Non Backwashing Acid Neutralizer vs Backwashing Acid Neutralizer

People ask me all the what is the difference between the two as far as performance there is no difference water passes through the tank filled with calcite and becomes neutral. What seperates the two are a number of things backwashing neutralizers use on average about 80 gallons of water per backwash with most units being set to backwash once a week this water and any dirt and sediment end up in your septic system any dirt that gets trapped in the bed cannot be backwashed out. The backwash is only as strong as the pressure coming out of your well tank a backwashing neutralizer requires a drain hookup for the bacwash and electric to power the valve motor. Plus the cost is much greater for the unit. Most backwashing valves only have a 5 year parts warranty. If you do need a backwashing system the fleck 7000 is the way to go high flow rates and a powerful backwash an excellent all around filter valve. Non Backwashing Acid Neutralizer With the non backwashing it can be installed as a downflow or an upflow it doesn't matter. As an upflow you will get better contact time with the media as opposed to a downflow. The non backwashing neutralizer does not backwash does not need electric does not need a drain and with our vortech tank does not need any gravel bedding. Therefore it can be installed just about anywhere. And regardless of what you may hear the bedding will not harden into a brick. We have been using the non backwashing system for the past 15 years. We do recommend with either a backwashing or non backwashing unit you install a sediment filter such as our spindown filter before the unit to trap dirt and sediment. For low PH water all manufacturers recommend the upflow Acid neutralizer as the most effective solution. For the most part the only time we install a backwashing valve or even recommend one is if a customer has alot of iron or heavy sediment in the water and what I mean by heavy is enough to clog a pre filter in a matter of days. Otherwise backwashing is a waste of extra money you pay for the valve and water it doesn\'t fluff the bed wet calcite is very heavy and most of the sediment the tank captures never gets backwashed out it ends up working it\'s way to the bottom of the tank. We only use the backwashing unit when absolutely neccessary. For low sediment issues we usually install a spindown filter before the neutralizer. Manufacturers recommend using the upflow for low Ph problems when the water comes up from the bottom it\'s evenly distributed through the media bed allowing for better contact time with the media. We also recommend that every 2-3 years you have the neutralizer taken outside cleaned out and rebeded. It's a service we provide to our local customers. Any questions or concerns about units contact us Monday-Sunday *am-8pm at 800-460-5810 Thank You Mid Atlantic Water