There are of course a lot of different water softening systems on the market and reading basic water softener reviews does not always provide homeowners with enough information about the various differences between these models to make a really good, informed choice.

To help you with these water softener comparisons we have this table which compares, side by side, the properties of a number of different popular models, including their water softener ratings and information about their overall capacity as well as some of the maintenance costs attached to each one of them.

We are not responsible for the creation of this table but are sharing it in the hope that it will help you make the right choice when it comes to choosing the water softener model that is just right for your unique home and needs.

How Salt is Used in a Water Softener

Salt is the key to the efficient operation of any water softener. Added to the brine tank it provides the ion needed to replace the mineral ions that are being removed. A great many people think that only the sodium iron from sodium chloride (the salt you also use on your food) will get the job done but that is not the case.

You can also choose to use another substance – potassium chloride – in your water softener as well. Potassium chloride is a salt as well, the kind that is used to melt ice quickly in icy weather. But the question is are there any advantages to using potassium chloride over the more familiar sodium chloride?

Water Softener Myths

Before comparing the two salts there is a myth about salt and water softeners that should be addressed. One of the most persistent is that sodium chloride will damage your plumbing system. That however is not really the case, it has little to no effect at all. if an older hot water heater was very badly scaled by hard water the sodium may cause an occasional black residue but it is harmless.

Potassium Chloride Vs Sodium Chloride

There are pros and cons associated with the use of either substance and when making a choice it heps to understand what they are:

Potassium Chloride Pros:

1. It is the more eco friendly choice as the potassium is a nutrient for plants, so water that contains it is great for watering the garden.
2. It provides a better lather than water treated with sodium chloride, both with soaps and liquid detergents. That means even cleaner clothes and stain free dishes.
3. There are studies that show people of all ages do not get enough potassium in their diets. Drinking this water can theoretically help address that issue.

Potassium  Chloride Cons

1. It is more expensive than sodium chloride
2. It can mean you have to do more work maintaining your brine tank.

Sodium Chloride Pros

1. Sodium chloride is less expensive and more readily available than potassium chloride.
2. A brine tank that contains sodium chloride tend to stay cleaner than one with potassium chloride.
3. Some minor skin conditions can be relieved thanks to the extra sodium in the sufferers bath or shower water.

Sodium Chloride Cons

1. Those with a serious health condition that requires a low sodium diet may not be able to drink the water.
2. Water softened with sodium chloride will do a better job when it comes to washing and laundry than hard water but not quite as good a job as potassium chloride will.

In the end which salt you choose is really a matter of preference and budget. It just may be nice to know that you do have options!

Hard water is caused by minerals that dissolve into it – especially calcium and magnesium. There are “levels” of hard water though and three ways to measure it: grains per gallon, milligrams per liter (mg/L), or parts per million (ppm). The following table is a basic guideline:

The EPA establishes standards for drinking water but there are no such standards in place for hard water levels, as this can be hard to remedy at the source. When you purchase something like a new dishwasher or washing machine these days there will often be a water hardness recommendation attached to it – you may have to adjust the settings for the level of hardness of your water so therefore it is important to know what that is in your home’s case.

What is Hard Water?

All water that falls as rain begins “life” as soft water. Along the way though, as it trickles through the ground it picks up all kinds of minerals that dissolve into it. Calcium and magnesium are the most common but limestone, chalk, copper and a number of other substances can be present as well.

Water treatment plants do not remove these deposits. They cannot, as the minerals have already dissolved into it and extracting them at the plant would be difficult and expensive. Therefore most of the water that flows from the plant into a home is considered hard.

What is Soft Water?

Soft water contains only sodium ions. This rarely occurs naturally as more than 85% of US households have hard water and the same figures tend to hold true all over the world. Soft water is actually created by being treated by a water softener, usually one located in the individual home itself.

Hard Water Vs Soft Water

Although you cannot see any difference between hard and soft water as it flows from the tap there are major differences between the two that can impact the quality of your everyday life at home:

Getting Softer Water

As you can now see there are not too many advantages to be gained from having hard water in your home. A home with hard water rarely produces sparkly clean dishes or bright white clothes because the detergents simply do not work as well. A home with hard water’s appliances usually have a shorter life expectancy however expensive they are and a homeowners with hard water may never quite get all the benefits they expected from their expensive shampoo.

