Hot and cold water from all indoor faucets is causing sticky residue on skin; this includes the untreated kitchen cold water. The house has a water softener. Water tested on people not living in the household has the same result. The untreated outside water is not sticky.

A new water softener and hot water heater were purchased a year apart; the hot water heater first. I did have the hot water heater turned down for several months to save money. Ever since the water softener was installed, the water has never felt like it should, and I repeatedly had Culligan return to check it out resulting in no change. A year later after another adjustment the water became very sticky. One and a half years later there has been no change and I live with a constant residue on my body.

I by-passed the water softener for 5 months - no change. Don't know if stickiness results from bacteria in hot water heater, or from a malfunction in the water softener. Don't know if there is a water softener residue in pipes affecting indoor raw and treated water, or, if bacteria from the hot water heater is in all indoor faucets affecting raw and treated water.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I have been experiencing health problems.

Damsel in Distress

Are you on city water or a pump? Back to you. Tom

Hi Tom.

I am on city water.

Does the water from your outside hose bibs come out stick? I'm attempting to isolate your problem. Any more help you can give me? Back to you, Tom

This could be a question to ask under Chemistry too.

All I know is that bleach feels sticky as a residue on the skin, and bleach is either sodium hypochlorite in liquid household bleach, or calcium hypochlorite, in powder form. And salts used in water softeners are mostly sodium chloride, with a little bit of calcium sulfate. Maybe if the plumbers here haven't run into this problem, there's a clue in the chemistry of different salt reactions.

Does the water from your outside hose bibs come out stick? I'm attempting to isolate your problem. Any more help you can give me? Back to you, Tom

I'm not sure what you mean by bib. However, my outside spigot does not produce sticky water. So, that seems to lead to either the softener or heater. But, the unsoftened cold is sticky too. So that would seem to eliminate the softener and the heater. I'm wondering if there is residue in all pipes and indoor faucets which could lead back to either softener or heater.

Damsel

This could be a question to ask under Chemistry too.

All I know is that bleach feels sticky as a residue on the skin, and bleach is either sodium hypochlorite in liquid household bleach, or calcium hypochlorite, in powder form. And salts used in water softeners are mostly sodium chloride, with a little bit of calcium sulfate. Maybe if the plumbers here haven't run into this problem, there's a clue in the chemistry of different salt reactions.

Interesting- the Culligan people did use bleach to clean out the softener at one point.

I was using the sodium salt and am now using potassium chloride salt.


Damsel

Hot and cold water from all indoor faucets is causing sticky residue on skin; this includes the untreated kitchen cold water. The house has a water softener. Water tested on people not living in the household has the same result. The untreated outside water is not sticky.

A new water softener and hot water heater were purchased a year apart; the hot water heater first. I did have the hot water heater turned down for several months to save money. Ever since the water softener was installed, the water has never felt like it should, and I repeatedly had Culligan return to check it out resulting in no change. A year later after another adjustment the water became very sticky. One and a half years later there has been no change and I live with a constant residue on my body.

I by-passed the water softener for 5 months - no change. Don't know if stickiness results from bacteria in hot water heater, or from a malfunction in the water softener. Don't know if there is a water softener residue in pipes affecting indoor raw and treated water, or, if bacteria from the hot water heater is in all indoor faucets affecting raw and treated water.

I was using sodium salt and have switched to potassium chloride, but no change so far.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I have been experiencing health problems.

Damsel in Distress

But, the unsoftened cold is sticky too. But that's not what you just told me,
my outside spigot does not produce sticky water. You can't have it both ways. Your outside hose bibs are connected to the system upstream from the softener and if they aren't sticky that points to the softener and if Culligan came out and worked on the softener
the Culligan people did use bleach to clean out the softener at one point. Then they must have felt the problem was in the softener also. Have you tried bypassing the softener and flushing out the lines? Let me know Tom

But that's not what you just told me, You can't have it both ways. Your outside hose bibs are connected to the system upstream from the softener and if they aren't sticky that points to the softener and if Culligan came out and worked on the softener Then they must have felt the problem was in the softener also. Have you tried bypassing the softener and flushing out the lines? Let me know Tom

Thank you Tom for your time and thought on this matter. I greatly appreciate it.

