The Complete Guide For Buying The Best 48000 Grain Water Softener

Water softener systems are on the market to ensure that we don’t have to suffer from hard minerals like calcium and magnesium and trace amounts of iron.

Whether the water is from a well in your home or from the city, the water supply comes with minerals that are hard to deal with day after day. 

Some of us don’t realize that we are getting hard water in our homes till we see our clothes looking old before their time, and our appliances are showing signs of wear and tear too soon.

Other effects that we see are increased use of soaps and detergents and dry skin and hair. What’s more, our kitchenware shows white spots and glassware needs more cleaning.

Stained dishes and laundry, limescale build-up in appliances, and the plumbing systems can be difficult to tolerate for long. It is even worse when the water tastes slightly off.

Fortunately, you don’t have to live with hard water forever. There are several water softening units that can help remove hard minerals from the water and protect your appliances, too. 

What does grains mean in a water softener?

The grain capacity of water softeners is the maximum number of grains the system can remove before the regeneration cycle begins.

What it means is that the harness levels of water are measured in grains per gallon (GPG), i.e., one grain of hardness is equal to 1/ 7000 pounds.

The city water supply may measure hardness in milligrams, litres, or parts per million (PPM). Therefore, 1 GPG = 17.1 PPM or 17.1 mg

How do you know what grain water softener to get?

It is essential to buy the right size of water softener for home. It depends on the number of people and water usage. So, you need to multiply the number of users by the gallons of water used each day, which is usually 80 gallons per person. 

Now, multiply that number by the grains of hardness in your water to find out how many grains your water softener needs to remove each day. The result should help you choose the right water softener to handle the load. 

Typically, the manufacturer will provide the specifications that include exact grain capacity. But, the guidelines below can help you with the decision.

• Households with three or fewer users need a water softener that has a grain capacity of approximately 20,000 units.
• Families with four or more users need a water softener that has a grain capacity of 30,000 units or more.

Which is the best 48000 grain water softener?

The best 48000-grain water softener is AFWFilter On-demand Fleck 5600sxt Water Softener.

AFWFilter’s On-demand Fleck 5600sxt water softener is a complete solution for water treatment. It uses Fleck’s popular 5600sxt valve, and the digital meter on the valve automatically regenerates the system, but only when it is needed.

You can save not only on salt and water but also save money and time as this water softener is optimized with Fleck’s highly effective controller. 

This water softener system is designed to handle demanding water needs with a 48000-grain capacity and a flow rate of 12 gallons per minute. It ensures a steady supply of soft water and removes a wide variety of contaminants in your water, such as chlorine, herbicides, and pesticides. 

AFWFilters include everything you need to operate this water softener in the box with the Fleck valve making ease of use even more convenient.

This water softener is also made from high-quality NSF materials and is guaranteed to last you for several years to come. This is the best water softener system that has high water usage and makes using it a lot easier, thanks to the top-quality Fleck valve.

Why Should You Trust Us?

You can trust us because the best 48000 grain water softeners list is based on countless hours of research, testing, reading customer reviews, and talking with manufacturers.

Our in-depth comparison study covered different types of water softeners, including salt-based, salt-free water softeners and combination filter and softener systems, to help you determine which type is the best water softener for your needs.

List Of 7 Best 48000 Grain Water Softeners [Buy The Right One]

48,000 vs 64,000-grain water softener

The softening capabilities of your water softener are measured in grain capacity. This is usually denoted in numbers like 24,000, 48,000, 64,000, and more. These numbers are indicators of how much hardness a water softener can remove before it has to regenerate.

A grain of hardness is 1/7000 of a pound of dissolved calcium and magnesium. This means that a 48,000-grain water softener should be able to remove 48,000 grains of hardness before needing to regenerate. While this may be true, there are a few other factors to consider.

Water softeners are tested in lab conditions with perfect control over flow rates and other metrics. These conditions are not often replicated in real life. So a water softener with a grain capacity of 48,000 is more likely to have an actual capacity of 45,000. This also doesn’t factor in the amount of salt needed for removing the grain capacity.