Softening your water does come at a price. You do have to purchase – and then maintain – a water softener or water softening system. Before you dismiss this out of hand as an unnecessary expense you may want to look at the long term first.

Softer water should mean that you use fewer detergents and cleaning products trying to get things clean. Expensive appliances like clothes washers, dishwashers and coffee makers should last longer and work more efficiently, using less energy. all of these thing will save you money and keep saving you money, an which is often going to be more than the cost of the water softener itself.

(Photo courtesy of GE Appliances)

That same filmy residue also affects household appliances like dishwashers and coffee makers and it is the cause of that annoying ring around the bath tub. Hard water even causes your favorite shampoos and soaps not to work the way they should and even after a long shower many people who are living with hard water in their homes still feel sticky and “not quite clean” . Purchasing and installing a water softener can solve your hard water problem and with it all of the difficulties described above.

Once you have chosen the right water softener system for your home and made your purchase you will probably be given the option to have the unit professionally installed or to choose to do it yourself. If you are a fairly handy type of person – the kind that likes to do their own DIY work – installing a water softener is usually not as hard as you might think, and doing it yourself will of course usually save you money!

Here are the basic steps involved in installing the average water softener:

• Choose Your Location- Chances are that you chose where you were going to install your new water softener before you purchased it because location is important. For a water softener to function best you will need to find a place that is dry and not prone to very cold temperatures. The system will need to be installed near the main water line into the house, to a drain and it will also need to be near an electrical outlet.
• Shut Off the Water – Before you begin the installation of your water softener you will need to shut off the water supply at the mains. After you have done this drain any remaining water from the lines by turning on the taps located at the highest and lowest points of the house until they run dry.
•  Shut off Valves and Power – The next step you will need to follow is to shut of both the valve and the power to the water heater. If your water heater is gas powered usually setting it to “pilot” will do that.
•  Get Ready to Connect the New Water Lines – Using a pair of pipe wrenches loosen the union on the existing water pipe so that you can tap the new water lines into it. Using the same pipe wrenches you can then connect the new water lines.
•  Install the Remote Bypass System – The next step in installing a water softener is to install the remote bypass system. This is the system of piping that will divert the water from the mains into the water softener to be treated. It usually consists of a fairly short pipe that connects the feed line pipe and service line so that the water will flow just the way you need it to. The whole thing is usually held together by adding two male adapters.
• Connect Everything Together – This can sometimes be the trickiest part of water softener installation because it calls for soldering, something that not everyone is comfortable doing. If you are confident though soldering all the pipes together should only take a few minutes.
•  Removing the Barbed Fittings – Before you can install the drain line you will need for the water softener to function you will need to carefully remove the barbed fittings located behind the controls of the water tank. Once you have done this you will need to apply contractors tape to the threads and then reattach the fittings. You can then attach the drain tube to it and secure the drain using standard cable ties.
•  Continue Your Drain Line – Next you will need to continue your drain line until it is near the drain. You should however leave a gap of about 4 inches between the end of the line and the drain itself to prevent backflow.
•  Set Up The Brine Tank – Setting up the brine tank is your next step. After removing the lid from it you will need to push a length of tubing through the hole located on the side of the tank. After adding a compression filter run the tubing from the brine tank to resin tank intake, locate on the side of the control valve. Then you can replace the brine tank lid. You will then need to install another drain tube, this time from the side of the brine tank and run it to the drain.
•  Testing Testing – After shutting off the bypass open the valve going into the water softener and make sure that there are no leaks. If there are not you can then open up the service valve ready for the water to flow through. Lug the system in and turn the water back on at the mains.

Last but not least you should add the recommended amount of salt to the brine tank and let your new water softener start to do its work!

These are very basic directions, each water softener comes with its own that need to be followed. This should however give you an idea of how hard the basic installation of a water softener is so that you can decide whether to install it yourself or leave the job to a professional.

What Makes Water Hard?

Hard water is caused by aquifers and other underground sources that collect various dissolved minerals from rock. Calcium, magnesium carbonate and manganese are particularly common and these are the minerals that are mainly responsible for giving a home’s water supply its “hard qualities”.

