Tiger 48 Package

A water softener with a carbon layer in the same tank. It removes hardness and cuts chlorine taste and smell. The tank is Charger’s 48K mixed-bed softener (part CWWS148MB), 12″ × 52″.

• Your water is hard. The City of Prescott reports 4.3–7.6 grains per gallon; ADEQ’s study of Prescott-area wells averaged about 12, and some test far higher.
• You also want less chlorine taste and smell at every tap. The City of Prescott disinfects its water with chlorine (its water quality report).
• Three or four people, or one or two on harder water up to about 20 grains — see Sized for.

• Remove arsenic, bacteria, nitrate or lead. Softening does not (University of Nebraska; University of Arizona).
• Remove PFAS. Softeners are not likely to (Minnesota Department of Health).
• Handle more than about 2 ppm of clear-water iron on its own (Charger). Heavier iron needs an iron filter first — the Panther.
• Suit water with high chlorine or chloramine. Charger’s manual says not to install it on such water, without giving a figure, and to protect the resin from both. The free field check measures your chlorine.
• Reduce chloramine. The carbon on Charger’s invoice is granular activated carbon (GAC), and Charger says regular carbon cannot remove chloramine. The Lynx uses catalytic carbon.

Softener tank

Charger CWWS148MB 48K mixed-bed softener: a 12″ × 52″ mineral tank (Charger invoice, September 2026). Neil buys it as Charger’s MX-series 48K; Charger’s public documents do not list this part number.

Inside the tank

Softening resin (8% crosslink, the standard grade) and GAC carbon, per the invoice. Charger’s MX sheet also shows a KDF layer (copper-zinc media) on top; the invoice does not list one.

Control valve

Clack WS1 with a digital display, and a bypass valve that sends water around the softener during service. It regenerates: it rinses the resin with salt water to renew it, then flushes to the drain. With a water meter it does that after a set number of gallons, so a quiet week uses less salt; Charger’s WS1 sheet says a meter saves water and up to 40% of the salt. Without one it runs on a set schedule. Charger sells the WS1 both ways, so which one yours has is written on your estimate.

Salt (brine) tank

15″ × 17″ (Charger invoice).

Salt

Two 50-lb bags to start.

• NSF/ANSI 44 is the standard for water softeners. We found no NSF/ANSI 44 listing for any Charger softener in NSF’s database (checked September 2026).
• The Clack WS1 valve is certified to NSF/ANSI 44, 61 and 372. That covers the valve, not the whole system.

• Sold as 48,000 grains, which is a nominal size. Charger publishes no rating for this exact tank. Charger’s 12″ × 52″ softeners that share the tank with carbon are rated 27,000–36,000 grains between regenerations at their lower salt setting and 40,000–45,000 at maximum salt — the less of the tank is carbon, the more it holds. How much resin your tank holds is written on your estimate.
• How to size it (Charger’s worksheet): add the people in the house to the water-using appliances (washer, dishwasher and so on), multiply by 75 gallons a day, then by your hardness in grains per gallon — plus 4 grains for every ppm of clear-water iron. That is the grains used a day; Charger multiplies it by 3 for the unit size.
• Examples (our arithmetic, at 75 gallons a person a day, Penn State Extension’s figure): 2 people on Prescott city water (7.6 grains) use about 1,140 grains a day, so it regenerates about every 19–32 days. 2 people on a 20-grain well: about every 7–12 days. 4 people on that well: about every 4–6 days. Counting a washer and dishwasher the way Charger’s worksheet does doubles a two-person home’s figure, so it regenerates about twice as often and uses about twice the salt.

• Charger’s MX sheet lists 19.7 gpm for the 48K. It does not say whether that is a steady or a peak rate.
• Charger rates its 12″ × 52″ softeners that share the tank with carbon at 7.5 gpm of steady (service) flow.
• For scale: a shower head uses up to 2.5 gallons a minute (gpm) and a kitchen faucet up to 2.2 gpm (federal limits, EPA).
• The Clack valve itself can pass 27 gpm, though at that flow it lowers your water pressure by 15 psi. At everyday flows the valve itself costs little pressure: about 0.5 psi at 5 gpm and 2 psi at 10 (our arithmetic from Clack’s flow rating, Cv 7.0, Form 2572). The tank and media lose some more; Charger does not publish how much.

