Wow I have been all over you tube and this is the only one just educating me on the different options. Seems like all the others are trying to sell me on a specific brand. This is by far the best water cond/soft I have seen so far.
Very helpful. I live in Arizona where the water is very hard. I have a tankless water heater in my condo and just had a Pelican Water conditioner installed. I also had an RO filter installed in the kitchen and to the ice maker. WOW! My dishes aren't spotted, my shower is clear and my ice cubes are like diamonds!
@@dgensher water softener dont filter water remember that.. they just remove minerals ...chlorine metals etc all still run through your house softened don't protect YOU
Great video. My mom was sold a "chemical-free water softener" which was clearly due to her desire to be more 'natural' and 'green'. She was told it would work exactly the same as any water softener. Needless to say, it doesn't do what she wanted it to.
Thank you very much for specific information. For few days I was confused with lot of products in market. Their saleman saying conditioner as softner and lying to people. This particular video cleared my doubts. Awsome
Sir, I “enjoyed” learning about the differences between the two major process types. It will give me another bit of information to store for future reference. It is nice to find a sales person that takes the time to explain the true areas of application for the product that they represent. Thank you.
Just moved from the west to the east coast I've been using a softener for over 30 years. I didn't know the difference between two types of systems until watching this video. Now I can make my decision with confidence on which I will add to my new house. You did such a a good job with this video that I am confident, that if I felt like coming out of retirement I could help you sell either unit😅
used a Pelican salt-free system for 20 years. i'm on a private well, and I still have the original 36 year old hot water heater too. salt-based systems destroy concrete septic tanks (unless you have a dry well to empty them in). (i had 2 salt-based systems for 16 years, and will never go back to one)
I already have a conditioner that was "advertised" as "reducing" the hardness of the water. This is a very helpful video and it helped me get a correct assessment of choices available in the market.
It is fairly easy to descale a tankless water heater. Add service valves and get a descaler kit. Valves are around $80, kit around $150. Lots of videos on doing it yourself once a year.
As someone who has had a water softener for over 20 years as a solution to chronic excema I want to clear up a myth that everyone seems to misunderstand. The water in your system does NOT become salt water. The salt solution is used to clean the resin beads which collect the limescale when it regenerates. It is kept separate from your water and heating system and is flushed down the drain. If you can taste salt from your tap then your resin tank has a leak, which should not happen. You will not end up with salt water rusting your radiators and pipes.
Just to clarify this statement. yes you flush the system with brine. this exchanges the salt ion with the calcium ion in the resin. the system is flushed and you should not taste salt however a trace amount of salt will be in the softened water as the calcium in the water replaces the salt ion and releases it into your softened water. however it is in the ppm type of concentration. So saying there is no salt is not 100% accurate.
@@kylesellers5719 unless you have a reverse osmosis system, their will be trace amounts of salt just from the aquifers, the same place the calcium and lime comes from. It's just naturally found in the ground.
@@kylesellers5719 If your media is not completely cleaned during the backwash, you will taste a hint of salt in your water. Also, you will have a pinkish stain around your drain in the shower. But this is not normal. Get your system adjusted and these symptoms should go away.
@bert1450 yes, a pain to get it tuned, but once tuned it's as you say. Add salt when it's low and that's it. I've had mine for 25 years. It needed adjustment a few times, but not yearly or monthly.
Have been very happy with our Pentair branded water conditioner. We have city water and a tankless water heater. Installed when the house was new. Zero buildup in the heater, or aerators. Have been very happy. Zero salt, power or wasted water. Some may need the minerals actually removed with a salt based system but this is working great paired with an active carbon filter (coconut media) and 5 micron string filter.
Really informative, thank you. I have a ion exchange softener and was thinking of changing to a "salt free" conditioner, but your information here saved me from making a mistake. Thank you!
Thanks for this. I'm on a private well with very hard water. My water softener did the trick for 14 years, and while it still functions through the cycles, the media is no longer doing its part. I was close to buying a scale inhibitor. I didn't know the effect that iron and manganese have on the media. Thanks for saving me from a wasteful mistake. I know the fix is to replace the media, but I am also curious about the Electronic Descalers. They are pricey, yet 95% of reviews are claiming they work.
I’ve got a well in limestone . The water is hard and leaves blotches all over. I got one of those ispring 2000 on a lark. It was all of $120. Besides just mount snd plug in after wrapping each Eire both directions. So simple . I didn’t expect much but have been running it 2 months now and I have to say I’m impressed. No it’s not perfect but the difference is definitely noticeable. There’s a slight slipperiness to the water as well as much less build up on the shower doors and washed cars. Perfect no but for the money 👍🏻.
This is the most thoroughly informative explanation of water conditioners i have found. We installed a NaturalSof system about 15 years ago, and though I'm pleased with it, I wish I had seen this video before we made our decision. Thank you.