I apologize for not being clear. In my initial writing if I didn't state it, I meant to share that all the inside faucets are producing sticky water - even the indoor unsoftened cold kitchen water (that shares a faucet with the hot). The outdoor spigot, which is untreated, and does not share with softened or hot water, is not sticky. That's why I'm wondering if there is some kind of residue in the pipes and faucets.

Culligan came to work on the softener because I kept calling them. They could not find anything wrong, so, they probably think it's my imagination (I have 4 friends who have experienced the sticky). The last Culligan fellow didn't bother to run the machine, he just tested the water to see if it was soft. He assured me it was fine.

I have had soft water all my life so I know what it is suppose to feel like. The water from this softener has never felt right.

Someone else questioned the stability of the resin beads in the water softener saying a bad batch could slowly dissolve into the water and produce stickiness. What are your thoughts on that?

Damsel

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But that's not what you just told me, You can't have it both ways. Your outside hose bibs are connected to the system upstream from the softener and if they aren't sticky that points to the softener and if Culligan came out and worked on the softener Then they must have felt the problem was in the softener also. Have you tried bypassing the softener and flushing out the lines? Let me know Tom

Tom - I neglected to answer your question. Yes, I did bypass the softener for 5 months, but how do I flush out the lines?

Damsel

Ever since the water softener was installed, the water has never felt like it should,Well that would certainly be telling me something.
I did bypass the softener for 5 months AND! What were the results? As a rule just running the water will flush out the system but with pipes full of sticky you might have to flush the lines out with bleach. I Would also get rid of Culligans and install a softener of your choice. Good luck. Tom

I'd like to get back in here because I am facing a dilemma due to extremely hard water in the well with the house I bought 6 months ago. If I buy a water softener, I am faced with dealing with problems frequently, right?
If I hire Culligan to deal with it on a regular basis, I might be paying through the nose.
The hardness quotient of my water is 253, and 'hard' is 120 - 180!
The house has a water softener but it isn't working. I'm not sure I feel like figuring out what's wrong, standing on a ladder to unclump salts etc (I did pour new salt in it).
Advice wanted...

I just ordered a Pelican no-salt no-electric water softener, and they claim (as do reviewers) that water is no longer slimy or sticky.

Well that would certainly be telling me something. AND! What were the results? As a rule just running the water will flush out the system but with pipes full of sticky you might have to flush the lines out with bleach. I Would also get rid of Culligans and install a softener of your choice. Good luck. Tom

Hi, Tom.
I didn't notice any difference from bypassing. The other day I thought to check the washing machine cold water faucet since it doesn't share a faucet with hot water. The person said it was sticky. So, that would lead to the water softener. I was hoping to get proof so that I could try to get my money back from Culligan since I complained a few months after it was installed, and each year up to now. It was installed in 2009 and was a very expensive model.

I will never go with Culligan again because I would end up with the same service people I've had. I would rather stick with a plumber. I will have another brand installed and have the pipes flushed. Also will have the plumber take a look inside the water heater to make sure it hasn't been corrupted in some way.

Thanks for sharing your brain!
Damsel in Less Distress


I'd like to get back in here because I am facing a dilemma due to extremely hard water in the well with the house I bought 6 months ago. If I buy a water softener, I am faced with dealing with problems frequently, right?
If I hire Culligan to deal with it on a regular basis, I might be paying through the nose.
The hardness quotient of my water is 253, and 'hard' is 120 - 180!
The house has a water softener but it isn't working. I'm not sure I feel like figuring out what's wrong, standing on a ladder to unclump salts etc (I did pour new salt in it).
Advice wanted...

I just ordered a Pelican no-salt no-electric water softener, and they claim (as do reviewers) that water is no longer slimy or sticky.

I spoke with the Pelican people when I ordered a water test and found them to be extremely helpful. They helped me to realize that I did not want a salt-less softener, because I want the slimy feeling. If I wasn't limited money-wise this time around, I would definitely buy from Pelican. If you buy from Culligan you don't know how skilled the service people are; that's my experience.