• Hardness: sized to your test (see Sized for).
• Iron: up to about 2 ppm of clear-water iron (Charger’s sizing guide).
• Water pressure 40–90 psi and water temperature 40–100°F (Charger’s softener manual).

• Salt: about 3–4 bags (50 lb) a year for 2 people on Prescott city water (at 7.6 grains, the top of the city’s range); about 8–10 for 2 people on a 20-grain well; about 16–21 for 4 people on that well.
• Water: about 96 gallons to the drain each time it regenerates, plus the slow salt-water rinse (our arithmetic from Charger’s settings for this tank size: two backwashes, of 10 and 8 minutes, and a 6-minute rinse, at 4 gallons a minute). For 2 people on Prescott city water that is every 19–32 days, or about 1,110–1,850 gallons a year; on a 20-grain well, every 7–12 days, or about 2,920–4,870 gallons a year. The University of Nebraska and Penn State Extension give about 50 gallons as a general figure.
• Electricity: a grounded, always-on outlet. The valve draws 0.25 amps (Charger).
• Salt type: water-softener salt or potassium chloride — never the two mixed (Charger). Potassium chloride costs more and takes more to do the same work (University of Nebraska).
• The salt and water figures are our arithmetic at 75 gallons a person a day and Charger’s salt-saving setting. Counting appliances the way Charger’s worksheet does, or its MX sheet’s 80–100 gallons a person, gives more regenerations and more salt. They also assume it regenerates only when the resin is used up, as a metered valve does; on a timer it can regenerate more often, and Charger’s WS1 sheet says a meter saves up to 40% of the salt. Your water test and household decide the real numbers.

• Room for two tanks side by side at your softener loop: the 12″ × 52″ mineral tank and the salt (brine) tank.
• Indoors, or a sheltered spot where the tanks and their drain and overflow lines never drop below 34°F, out of direct sunlight, with the valve’s plug-in transformer in a dry spot: Charger’s manual says it is for dry locations only. Charger’s warranty does not cover freezing or water above 120°F.
• Where an overflow could do damage, an overflow line from the salt tank to the drain, so if the tank ever overfills the water goes to the drain instead of the floor (Charger’s manual recommends one there).
• A drain the regeneration water can reach. Charger says the drain must be able to handle the backwash flow.
• A grounded outlet that is always on, within reach of the valve’s power cord (Charger supplies a 15-foot cord; its quick-start guide says the outlet must be grounded and always on).
• At least 10 feet of pipe from where treated water leaves the softener to the water heater’s cold-water inlet (Charger’s manual). If yours is closer, the extra pipe is quoted before any work.
• Septic: each regeneration sends its rinse water to the septic tank — about 96 gallons on this tank (see What it uses). The Water Quality Association’s research found that softeners set up efficiently do not harm septic systems.

• Softening adds about 8 mg of sodium per liter for every grain of hardness it removes (University of Nebraska).
• On Prescott city water (4.3–7.6 grains per gallon) that is about 34–61 mg per liter. On a 20-grain well it is about 160 mg per liter. (Our arithmetic.)
• EPA advises no more than 20 mg per liter for people on a very-low-sodium diet (500 mg a day), and says older people may be more sensitive to sodium.
• Lower-sodium choices: leave the kitchen cold tap unsoftened (extra plumbing, quoted flat); add an under-sink reverse osmosis system, which removes sodium (CDC) — the Kitten; or use potassium chloride instead of salt, which Charger allows. Ask your doctor about potassium first if you have kidney or heart disease, diabetes or high blood pressure, or take medicines that affect potassium (Virginia Tech Extension).

$2,590 installed, flat, anywhere in Yavapai County. Arizona sales tax on the parts is already in that price (CreekWell’s invoice terms). What is not included is listed below.

Not bookable yet. This work costs more than $1,000, which puts it outside what CreekWell can take on until its Arizona contractor licenses are issued. The details here are accurate so you can plan and compare. Why not yet?

Included

• Installation on your existing softener loop
• Programming for your water and household
• Testing before Neil leaves
• Two bags of salt
• CreekWell’s two-year workmanship warranty

Not included

• New loop plumbing if your home has no softener loop, or code updates — quoted flat and approved by you first
• A drain if none is close enough — quoted first. A new outlet is electrical work, arranged separately
• Extra pipe if there is less than 10 feet of pipe between the system and the water heater (Charger’s manual) — quoted first
• Salt after the first two bags
• Lab water testing (optional; ordered from SimpleLab at its price)

Running costs

• Salt: about 3–4 bags a year for 2 people on Prescott city water, 8–10 on a 20-grain well (see What it uses).
• Water: about 96 gallons per regeneration on this tank, plus the slow salt-water rinse (see What it uses). Power: the valve draws 0.25 amps.
• Neil has not published prices for this package’s replacement parts yet; your written estimate lists today’s prices before you approve anything.