I bought my house last year in a tiny middle of nowhere "town" of 970 people. When I did the walk through in the buying process I was surprised it didn't have a water softener... well it does but it's a "saltless" softener. The house is on the "town" water supply. After 1 year of being here I'm having the POS saltless unit replaced with a salt water softener that ACTUALLY softens the water. I've had to clean my shower heads from scale buildup twice and my kitchen faucet once in the 1 year I've been here. I rarely use my dishwasher because it leaves white crap all over the dishes. I had a plumbing inspection done from the company I deal with for plumbing and hvac needs. I already knew I had hard as hell water because I bought test strips. Without saying a word to the inspector he noticed within 5 minutes by just looking at my fixtures I had hard water and decided to do a test. My water is 4x harder than what's deemed acceptable. Which explains why I had to replace my washer a couple months ago. He said I should get a traditional softener installed because I have a tank less water heater and hard water will fucking destroy it and tank less units aren't cheap to replace and they're supposed to last like 20 years. The house was built in 2016..... and in the time between having my offer accepted and closing the original tankless water heater started leaking and fried the circuit board. So literally the day I moved in the water heater was being replaced. My current unit is 1 year old. So obviously I agreed with the plumber (really... had my doubts about the effectiveness of a saltless unit confirmed) to have a real water softener installed. So... long story short.... if you want calcium/ sediment buildup on EVERY fixture and water marks all over your shower.... and enjoy replacing all your appliances that b use water every 5 years..... then go ahead and get yourself a saltless unit. If you like clean clothes, a clean body, and want your appliances to actually last a reasonable amount of time.... go with a salt water softener. My plumber (a fairly large company that covers the state) says he thinks saltless units are kind of a gimmick. Take that for what it's worth. But from my personal experience I can't help but agree. For those that think salt units add salt to your water.... no. Just..... no. The salt used to clean the resin beads will leave behind sodium.... but it's such a finite amount. You won't taste salty water. Milk contains more sodium. Does milk taste salty to you? At the end of the day... even if it did make salty water.... I'd rather drink that and have appliances that last a decade+ instead of having to replace them every few years.... oh.... and not have to take apart every faucet to clean out the insane amount of scale buildup a saltless unit will not prevent because it doesn't remove calcium or magnesium not softening shit. Saltless units a 100% a gimmick IMO. I'll take buying the $5 bag of salt once every 2-3 months vs..... replacing my tankless water heater every 5 years... or washer every 6 years.... or dishwasher... or fridge.... and clean every faucet from scale buildup every few months.
@doseofreality100 I use Bubble Bandit dishwasher detergent along with rinse aid (JetDry) and that combo works very well for the super hard water here in Arizona. BB still has phosphates in it which are important for softening hard water in situ and suspending debris from the dishes. I use their laundry detergent too! It's nothing short of miraculous, I swear. I can't have a softener cuz renting, but at least this solution works well enough to regain use of my dishwasher. I still get scale buildup of course, but it's extremely reduced and I clean the machine every 4-6 weeks by running a short 1hr cycle containing a gallon of cheap vinegar from Costco. Comes out spotless. The heating element starts off white and chalky since it gets the brunt of the scale buildup, but it is squeaky clean after the cleaning. I will never use a modern residential phosphate-free dishwasher detergent ever again.
Hi. What about drinking this kind of water? This is my current hesitation. If this method makes bigger pieces of minerals ( bigger "salt" pieces ) then , when you drink this water , theese pieces may be withhold by your kidneys and this may cause kidney stone. Have you got any clue about this?
I’ll add this as water heater pretreatment after I finish replacing all the old galvanized pipe with Pex-A. The existing scale is probably helping to hold our rusty pipes together.
Thank you for the clear explanation. I was hoping for a scale inhibitor, but with the Fe & Mn in our well water will definitly preclude us from that option.
You can use Katalox Light in a backwashing filter tank to treat iron and manganese very effectively as a pretreatment to this scale inhibitor system or ion exchange softener. The Katalox Light is good up to about 5 yrs max and requires no salt or other chemical regenerant to operate.
@@deadmanswife3625 Sorry for the late reply. I work with these systems in our business. You always want to get a water test from a lab to determine what course of treatment is best suited for your needs. The system I'm describing is fully automatic but like many things, dies require some on going maintenance that is pretty fast & easy. The media change out is every 3 to 5 years and takes time for a newbie DIY but there are tons of videos demonstrating step-by-step instructions on how to do it.
Great over view - So ideally you are looking at a pre filter - A carbon filter - The salt medium to soften and the reverse osmosis for the kitchen and fridge?
Thank you for explaining the differences so well, but I do got a question. It is stated that the scale inhibitor system does not work with well water because of the iron- manganese problem. However, what if you place an iron- and manganese filter before the water enters the scale inhibitors filter? It is quite normal with two or more filters installed in order to achieve the optimal result. Why is this variable taken out?
Thank you for a seemingly unbiased review of pros and cons of each system. There are many videos and websites that discuss this, and most seem very biased and sales-y. I do have a question -- I am on well water in CO outside of Denver. I had a water test done and I have hard water -- the test results were 50 mg/L of Calcium and 20 mg/L of Magnesium. Is this a candidate for a salt-free conditioner, or am I going to be best off with a salt based system? I like the idea of being more environmentally friendly and also lower maintenance, but if a salt based system is the correct solution, then that is what I would go with.