One-third of the number of salt yields two-thirds the capacity, which is a more economical and efficient way of running a water softener, i.e., your 48.000 capacity water softener is more effective with less salt that covers 32,000 grains.

When it comes to choosing between 48,000 or 64,000 capacity water softeners, you should consider what your water needs are. If you have a large family and extremely hard water, it is better to go for 64,000 grains.

For a family of four with some level of hard water, a 48,000-grain capacity water softener can meet all their water needs.

Larger grain capacities are more expensive but can also handle more than water softeners with less grain capacity before regeneration.

Conduct a hardness test on your water and carefully assess your family’s water needs to determine if you can benefit from a larger capacity or whether it’s an extra expenditure that you do not really need.

Learn from professionals how to calculate water softener grains

As mentioned before, it is important to know the water softener grain capacity before looking at the various products in the market. But, to do that, you also need to understand how to calculate water softener grains. 

Water softeners use an ion exchange process designed to remove scale build-up caused by calcium and magnesium ions, unlike the reverse osmosis systems or boiling and cooling process.

The softener capacity is the amount of hardness a water softener can remove between regeneration cycles. It can be expressed either in gallons or grains.

Understanding the capacity is essential to sizing, choosing, configuring, or troubleshooting a water softener.

What do you need to know to calculate softener capacity? 

Step 1.

Convert the water hardness from ppm to grains per US gallon

GPG = ppm/17.118

Example: 118 ppm would be equal to 6.9 gpg

Step 2.

Calculate water softener capacity in grains

Total Grains Per Day That Must Be Removed = People in Household × Gal per Person × [GPG Hardness + (3)Iron]

Example: Daily Grain Requirements = 5 people × 75 gal per person × [7 gpg + 2.0(3) mg/l] = 5850

Step 3.

Calculate softener capacity:

If Your Daily Grain Requirements Are:		You Need a Water Softener With:
0 – 3,500 Grains Per Day	—	24,000 Grain Capacity
3,501 – 4,500 Grains Per Day	—	32,000 Grain Capacity
4,501 – 5,750 Grains Per Day	—	40,000 Grain Capacity
5,751 – 6,850 Grains Per Day	—	48,000 Grain Capacity
6,851 – 9,150 Grains Per Day	—	64,000 Grain Capacity
9,151 – 11,500 Grains Per Day	—	80,000 Grain Capacity

How much salt should my 48000-grain water softener use?

Salt-based water softeners need salt to be added to the brine tank regularly. The frequency of refilling salt depends on the size of the brine tank, water hardness levels, number of users, and average water usage. 

The water softener salt level in the brine tank must be at least a quarter full but not more than 4-6 inches below the top of the tank and a few inches above the water level.

Before adding new salt to a tank, you must loosen the encrusted salt stuck to the sides of the tank. Encrusted salt forms into salt bridges that must be removed. These bridges can be manually broken up with a broom handle before dissolving with hot water. 

A correctly sized system, the industry standard for an average family of four with a water hardness level of 7-10 gpg, will use approximately 10lbs of salt every week or one 40lbs bag of salt per month.

You will need to check the tank regularly to ensure that the salt and water in your tank are at the required levels.

The manufacturer’s user manual should provide details on the backwash frequency and salt dose for your water softener model. The more a unit regenerates, the more salt it will need. The quantity of salt the system uses for each regeneration cycle will decide how many gallons of water can be softened before needing to regenerate.

Verdict

After much research and comparison studies among the water softeners in the market, our verdict on best 48000 water softener is the AFWFilter’s On-demand Fleck 5600sxt water softener. It offers a complete solution for household water treatment. It uses Fleck’s popular 5600sxt valve, which is a major benefit as the digital meter on the valve regenerates only when it is necessary.

You can save not only on salt and water but also save money and time as this water softener is optimized with Fleck’s highly effective controller.

Conclusion

With a large number of people struggling with hard water problems, there is an increasing demand for economical and efficient water softeners.

However, it is not simple or easy to buy the right water softener without pertinent information.

Our job is to provide such information with a detailed review of a shortlist of water softener systems in the market, including the pros and cons of each system.

It is our hope that this guide will help you make the best choice for your home. It should ensure that health is enhanced with good quality water and long-lasting appliances.