There are those that do choose to have their water tested for hardness before they invest in a remedy for the problem like a water softener but in actual fact it is not that difficult to tell whether or not hard water is a problem in your home.

What Problems Does Hard Water Cause?

Hard water can be a real nuisance and can cause all kinds of problems around your home and even affect your health. Here are just some of the things that can happen in a home that has an untreated hard water problem:

• Damage to Your Plumbing System – One of the things that hard water can really adversely affect is your homes plumbing system. As they are heated the mineral deposits in hard water reform into a scale which, over time will clog pipes and reduce the function of the whole system. The difficulty is that many people fail to realize that this is a problem in their home until their heating system breaks down ,calling for expensive repairs.

• Damage to Household Appliances – Hard water not treated by a water softener of some kind will also cause nasty scaly deposits on your other household appliances. Coffee makers, kettles, even dishwashers are prone to this scale build up and eventually it ruins them. Again this is not a problem that some people realize right away exists. However one accidental glimpse of the messy build up in a kettle is unappetizing enough to send them seeking out water softener reviews in an attempt to see what can be done to remedy the hard water situation.

• Cleaning Your Home (and Your Body) is Much Harder – Hard water is also difficult to use in general. The calcium and magnesium react with most household detergents making them ineffective by limiting their lathering capabilities while leaving a hard to shift film behind. The same holds true for most soaps and shampoos. Even the most expensive of these products is less effective when used with hard water.

• The effects of hard water not treated by a water softener on your home are visible though. The dishes that never quite come clean, the ring around the bathtub, the gray, stiff laundry are all caused by hard water and the deposits it leaves behind.

• Damage to Your Skin – Hard water is not really a major health hazard but there is one health problem associated with hard water and that is for those who already have sensitive skin it can make skin red, dry and flaky. And for those who have a skin condition like psoriasis bathing, washing or showering in hard water can make the problem much worse.

Water Softening Systems – The Permanent Solution to Hard Water Problems

The only real solution to a household hard water problem is to have a water softener installed. When homeowners first begin reading about water softeners the explanations about how they work can seem quite technical but it is really not all that complicated.

A standard whole house water softener uses ion exchange – also called cation exchange – to soften hard water. It substitutes sodium chloride (aka salt) for the troublesome calcium, magnesium, iron and other minerals found in hard water.

How Water Softeners Work

Although there are several different types of water softener systems with different water softener ratings and capacities all of them operate in the same basic way. The average whole house water softener consists of:

• A resin tank,
• A brine tank
• A control mechanism to make the whole thing work.

Usually the home’s water supply pipe is connected to the water softener’s resin tank. The unconditioned, hard water flows into it and is passed over “resin beds” rows of small plastic like beads that are made from styrene and divinylbenzene.

These beads have a negative charge which attracts all the positively charged mineral deposits, pulling them out of the hard water. At the same time the beads emit sodium ions. The hard water minerals are left trapped on the resin beds and the newly soft water then flows out of the water softener and back into the home through the standard water pipes.

Because the minerals that are removed from the hard water build up on the resin beds all water softeners have a system for periodically cleaning its resin beds to ensure maximum efficiency and water softening. This is where the brine tank comes into play.

The brine tank helps clean and regenerate the resin beds by facilitating a backwashing cycle. During what is called the “brine draw” salty water is pumped into the resin tank. As it flows over all the resin beads it replaces the hard water minerals with sodium ions, making the resin beds effective again, once the excess sodium has been washed away at the end of the process.

The brine tank does need to have actual salt added to it in order for it to function. The average water softener needs about 3 pounds of salt per gallon of water processed to function properly so a part of the regular maintenance of a water softener is replenishing the salt supply.

Which particular model of water softener will work best in your home will depend on a number of different factors. These include:

• Where you live. Urban water usually being harder to treat than that supplied to rural homes, many of which use well water rather than a municipal supply.
• The actual size of your home and
• The number of water dependent functions and appliances it contains

Once they have a water softener installed in their home most people notice the difference almost right away. They have cleaner dishes , their white laundry actually comes out looking white and their shampoo actually lathers the way it does in the commercials! For most homeowners who install a water softener how they ever put up with hard water in the first place is usually the only question they have left!