You did a great job explaining fairly the differences. My advice would be when talking to your local dealer if they call the salt free systems water softeners then run the other direction.
interesting - in San Diego county, with pretty hard water - I am getting a lot of scale build-up on a Eccotemp 4 gallon electric mini-tank water heater. This supplements my central hot water to my condo, I use it when needed, turn it off when I don't. I was considering adding a clearwave electronic water conditioner, or a scale inhibitor filter - one caveat is that I have the central hot water going into the cold side of the Eccotemp, and of course hotter water coming out of the hot side when I use the Eccotemp - so the filter (if I use one) has to be able to handle regular hot water temps on the inlet side. Thoughts?
What if the water is iron-free but the pipes coming to the house are old rusty iron pipes? Will that clog-up the salt-free water conditioner too? Or is it a difference if the iron is breaking of a pipe or solved naturally in the water?
You are a great teacher John! Í love your way of explaining. Question: Can a Scale Inhibitor/ conditioner be used along with a Reverse Osmosis membrane or must it be a true softener (municipal Water supply) ??
I'm not a plumber, more an engineer, but I'm sure plumbers will agree. Reverse osmosis removes all chemical compounds from the water (well like 99.99% but close enough), it does this with a series of different membrane filters, and activated charcoal to capture those compounds. A scale inhibitor does not remove any compounds, it only conditions them, so all the compound removal will be done by the reverse osmosis filter, greatly reducing its life, and effectiveness in flow rate over time. A water softener will remove the larger compounds from the water, which will improve the life of the reverse osmosis filter, and maintain its effective flow rate.
i never recommend the salt free conditioners . IF they ever get one that you can check the water and tell when the media needs replaced accurately I may . Also, everyone i have seen says it prevents scale "inside the plumbing" and from what i have seen it still can and will sometimes scale shower stalls and fixtures. However its not as bad as it would be with out it. All my customers hated theirs because they still had hard water. EVEN when i warned them lol but hey there are so many who push them to be as good as a softener. You did a great job showing the difference and what people need for their water.
Thank you for this great video. Do you do any work in Phoenix Arizona? I love the feel of soft water and what I would love to have is a soft water system and the D scale filter along with carbon. I have one problem I don’t have a soft water loop and I’ve got a driveway between my hose bib in the front of the house in my garage. If you do any work in Phoenix, please let me know I would love to get a quote.
Very informative. Can this treated water be used to water the garden without killing the foliage? Salt tanks usage in a garden eventually kills the plants.
I'm a master plumber who's well water has 9 grains hardness . Many years ago I disconnected my water softener for health/taste/feel reasons and installed an electronic scale inhibitor and it worked so well I'm on my 2nd one. I also have a sediment filter, a lime filter, and a carbon filter. My water tests now come out much better and I have no scale build-up. All copper plumbing and heat pump water heater. Is it perfect? No, but I got away from the softener which was my purpose, so it worked for me. If I've learned anything in 40+ yrs in this trade is every situation is different.
Thanks for the product knowledge. We are on private well water. Our water does not test high in iron or manganese content in our well. Would the salt-free conditioner work with my well in general if that is the case?
1. Will a salt-free water conditioner continue to make my skin feel dry due to leaving the minerals in the water? 2. Will a water softener also strip away existing scale build-up like a salt-free water conditioner does? I'm positive my 28-year-old house has scale build-up in all of the pipes. What's the best solution to having soft water but also cleaning the scale build-up from the pipes?
Enjoyed the video. Learned a lot. Looking at a house that has hard well water with PPM at 521. The water is visibly clouded with iron. Hate the water softeners because of the sodium. Can I not use a a salt free water softener?
Are water conditioners good for pre-treating water for reverse osmosis, or are water softeners better? We have very hard water but no other chemicals including chlorine. Thanks.
Can i use a water softener with a Scale inhibitor? I have been through 2 water softeners and neither made a difference to the yucky scale buildup that builds up on my faucets and showerheads
Geat explanation. THX a lot!!, One uncertainty is bothering me thow. You said that this scale inhibitor is not recomended for well water because of iron and manganese present. What if i use filter (eg. Oxyline plus) that will remove this particles? Would this be effective then?
hi John,fresh water systems could make it a lot easier for people to know what they are ordering off their website if they put the size filter that the big blue canisters take like (20x4.5 filter)rather than only saying 20 inch large capacity and a model number that means nothing unless you start doing web searches
Great video and explanation. One question not answered is often softened water is plumbed to NOT run to ice makers and the kitchen. How is this decision made between conditioned (descaled) vs softened water?
Regular soft water has trace levels of salt. Since salt is not healthy the kitchen will have regular water ran to it or a reverse osmosis system installed to remove any residual salt and other impurities
I have had a salf-free water conditioner for less than a year on a NEW build and I have already have had to "pumice stone" the toilets and have hard scale on my fixtures. I'm not sure what to do. We have city water.
I do appreciate the information and we're probably not going to go through with the Aqua Sana system. However, if the UV light is an added product that is not useful, how come you are selling one on your site?
