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Top Best Reviews Of Water Softener
Have you ever wondered why your household plumbing and appliances are rusted so easily? Have you ever thought about finding a solution to this problem? If so, then you are on the right track. Most homes depend on hard water supply for their household chores and while hard water may be safe to use, it often lead to problems with cleaning and appliance use for all work.
Hard water contains excessive amount of minerals, such as radium, iron, etc. These components give it the quality that makes it strong and solid often reducing soap efficiency and causing the shower to get dirty easily. In our water softener reviews, we are going to introduce you to water softeners; these are meant to eliminate the mineral excess in hard water so that you can enjoy cleaner and high quality water in your home.
What is a Water Softener?
Water softeners work with brine tanks and ion exchange to produce the softened water that is useful for every home. All water softening system comes with a brine tank and ion exchange unit that contains sodium ion. Hard water usually contains minerals, which are calcium and magnesium ions. The sodium ion, along with the other minerals from hard water, is positively charged in their basic forms.
However, the sodium ions in the brine tank of water softeners are kept in the brine tank to be exchanged for the magnesium and calcium. The magnesium and the calcium ion first passes through the ion exchange where they stick to negatively charged beads and are replaced by the sodium ion.
Instead of the calcium and magnesium ions, sodium ion concentrated water will pass through the brine tank into the house. The sodium ion is negatively charged while in the ion exchange unit so that it gives the water its softening quality when it gets into the house.
Water Softener Features
Digital Display
Before buying a new one, one of the important features you need to look for is a backlit LCD display. With such display, you can view the minute information and enjoy a more flexible fully programmable cycles unlike the older models that only have analog clock display for setting up only weekly regeneration cycles.
Flow Meter
The flow meter allows the equipment to measure recent water use and kicks it into regeneration when appropriate. Unlike antiquated water softeners that make use of regularly scheduled clock mechanism, modern water softening systems use mechanism that can detect your average water usage and maintain a variable reserve of soft water for your use. With this mechanism, the softener can help save salt and energy costs that you would otherwise have incurred in its absence.
Upflow or Downflow Brining
Upflow brining is still considered the best brining because it helps to push water at the base of the resin bed so that the water can flow through every media layer before the generated soft water gets to the tap. This is better than downflow brining because hard water only settles above the resin and naturally penetrates the upper layers of the resin bed, which would require frequent regeneration if the downflow brining is used. Therefore, you should look at softeners with upflow brining.
High Quality Resin
If you buy a softener with low quality resin, you know you are going to get low quality soft water because such resin will have low capacity for water softening. This often leads to more regular and frequent regenerations and water wastages.
Review Of The Best Water Softeners
#1. Fleck 5600SXT 48,000 Grain Water Softener Digital SXT Metered Whole House System
Description:
The Fleck has a high efficiency control valve for eliminating hard water qualities that reduces soap efficiency. The two components, magnesium and calcium that cause hard water are removed with the ion exchange process with this unit. The valve is backed by 5-year warranty while the tank is backed by 10-year warranty.
The SXT controller has backlit LCD display. It comes with a user-friendly interface, has touch pad controls and 48-hour internal power backup. Installation only requires basic plumbing skills. It should not take you more than 2 hours if you have never installed anything like this before. The resin on the system is solidly designed for long lasting usage.
THINGS WE LIKE ABOUT THE PRODUCT
- You can extend the lifespan of your plumbing and appliances. While many people are unaware of the damage hard water might cause to their household appliances, you will be minding that and saving the cost of repairs and replacement.
- It allows you to monitor how much water you use. The Fleck 5600SXT comes with a meter based regeneration that measures how much water you need and regenerates just the amount you will need. In the event that you need more water, it will automatically increase the quantity.
- The controller is built on the valve, which has been tried and tested to last long. According to the manufacturer, the lifespan of the valve is up to 27 years. This means that you wouldn’t have to think about replacement for a long time to come.
- Life will be much easier for you with a water softener if you come from an area with hard water. Most people do get to use their water supply even if it is hard, however, it could be much of a hassle for some people. The stress from using hard water could be worth thousands of dollars – since you are experiencing it every day.
- It provides excellent quality of water. One thing about water softeners is that they help you reduce costs of repairing and replacing plumbing appliances. Your kitchen and shower will stay cleaner longer because of the cleanliness and high quality of water generated by the water softener.
THINGS THAT NEED IMPROVEMENT
- The resin is a bit difficult to install. If you are installing this unit yourself and the resin is not already installed, you might find it difficult to install it, especially if this is your first time.
#2. On The Go OTG4-DBLSOFT-Portable 16,000 Grain RV Water Softener
Description
It is compact and small so that you can easily store it in your storage bay. It also requires very little storage space. You will see it has a large mouth for adding salt with ease. It also comes with an ergonomically designed handle for easy carriage. It can easily be connected to any inlet hose with the 360-degree swivel.
