, AGM batteries, alarms, and how to test.
Replacing a 40/60 well pressure switch
Symptoms, matching, power-off safety, swap steps, and precharge.
Best water hardness test kits: strips vs titration vs digital
Get a usable GPG number before you size or program a softener.
Recent hard-water pages
AdEdge 40 arsenic filter (Bayoxide E33 + Fleck 2510SXT)
Lab + licensed pro first; high-ticket Bayoxide E33 adsorber as careful CTA.
Arsenic + Softener + SMART Series combo
When multi-tank combo fits vs separate arsenic and softener treatment.
Eagle High Flow whole-house filter
35 GPM-class high-ticket filter niche vs Waterdrop and Kind.
Waterdrop WHF3T-PG vs WHF3E-SKH
Whole-house sediment/carbon filters — not softeners; cartridges + honesty on GPG.
Aquasure Harmony 50k vs 64k metered (+ iSpring)
Ion-exchange Best Sellers vs high-ticket one-tank — size by GPG first.
iSpring WCS50KG 50k one-tank softener
High-ticket salt softener guide — ancillaries, vs Aquasure and Kind salt-free.
Kind Water E-3000UV vs E-2000 vs 6-Stage RO
When each Kind product fits — city combo vs conditioner vs drinking RO.
Kind Water E-2000 salt-free softener alternative
Whole-house scale conditioning + sediment — not ion exchange; check Amazon for current price.
Kind Water 6-Stage RO drinking water system
Under-sink RO for drinking/cooking — not whole-house softening.
Kind Water E-3000UV salt-free combo with UV
City-water filtration + scale conditioning + UV — honest vs ion exchange.
Salt-based vs salt-free: what actually softens
Ion exchange removes hardness. Salt-free conditioners usually do not.
How to size a water softener by GPG
Convert ppm → GPG, daily grain load, iron allowance, marketed vs usable capacity.
Softener drain line and air gap
Separate overflow vs valve drain, air-gap rules, length limits.
Sizing by GPM and total head
Method before HP — then pick SQ, SQE, SP, or SQFlex.
SQ vs SQE (constant pressure / CU)
Fixed-speed SQ vs SQE + CU for steadier house pressure.
See all well-pump guides → · Sump guides → · Water softener guides →