Excellent explanation and unbiased. I have been looking and looking for a comparison review of whole house water conditioning systems. What are differences in technologies or "proprietary blends" of media that some of the companies claim. Pelican, RainSoft, LifeSource, RayneWater, Kinetico ... the list is endless. Donating to Consumer Reports today and hope they conduct a review.
May I recommend you give Alkaviva Corp. based in Reno NV. a call or research their website at www.alkaviva.com/greg. There primary product are Ionizers but they also sale salt free conditioners with whole house filtration units. The product description and specifications are clearly stated for your review. While I am a dealer for them and I am based in El Paso TX.
Thanks for the nice explanation. Both systems avoid scale buildup which is very important. The information which I'm not able to get from any of such review videos is about the health pros/cons of both the systems. I'm holding onto buying either of the systems because I'm still looking for the answers to the following questions. Could you please help? 1. Does Softener adds very little amount of salt to the home water? Is this good for health? 2. Conditioner keeps all the minerals within the home water. Is this good for health? 2. I read in manuals that Softener are not good for the in-house water Filtration systems and water Heaters(which u explain here though). Is this true? or which one is better for the specified appliances?
1) How much salt would depend on the amount of hardness in the water that was exchanged. Salt is an essential nutrient but, like all nutrients, too much is as deadly as not enough. Guessing that soft water is maybe 30 to 300 mg/l. Putting that into perspective, USDA claimed 500 mg is the daily need (of a sedentary, 150 lb. male being their usual reference). restaurant soup is up to 10000 mg/l, sea water about 35,000 mg/l.
My issue with my water softener is I'm on a shallow well with a slow refill rate / iron issue & the softener when it's on refresh clean cycle it runs to long and drains my well . It's a Morton M45 , can I fix this .
Well water owners. You CAN install a scale inhibitor or a water conditioner on a private well water system. Not all well water systems have iron or sulfur. If you do, you would just need to get an iron filter to go along with your scale inhibitor. Iron filters are the best way to eliminate iron anyways plus they also eliminate sulfur which a salt softener does not.
On the same boat. We have a calcium and magnesium problem, no iron detected. One of these systems would fit the bill precisely. Plus I don't have to maintain it.
Kythera hello, but the water companies., stopped using chlorine, for another product NOT TELLING THE PUBLIC, I lost my marine aquarium over this product, chlorine left in my plastic 5gal jugs left the water in several days, not this new stuff, it’s WHY ITS BEING USED, it could stay over a week, I forgot the name, but I think it’s clororoquine, or such, so people having shower chlorine removers, for your hair, bye bye , no longer works. Cheers From NJ🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Finally, a guy that really knows what he is talking about, and I've been in water treatment industry 30 years. Great Video!!
I was about to order a salt-less system for 3500 bucks. I am on a well with lots of iron. Thank you very much so glad I did more research.
The only informative video about saltfree softners on youtube! Thunbs up!
Wow I have been all over you tube and this is the only one just educating me on the different options. Seems like all the others are trying to sell me on a specific brand. This is by far the best water cond/soft I have seen so far.
Agreed
100% shoudl be the top result.
Very helpful. I live in Arizona where the water is very hard. I have a tankless water heater in my condo and just had a Pelican Water conditioner installed. I also had an RO filter installed in the kitchen and to the ice maker. WOW! My dishes aren't spotted, my shower is clear and my ice cubes are like diamonds!
Hello Kathryn, I live in Glendale AZ, looking to buy water softener,I m relatively new to all this, but I have water spots in the kitchen, showers.
Was that a carbon series and natursoft.
Drink ph water not acidic ro water ...
@@dgensher water softener dont filter water remember that.. they just remove minerals ...chlorine metals etc all still run through your house softened don't protect YOU
@@rickybecklund2488 Or get RO and just add a pinch of baking soda to your drinking water to tone down the acidity.
The best, clearest explanation of non-salt water conditioning systems that I've heard. Thanks!
I am a master plumber thank you for your help with this process education.
Great video. My mom was sold a "chemical-free water softener" which was clearly due to her desire to be more 'natural' and 'green'. She was told it would work exactly the same as any water softener. Needless to say, it doesn't do what she wanted it to.
Thank you very much for specific information. For few days I was confused with lot of products in market. Their saleman saying conditioner as softner and lying to people. This particular video cleared my doubts. Awsome
Sir, I “enjoyed” learning about the differences between the two major process types. It will give me another bit of information to store for future reference. It is nice to find a sales person that takes the time to explain the true areas of application for the product that they represent. Thank you.
Just moved from the west to the east coast I've been using a softener for over 30 years. I didn't know the difference between two types of systems until watching this video. Now I can make my decision with confidence on which I will add to my new house. You did such a a good job with this video that I am confident, that if I felt like coming out of retirement I could help you sell either unit😅
used a Pelican salt-free system for 20 years. i'm on a private well, and I still have the original 36 year old hot water heater too. salt-based systems destroy concrete septic tanks (unless you have a dry well to empty them in). (i had 2 salt-based systems for 16 years, and will never go back to one)
I already have a conditioner that was "advertised" as "reducing" the hardness of the water. This is a very helpful video and it helped me get a correct assessment of choices available in the market.
what about this. Rapidsoft (softnor) by Watchwater. Please give your opinion
You should have your water tested before making a decision as the size of your unit is determined by this
It is fairly easy to descale a tankless water heater. Add service valves and get a descaler kit. Valves are around $80, kit around $150. Lots of videos on doing it yourself once a year.
