I am considering installing a water softener for my home which is on a slab. Is it likely that the main comes to an accessible location within the house (i.e. to the hot water heater) before going to the other locations, or is it likely that from the meter or in the yard there is a tee with one leg to the hot water heater and the other to the fixtures in the house starting with the outside faucet located near the front entrance?

Thanks,

Brian

If I understand your question the softener should install after the service enters the house and before it connects to anything else. There should be no tee in the yard any branches will be inside the house.. Your water service should come direct from the meter to the house. Do you need a diagram on installing a softener bypass if yours doesn't have one on the unit? Good luck, Tom

I am trying to locate the main supply line to my house so that I can install the softener as you have stated. However, I am not sure where the main enters my home as the only visible pipes are those coming out of the wall directly behind my hot water heater (the supply and return lines). The meter is on the opposite side of the yard (i.e. hot water heater in the garage on the left, meter on the curb on the right). Is it likely that there is a manifold in the wall behind my water heater where the main supply (between the house and the meter) comes in? Is there any way to tell without removing dry wall?

Thanks!

-Brian

Only if you home is just a couple of years old would I think that you would have a manifold system, That has only been in use the last few years, or in the state of Texas anyway.
My thought is that you have a system that feeds off to other fixtures before it gets to the water heater, so if you put the softener by the water heater then all of those branches would not have soft water.
Now about finding the main and where it enters your house. If you have a PVC service, which has been used for many years you may have a copper wire laid in the same trench that the pipe is in, this is there just for the purpose that you need. They can connect a meter on to the wire and follow it down where the ditch was.

Thanks for the help guys! My house was built in 2001. Would I be chasing a rabbit to rely on a metal detector for finding the most probable route from the meter into my home? If it is like you say (letmetellu) then I will likely need to get a plumber as tapping into the main somewhere in the yard and running it into the garage (for the softner; the wife won't let me put it in the dining room) then back out to continue its route sounds like a mess (again, I'm on a slab). I would really like to do this job myself!

-Brian

If you do like you say and hire a plumber and run around the house to get soft water remember that you will have to put faucets out doors at locations that you want them before it gets to the softener so they will be on unsoftened water. Also remember that the faucets that you have no on the out side will be soft water.
It way I have installed piping on a slab when I needed to was to use a large hammer drill with a bit large enough to put the size pipe you need through it. I drill the hole at an angle starting inside the house, next to a outside wall, I aim to make the hole exit the foundation at least 12 inches under ground on the outside. That may not be below your frost line but at least it is down under the ground and then you may have to build up the level of the ground over the pipes to keep them from freezing. If you live in Florida you don't have that problem.