THINGS WE LIKE ABOUT THE PRODUCT
- It is a quality product backed by excellent customer service. One of the things I look at when checking out a new product is the customer service. If it’s not good, then no matter how good the product is, I will not buy it. As for this one, it combines both qualities and I would be glad to recommend it to others.
- It produces water with better tastes. Not only does the water taste better but is of higher quality than before. You can make use of lesser soap and detergent since a limited number of soap can clean better; and you can stop worrying about water spots on anything in your house.
- It helps your skin and hair to feel better. This is very important if your water supply is horrible – some water has up to 180ppm hardness which could make the skin and hair feel bad after showering.
THINGS THAT NEED IMPROVEMENT
- The plastic shut off valve on the unit seems to be cheaply made. Some customers have complained that the shut off valve breaks down too easily, which means extra cost for replacement.
#3. Watts RV PRO-1000 OR M7002 10000 Grains Portable Water Softener
Description:
It is compact and small so that you can easily store it in your storage bay. It also requires very little storage space. You will see it has a large mouth for adding salt with ease. It also comes with an ergonomically designed handle for easy carriage. It can easily be connected to any inlet hose with the 360-degree swivel.
THINGS WE LIKE ABOUT THE PRODUCT
- It can help you bring back your soapsuds back to life. While most water softeners can do this, this unit can do it more efficiently because it has the capacity to take down 700ppm water hardness to less than 30 ppm. As far as I am concerned, I can easily live with that.
- As far as the performance is concerned, this unit can get your hard water down to acceptable levels. This will enable you to get cleaner bathtubs, sinks, etc. However, you may have to understand some Installation is also very quick and straightforward.
THINGS THAT NEED IMPROVEMENT
- It requires regular regeneration unlike a large house-sized unit. You have to do a lot of work to make it work such as putting salt in the brine tank, changing settings on the controller, etc. Moreover, some customers also complaint that the Y valve broke in no time and could not get back the water softness they were previously getting.
Benefits of Water Softeners
Water Softener Makes Cleaning Easier
Not only do they allow you to reduce the amount you spend on soap and detergent, they allow your skin, cloth, hair, dishes to become fresher and cleaner. Because water-softening systems generate unadulterated and high quality water, it helps you rinse soap more thoroughly, which can cause streaks, white spots to stay on your clothes and dishes after cleaning them. In addition, you will find that your bathtubs, sinks, and even showers will become cleaner and easier to maintain with less soap residue.
Water Softeners Can Help You to Extend the Life Time of Your Appliances
Because hard water contains large deposits of minerals, these can build up in your appliances, thereby shortening the usable life of these appliances. Water softening systems can help you to extend the life of water heaters, dishwashers, washing machines, etc., and you will be able to save the cost that would otherwise have been used in replacement. This is also good for the society in general. If your appliances last longer, waste will be reduced and the environment will be cleaner.
Longer and Cleaner Plumbing Systems
Hard water can leave scaly substances in the inside of your plumbing fixtures and pipes. When these substances build up, they can clog pipes and other fixtures, thus shortening the lifespan of your overall plumbing system. When you use water softening systems, you will be able to prevent clogging and corrosions of your plumbing system. Not only will your plumbing system be cleaner, but it also will operate much more efficiently since water would flow easily through pipes and other fixtures.
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Limitations of Water Softeners
1. Soft Water May Not Be Desirable for Drinking or Cooking
Most minerals are soluble in water because water is a universal solvent. Generally, when water is softened, there is only an exchange of non-toxic mineral for another. For instance, water softeners typically exchange sodium ion with calcium and magnesium from hard water. When this occurs, the softened water may contain a high content of metals (which are already dissolved), which should not be present in significant amounts of drinking water.
2. Water Softening Systems May Increase Your Sodium Intake
These softeners typically produce water with high concentration of sodium or potassium and it has been discovered that potassium can restrict the free flow of water to the body’s cells. For example, ocean water contains these components in excessive amounts and drinking this in excess would have severe implications on the body’s hydration. Most manufacturers of water softeners don’t mention this to prospective customers.
3. It Might Increase the Cost of Wastewater Treatment Agencies
The discharge of salt brines from these systems into the wastewater collection system may have negative impact on recycled water and water effluents. This is because the discharged water has high salinity, which could increase treatment costs and reduce potential reuse of wastewater for industrial and irrigation purposes.
Conclusion
Now that you are familiar with water softener reviews, the next step is to choose the right water softening system for your needs. One caveat though, you consider the strengths and weaknesses of each system so that you will be able to know which one is the best. You can also look at the quality of each one, the price and the previous performance of each model. Doing all these will allow you to choose the right system.
Some Awesome One :
I’m thinking of buying Watts RV PRO-1000.. is it worth it?
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Excellent article. I was a bit confused in buying new water softener for my home. But this article is beneficial as it gives detailed information about product, what to consider before buying any water softener along with pro and cons