Just saved me 700 bucks with this vid. Thank you sir
As someone who has had a water softener for over 20 years as a solution to chronic excema I want to clear up a myth that everyone seems to misunderstand. The water in your system does NOT become salt water. The salt solution is used to clean the resin beads which collect the limescale when it regenerates. It is kept separate from your water and heating system and is flushed down the drain. If you can taste salt from your tap then your resin tank has a leak, which should not happen. You will not end up with salt water rusting your radiators and pipes.
Just to clarify this statement. yes you flush the system with brine. this exchanges the salt ion with the calcium ion in the resin. the system is flushed and you should not taste salt however a trace amount of salt will be in the softened water as the calcium in the water replaces the salt ion and releases it into your softened water. however it is in the ppm type of concentration. So saying there is no salt is not 100% accurate.
@@kylesellers5719 unless you have a reverse osmosis system, their will be trace amounts of salt just from the aquifers, the same place the calcium and lime comes from. It's just naturally found in the ground.
Thank you sir. Very informative.
@@kylesellers5719 If your media is not completely cleaned during the backwash, you will taste a hint of salt in your water. Also, you will have a pinkish stain around your drain in the shower. But this is not normal. Get your system adjusted and these symptoms should go away.
@bert1450 yes, a pain to get it tuned, but once tuned it's as you say. Add salt when it's low and that's it. I've had mine for 25 years. It needed adjustment a few times, but not yearly or monthly.
Have been very happy with our Pentair branded water conditioner. We have city water and a tankless water heater. Installed when the house was new. Zero buildup in the heater, or aerators. Have been very happy. Zero salt, power or wasted water. Some may need the minerals actually removed with a salt based system but this is working great paired with an active carbon filter (coconut media) and 5 micron string filter.
Really informative, thank you. I have a ion exchange softener and was thinking of changing to a "salt free" conditioner, but your information here saved me from making a mistake. Thank you!
Thanks for this. I'm on a private well with very hard water. My water softener did the trick for 14 years, and while it still functions through the cycles, the media is no longer doing its part. I was close to buying a scale inhibitor. I didn't know the effect that iron and manganese have on the media. Thanks for saving me from a wasteful mistake. I know the fix is to replace the media, but I am also curious about the Electronic Descalers. They are pricey, yet 95% of reviews are claiming they work.
Electronic scale inhibitors and Permanent magnet conditioners are good options . No media no maintenance. I have tried both successfully
I’ve got a well in limestone . The water is hard and leaves blotches all over. I got one of those ispring 2000 on a lark. It was all of $120. Besides just mount snd plug in after wrapping each Eire both directions. So simple . I didn’t expect much but have been running it 2 months now and I have to say I’m impressed. No it’s not perfect but the difference is definitely noticeable. There’s a slight slipperiness to the water as well as much less build up on the shower doors and washed cars. Perfect no but for the money 👍🏻.
This is the most thoroughly informative explanation of water conditioners i have found. We installed a NaturalSof system about 15 years ago, and though I'm pleased with it, I wish I had seen this video before we made our decision. Thank you.
I bought my house last year in a tiny middle of nowhere "town" of 970 people. When I did the walk through in the buying process I was surprised it didn't have a water softener... well it does but it's a "saltless" softener. The house is on the "town" water supply.
After 1 year of being here I'm having the POS saltless unit replaced with a salt water softener that ACTUALLY softens the water. I've had to clean my shower heads from scale buildup twice and my kitchen faucet once in the 1 year I've been here. I rarely use my dishwasher because it leaves white crap all over the dishes. I had a plumbing inspection done from the company I deal with for plumbing and hvac needs. I already knew I had hard as hell water because I bought test strips. Without saying a word to the inspector he noticed within 5 minutes by just looking at my fixtures I had hard water and decided to do a test. My water is 4x harder than what's deemed acceptable. Which explains why I had to replace my washer a couple months ago. He said I should get a traditional softener installed because I have a tank less water heater and hard water will fucking destroy it and tank less units aren't cheap to replace and they're supposed to last like 20 years. The house was built in 2016..... and in the time between having my offer accepted and closing the original tankless water heater started leaking and fried the circuit board. So literally the day I moved in the water heater was being replaced. My current unit is 1 year old.
So obviously I agreed with the plumber (really... had my doubts about the effectiveness of a saltless unit confirmed) to have a real water softener installed.
So... long story short.... if you want calcium/ sediment buildup on EVERY fixture and water marks all over your shower.... and enjoy replacing all your appliances that b use water every 5 years..... then go ahead and get yourself a saltless unit. If you like clean clothes, a clean body, and want your appliances to actually last a reasonable amount of time.... go with a salt water softener.
My plumber (a fairly large company that covers the state) says he thinks saltless units are kind of a gimmick. Take that for what it's worth. But from my personal experience I can't help but agree.