Paying

• A 50% deposit sets the install date; the rest is due when it is in and tested.
• The written estimate is good for 30 days. If you cancel after the three business days the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule gives when you sign at home, what happens to the deposit (for example, parts already ordered for you) is written on the estimate before you sign.
• Zelle, cash or check: no fee. A card fee, if you pay by card, is shown as its own line on the estimate (payment terms).

• Charger’s is a limited warranty to the original buyer. Charger repairs or replaces a defective part without charging for its own factory work; you pay the shipping to send the part back.
• The 10 years are written for “any residential Pentair mineral tank”. The tank brand is on your written estimate.
• Charger does not cover: freezing, water above 120°F or pressure above 120 psi; a vacuum on the water line; damage from improper installation or maintenance, or any change from the original design; or damage from any circumstance beyond Charger’s control.
• The tank years apply only where the tanks were first installed, and the warranty does not cover consequential damages (other losses a failed part causes, beyond the part itself).
• Charger does not pay for the labor to take the old part out and fit the new one. Who pays that, in the first two years and after, is written on your estimate.
• To claim: call Neil, the installer, or Charger directly.
• Read the full warranty before you buy — it is linked under Documents.

• Before: the free field check of hardness, chlorine and total dissolved solids (TDS) that comes with every estimate sizes the softener.
• On a well, a certified lab test first is worth it: it finds the problems a softener does not treat. SimpleLab’s Level 1 + Bacteria covers arsenic and bacteria ($185, at its price).
• After: tested before Neil leaves — included.

• Installs on your existing softener loop, the pair of pipes a builder leaves for a softener.
• The drain line is run to code with an air gap. Charger’s manual: pay special attention to codes for air gaps and anti-siphon devices.
• Charger recommends an overflow line on the salt tank where an overflow could damage the house.
• The bypass valve sends water around the softener, so the house keeps water while it is serviced.
• Charger’s manual: connect it to a supply line downstream of the outdoor spigots — past the point where the pipes to the outdoor taps branch off, so those taps are not fed softened water.
• The City of Prescott has adopted the 2024 International Plumbing Code; the county and other towns set their own.
• If a particular job turns out to need a permit, you are told before any work starts.

From the manufacturers

• Charger “WS1 MX Series” conditioning-system sheet
• Charger mid-plate softener spec sheet (the comparable plated tanks)
• Charger plated dual-media softener spec sheet (softener and filter media in one tank)
• Charger dual-media softener spec sheet without plates (KDF, carbon and resin in one tank)
• Charger limited warranty (the version linked from chargerwater.com)
• Charger softener installation manual and warranty
• Clack WS1 control valve specifications (Form 2572)
• Clack WS1 page (valve certifications)
• Charger Clack WS1 sell sheet (metered or timed regeneration; the meter’s salt saving)
• Charger homeowner’s quick-start guide for the Clack WS1 valve
• Charger softener sizing worksheet
• Charger ChargerPro softener spec sheet (capacities at two salt settings)
• Charger programming settings for softeners and Iron Breakers
• Resin maker’s sheet on Charger’s site (chlorine and resin life)

Independent guidance and listings

• NSF listings for Charger (drinking-water units)
• Penn State Extension: water softening (75 gallons a person a day; about 50 gallons a regeneration)
• University of Nebraska: water softening (sodium, water per regeneration)
• EPA drinking-water advisory for sodium
• Virginia Tech Extension: sodium and chloride in drinking water (softeners, potassium, RO membrane life)
• CDC: home water treatment systems
• Water Quality Association: softeners and septic systems
• University of Arizona Extension AZ1650: arsenic in well water
• Minnesota Department of Health: PFAS and home water treatment
• EPA WaterSense: showerhead flow limits
• EPA WaterSense: kitchen faucets (federal limit 2.2 gpm at 60 psi)
• City of Prescott code: 2024 International Plumbing Code adopted
• CDC: choosing a home water filter
• City of Prescott water quality report (hardness; disinfected with chlorine)

These are the manufacturers’ and agencies’ own documents. Links go to their sites and can change without notice.