For those that think salt units add salt to your water.... no. Just..... no. The salt used to clean the resin beads will leave behind sodium.... but it's such a finite amount. You won't taste salty water. Milk contains more sodium. Does milk taste salty to you?
At the end of the day... even if it did make salty water.... I'd rather drink that and have appliances that last a decade+ instead of having to replace them every few years.... oh.... and not have to take apart every faucet to clean out the insane amount of scale buildup a saltless unit will not prevent because it doesn't remove calcium or magnesium not softening shit.
Saltless units a 100% a gimmick IMO. I'll take buying the $5 bag of salt once every 2-3 months vs..... replacing my tankless water heater every 5 years... or washer every 6 years.... or dishwasher... or fridge.... and clean every faucet from scale buildup every few months.
@doseofreality100 I use Bubble Bandit dishwasher detergent along with rinse aid (JetDry) and that combo works very well for the super hard water here in Arizona. BB still has phosphates in it which are important for softening hard water in situ and suspending debris from the dishes. I use their laundry detergent too! It's nothing short of miraculous, I swear. I can't have a softener cuz renting, but at least this solution works well enough to regain use of my dishwasher. I still get scale buildup of course, but it's extremely reduced and I clean the machine every 4-6 weeks by running a short 1hr cycle containing a gallon of cheap vinegar from Costco. Comes out spotless. The heating element starts off white and chalky since it gets the brunt of the scale buildup, but it is squeaky clean after the cleaning. I will never use a modern residential phosphate-free dishwasher detergent ever again.
Great video guys. Culligan didn't tell me anything about water conditioners.
Hi. What about drinking this kind of water? This is my current hesitation. If this method makes bigger pieces of minerals ( bigger "salt" pieces ) then , when you drink this water , theese pieces may be withhold by your kidneys and this may cause kidney stone. Have you got any clue about this?
Thank you for commenting on well use.
the crystal it creates can be filtered by those carbon filter?
A clear concise explanation about salt free water conditioners, thanks!
Does TAC change with temperature of water as in it reverts back to calcified water being stuck in the pipes again?
I’ll add this as water heater pretreatment after I finish replacing all the old galvanized pipe with Pex-A. The existing scale is probably helping to hold our rusty pipes together.
😁🤗
Thank you for the clear explanation. I was hoping for a scale inhibitor, but with the Fe & Mn in our well water will definitly preclude us from that option.
You can use Katalox Light in a backwashing filter tank to treat iron and manganese very effectively as a pretreatment to this scale inhibitor system or ion exchange softener. The Katalox Light is good up to about 5 yrs max and requires no salt or other chemical regenerant to operate.
@@ArtVallejo so what kind of system do you have? Can you tell me where you ordered it from. Do you have to maintain it or set the timer on it
@@deadmanswife3625 Sorry for the late reply.
I work with these systems in our business. You always want to get a water test from a lab to determine what course of treatment is best suited for your needs.
The system I'm describing is fully automatic but like many things, dies require some on going maintenance that is pretty fast & easy. The media change out is every 3 to 5 years and takes time for a newbie DIY but there are tons of videos demonstrating step-by-step instructions on how to do it.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I am going with salt free for my new home
Great learning curve - I am researching our house and trying to make the correct solution. You will be getting a call soon - thanks for the info.
Great over view - So ideally you are looking at a pre filter - A carbon filter - The salt medium to soften and the reverse osmosis for the kitchen and fridge?
Thank you for explaining the differences so well, but I do got a question. It is stated that the scale inhibitor system does not work with well water because of the iron- manganese problem. However, what if you place an iron- and manganese filter before the water enters the scale inhibitors filter? It is quite normal with two or more filters installed in order to achieve the optimal result. Why is this variable taken out?
Great video, a wealth of knowledge and well explained. Sad it leave me out as I have a well with rough water.
watch?v=ktyypNTl-P8
I am in the same situation.. did you find anything that worked for you?
You are not left out. Get a salt based water softener but get a water test first to see what other things maybe lurking in your water.
Well done on unbiased and honest guidance!
Thank you very much for this video. I live in well water area and I was going to purchase a Nuvo h2o. Thanks again.
Thank you for a seemingly unbiased review of pros and cons of each system. There are many videos and websites that discuss this, and most seem very biased and sales-y. I do have a question -- I am on well water in CO outside of Denver. I had a water test done and I have hard water -- the test results were 50 mg/L of Calcium and 20 mg/L of Magnesium. Is this a candidate for a salt-free conditioner, or am I going to be best off with a salt based system? I like the idea of being more environmentally friendly and also lower maintenance, but if a salt based system is the correct solution, then that is what I would go with.
What I like about this video is it's unbiased and objective. Thumbs up!
You did a great job explaining fairly the differences. My advice would be when talking to your local dealer if they call the salt free systems water softeners then run the other direction.
interesting - in San Diego county, with pretty hard water - I am getting a lot of scale build-up on a Eccotemp 4 gallon electric mini-tank water heater. This supplements my central hot water to my condo, I use it when needed, turn it off when I don't. I was considering adding a clearwave electronic water conditioner, or a scale inhibitor filter - one caveat is that I have the central hot water going into the cold side of the Eccotemp, and of course hotter water coming out of the hot side when I use the Eccotemp - so the filter (if I use one) has to be able to handle regular hot water temps on the inlet side. Thoughts?
Excellent presentation! Thank you for the information!
Good info. Some one tried to sell me a very expensive water softner. Id rather have a non salt system.
What if the water is iron-free but the pipes coming to the house are old rusty iron pipes? Will that clog-up the salt-free water conditioner too? Or is it a difference if the iron is breaking of a pipe or solved naturally in the water?
You are a great teacher John! Í love your way of explaining. Question: Can a Scale Inhibitor/ conditioner be used along with a Reverse Osmosis membrane or must it be a true softener (municipal Water supply) ??
I'm not a plumber, more an engineer, but I'm sure plumbers will agree. Reverse osmosis removes all chemical compounds from the water (well like 99.99% but close enough), it does this with a series of different membrane filters, and activated charcoal to capture those compounds. A scale inhibitor does not remove any compounds, it only conditions them, so all the compound removal will be done by the reverse osmosis filter, greatly reducing its life, and effectiveness in flow rate over time. A water softener will remove the larger compounds from the water, which will improve the life of the reverse osmosis filter, and maintain its effective flow rate.
i never recommend the salt free conditioners . IF they ever get one that you can check the water and tell when the media needs replaced accurately I may . Also, everyone i have seen says it prevents scale "inside the plumbing" and from what i have seen it still can and will sometimes scale shower stalls and fixtures. However its not as bad as it would be with out it. All my customers hated theirs because they still had hard water. EVEN when i warned them lol but hey there are so many who push them to be as good as a softener. You did a great job showing the difference and what people need for their water.
Our city water comes from well. Good video
Excellent explanation, you make it so easy to understand the benefits of this system. Thank You.
Best explanation I’ve heard on these type of systems
Excellent balanced informational video. Thanks.
Wow! That was an incredibly informative video! Thank you very much!
Thank you for this great video. Do you do any work in Phoenix Arizona? I love the feel of soft water and what I would love to have is a soft water system and the D scale filter along with carbon. I have one problem I don’t have a soft water loop and I’ve got a driveway between my hose bib in the front of the house in my garage. If you do any work in Phoenix, please let me know I would love to get a quote.
Very informative. Can this treated water be used to water the garden without killing the foliage? Salt tanks usage in a garden eventually kills the plants.
If minerals get chrystalized would they get trapped by filter? Does itmake any sense to install filter after descaler?
I'm a master plumber who's well water has 9 grains hardness . Many years ago I disconnected my water softener for health/taste/feel reasons and installed an electronic scale inhibitor and it worked so well I'm on my 2nd one. I also have a sediment filter, a lime filter, and a carbon filter. My water tests now come out much better and I have no scale build-up. All copper plumbing and heat pump water heater. Is it perfect? No, but I got away from the softener which was my purpose, so it worked for me. If I've learned anything in 40+ yrs in this trade is every situation is different.
Can you tell me which products you use? Or recommend?
I have iron water, and I hate using the salt. It’s killing my septic any recommendations.
I’m curious if anyone has done a study on the safety of these crystals?
Thanks for the product knowledge.
We are on private well water. Our water does not test high in iron or manganese content in our well. Would the salt-free conditioner work with my well in general if that is the case?
Can I install both. The conditioner after the softener?
1. Will a salt-free water conditioner continue to make my skin feel dry due to leaving the minerals in the water? 2. Will a water softener also strip away existing scale build-up like a salt-free water conditioner does? I'm positive my 28-year-old house has scale build-up in all of the pipes. What's the best solution to having soft water but also cleaning the scale build-up from the pipes?
Very informative. Appreciate for a clear explanation. Thank you.
Enjoyed the video. Learned a lot. Looking at a house that has hard well water with PPM at 521. The water is visibly clouded with iron. Hate the water softeners because of the sodium. Can I not use a a salt free water softener?
Will a salt-free water conditioner prevent gray hair from turning yellow? I’m on city water. Thanks.
Excellent presentation!
Really helpful information that was hard to find anywhere else!
Can you use electric descaler and template assisted at the same time ?
Are water conditioners good for pre-treating water for reverse osmosis, or are water softeners better? We have very hard water but no other chemicals including chlorine. Thanks.
Do these calcium and magnesium crystalized ions dissolve back in the hot boiling water?
Test the hardness
between softener treated and conditioner treated.
Great content, very clearly presented
Can i use a water softener with a Scale inhibitor? I have been through 2 water softeners and neither made a difference to the yucky scale buildup that builds up on my faucets and showerheads
Geat explanation. THX a lot!!,
One uncertainty is bothering me thow. You said that this scale inhibitor is not recomended for well water because of iron and manganese present. What if i use filter (eg. Oxyline plus) that will remove this particles? Would this be effective then?
Cost? Cost of media? Cost of equipment?
I appreciate the information-explained so well and easy to follow-Thank you
Good day
Which product is effective to install for a high water hardness with PPM exceed 1500, can it reduce it to 50 PPM?
Thx for you care
How much Iron and Manganese is too much for a salt-free water conditioner (in micrograms/Liter (ug/L))?
hi John,fresh water systems could make it a lot easier for people to know what they are ordering off their website if they put the size filter that the big blue canisters take like (20x4.5 filter)rather than only saying 20 inch large capacity and a model number that means nothing unless you start doing web searches
Hi...my wife and I are in a home that has a pump and well. What are my best options for filtration and water softness?
Great video and explanation. One question not answered is often softened water is plumbed to NOT run to ice makers and the kitchen. How is this decision made between conditioned (descaled) vs softened water?
Regular soft water has trace levels of salt. Since salt is not healthy the kitchen will have regular water ran to it or a reverse osmosis system installed to remove any residual salt and other impurities
U run soft water to a Ro system , otherwise it’ll clog up the membrane quick.
Is this the same as water di or deionized water that we see for spotless car washes?
Very good and clear explanation
hi, can you drink the water from salt free systems?
I'm looking for numbers. You have not compared the hardness numbers.
Is there any test that can verify that scale inhibitors work, if it’s not verifiable then it’s mambo jumbo technology
I have had a salf-free water conditioner for less than a year on a NEW build and I have already have had to "pumice stone" the toilets and have hard scale on my fixtures. I'm not sure what to do. We have city water.
Trace amounts of copper can also affect these units, make sure you don’t have copper in your city water as well
Can you install a temporary tax to just remove the hard mineral along with the salt water softener.
Thank you very much for a clear explanation!!! You are so kind!
Can the salt free conditioner be used after the typical water softener?
Can i use Whole house Pre Filter+Water Filter + Water Descalers+Water softener
Please give me explaint thanks
which Systems is best for Dallas, TX area ? Salt softner or Salt-Free systems? How much it cost for bed room Home ?
I do appreciate the information and we're probably not going to go through with the Aqua Sana system. However, if the UV light is an added product that is not useful, how come you are selling one on your site?
Been a lot of controversy about aquasana in the last several years
Excellent explanation and unbiased. I have been looking and looking for a comparison review of whole house water conditioning systems. What are differences in technologies or "proprietary blends" of media that some of the companies claim. Pelican, RainSoft, LifeSource, RayneWater, Kinetico ... the list is endless. Donating to Consumer Reports today and hope they conduct a review.
May I recommend you give Alkaviva Corp. based in Reno NV. a call or research their website at www.alkaviva.com/greg. There primary product are Ionizers but they also sale salt free conditioners with whole house filtration units. The product description and specifications are clearly stated for your review. While I am a dealer for them and I am based in El Paso TX.
Super information...great pros and cons...I learned a ton. Thanks!
Thanks for the nice explanation. Both systems avoid scale buildup which is very important. The information which I'm not able to get from any of such review videos is about the health pros/cons of both the systems. I'm holding onto buying either of the systems because I'm still looking for the answers to the following questions. Could you please help?
1. Does Softener adds very little amount of salt to the home water? Is this good for health?
2. Conditioner keeps all the minerals within the home water. Is this good for health?
2. I read in manuals that Softener are not good for the in-house water Filtration systems and water Heaters(which u explain here though). Is this true? or which one is better for the specified appliances?
1) How much salt would depend on the amount of hardness in the water that was exchanged. Salt is an essential nutrient but, like all nutrients, too much is as deadly as not enough. Guessing that soft water is maybe 30 to 300 mg/l. Putting that into perspective, USDA claimed 500 mg is the daily need (of a sedentary, 150 lb. male being their usual reference). restaurant soup is up to 10000 mg/l, sea water about 35,000 mg/l.
can you feel the difference in a "salt free" template assisted crystallization unit ?! thanks
My issue with my water softener is I'm on a shallow well with a slow refill rate / iron issue & the softener when it's on refresh clean cycle it runs to long and drains my well . It's a Morton M45 , can I fix this .
Well water owners. You CAN install a scale inhibitor or a water conditioner on a private well water system. Not all well water systems have iron or sulfur. If you do, you would just need to get an iron filter to go along with your scale inhibitor. Iron filters are the best way to eliminate iron anyways plus they also eliminate sulfur which a salt softener does not.
Thanks, that's good to know. I have well water and a septic system and don't want to deal with adding salt.
On the same boat. We have a calcium and magnesium problem, no iron detected. One of these systems would fit the bill precisely. Plus I don't have to maintain it.
Would that eliminate calcium and magnesium.
How do you dispose of the descaling media after it is no longer effective (3-5 years)? Can it be washed down the drain?
I have a salt water softener and we love it
Kythera hello, but the water companies., stopped using chlorine, for another product NOT TELLING THE PUBLIC, I lost my marine aquarium over this product, chlorine left in my plastic 5gal jugs left the water in several days, not this new stuff, it’s WHY ITS BEING USED, it could stay over a week, I forgot the name, but I think it’s clororoquine, or such, so people having shower chlorine removers, for your hair, bye bye , no longer works. Cheers From NJ🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Thank you for this very informative video!
Our water suppliers add FLOURIDE to our water supply. What is the filtration effect of FLOURIDE with your unites? Does it filter out 100% of Flouride?
I didn't see any instruction or notes about replacing my Pelican salt free media. Do they use a different salt free method or media?