Any recommendations for a water softener??

[Rudy Vey]

Looks like we do not have too good of a year this year; two TV's and a computer, and now our water softener had died after some 12 years of use. Plumber was not able to fix it, it leaks like crazy, so we need a new one.
The one we had was a Morton softener, and it was one with use of salt for the regeneration. Our water here is very hard, some 17/18 grains per gallon. The last weeks were not good when it came to showering, shaving etc. and all the staining of water drops. Its a two people household, so a smaller unit as we had seems to be the right size I would guess. When looking at the prices, they have gone up quite good in the last twelve years.
So, what would you recommend to get; anybody has experience with a newer unit that was installed lately?? Looking for some pointers.

 

[FarmerTan]

I'll get back to you. Ours is about 4 or 5 years old and is going strong.

 

[BanjoCowboyMartaTobes]

A good buddy in the industry told me that Kenmore makes a large percentage of the softeners available (multiple brands) and we should get a mid level Kenmore. We replaced an old Culligan which he said is significantly overpriced. 11 years later, our Kenmore seems to be working perfectly. Our well water is at 26 grains too, so brutal. I used “Shark Bite” fasteners (push in easy) and some poly tube and added an inline 30micron filter. Amazing the whole job of install took only a few hours and we saved a massive plumber bill. Great luck Rudy, hopefully the rest of the year is appliance shopping free!

 

[PRobots]

I’m finally having one installed on Friday this week. We have been in our new house for a over a year just suffering with the hardest water I’ve ever experienced. I’m very excited for this softener.

Not much help but we selected a Water Right “impression series” seemed reasonably priced and modern.

Good luck Sir.

 

[Lightcs1776]

I have had two in this house and can't complain about either. The first was a Kenmore. It was here when I moved in and lasted probably 15 years plus however long the previous owners had it. I now have a GE water softener for around 5 years that I put in myself and it is working well. I am curious about the newer saltless models, but haven't researched them as I don't see a need for a new one any time soon.

 

[Rudy Vey]

I have had two in this house and can't complain about either. The first was a Kenmore. It was here when I moved in and lasted probably 15 years plus however long the previous owners had it. I now have a GE water softener for around 5 years that I put in myself and it is working well. I am curious about the newer saltless models, but haven't researched them as I don't see a need for a new one any time soon.

My plumber recommended one of the thingamajigs that use "electricity" for salt-less softening. In principle a couple of cables that are wrapped around the water lines. Let me tell you, they do not work at all for softening water. Just for Sh...and giggles, I got one off Amazon and installed it (it was returned for refund already). It does nothing in regards to water softening. Same hard water as without the softener. Absolutely nothing we could say positively about it. These thing are sold as "descaler" and salt-less water softeners. Supposedly they "change" the Ca and Mg ions so they do not to adhere to the lines, but they are not removed, and this the water is as hard as ever. For example before when I had my softener working and rinsing out my scuttle, the soap residues just went clear down the drain. Now, they immediately form the Ca and Mg salts of the soap, and one sees the cloudiness - this is the feared soap scum. We use Dr Bronner liquid soap as hand soap, and when I made a diluted batch up, the liquid stayed clear. Now, as soon as the soap is added to the water, the salts drop out and one has about 1/4" thick layer of soap salts sitting at the bottom of the soap dispenser.
The use of this "unit" had me add a drain cleaner, after two weeks of use, into my bathroom sink - in the 15 years before we used softened water, I had never to do this.

 

[TexLaw]

We have a Kinetco that's hardly new. In fact, it's 22 years old. What I've always loved about it is that it doesn't run on electricity and that it still provides soft water while it's regenerating. It does use salt. It doesn't work on a timer, either. By design, it regenerates based on how much water has flowed through, and that eliminates a lot of waste.

It's worked like a champ for nearly all these 22 years. While it still does a fantastic job softening water, it stopped regenerating automatically recently. The flow meter no longer works. I just go out and do it manually from time to time. That's minor trouble, but I'm still going to give the folks who installed it a call to see what we can do. Yep, they're still around.

 

[Lightcs1776]

My plumber recommended one of the thingamajigs that use "electricity" for salt-less softening. In principle a couple of cables that are wrapped around the water lines. Let me tell you, they do not work at all for softening water. Just for Sh...and giggles, I got one off Amazon and installed it (it was returned for refund already). It does nothing in regards to water softening. Same hard water as without the softener. Absolutely nothing we could say positively about it. These thing are sold as "descaler" and salt-less water softeners. Supposedly they "change" the Ca and Mg ions so they do not to adhere to the lines, but they are not removed, and this the water is as hard as ever. For example before when I had my softener working and rinsing out my scuttle, the soap residues just went clear down the drain. Now, they immediately form the Ca and Mg salts of the soap, and one sees the cloudiness - this is the feared soap scum. We use Dr Bronner liquid soap as hand soap, and when I made a diluted batch up, the liquid stayed clear. Now, as soon as the soap is added to the water, the salts drop out and one has about 1/4" thick layer of soap salts sitting at the bottom of the soap dispenser.
The use of this "unit" had me add a drain cleaner, after two weeks of use, into my bathroom sink - in the 15 years before we used softened water, I had never to do this.

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[njpaddy]

At our house of 20 years, about 5 miles away from Rudy, we were on well water. Outside of staining the glass shower doors and the mineral deposits in the toilet tank and the washing machine filter, which I had to clean out occasionally, we didn't mind the hard water. After moving to that house, from an apartment with city water that smelled like chlorine, we loved the well water as it was and decided against softening. Unlike some well water, it didn't have a sulfur smell. 18 months ago, we downsized back to an apartment. City water still tastes like crap and we both miss that great tasting hard well water.

As far as losing your tv's and pc's, one of the best investments I every made was investing in UPS battery backups for our PCs, laptops, TVs, dvd players, and my all-region Blu-ray player. After a surge fried the motherboard on a PC I built, although it was plugged into a surge suppressor, I rebuilt the PC and went to UPS. The electrical grid in our area has been crap since Irene and Sandy. My UPS units shift into battery backup several time a week, and we have yet to lose any devices plugged into them. Fingers crossed.

 

[ShaverAZ]

We have a Kinetco that's hardly new. In fact, it's 22 years old. What I've always loved about it is that it doesn't run on electricity and that it still provides soft water while it's regenerating. It does use salt. It doesn't work on a timer, either. By design, it regenerates based on how much water has flowed through, and that eliminates a lot of waste.

It's worked like a champ for nearly all these 22 years. While it still does a fantastic job softening water, it stopped regenerating automatically recently. The flow meter no longer works. I just go out and do it manually from time to time. That's minor trouble, but I'm still going to give the folks who installed it a call to see what we can do. Yep, they're still around.

+1 for Kinetico. I had one for a dozen years, then sold it to a buddy, who got another dozen years from it. In fact, he left it when he retired and sold his home, so it may still be working. It only regererates after a preset amount of water passes thru its' meter. If you go on vacation, it doesn't run if it doesn't need to, and you don't have to turn it off.

 

[ByMyBeard]

One of those items that I usually find myself replacing because I have to immediately rather than having time to research. My in-laws got one of the salt-less units to start with as well, and they went back and added a salt unit from Culligan. I'd stay away from the salt less units. You may not be in position for this, but when we built our house I had them move the water softener to the garage rather than the basement. It's great not having to carry the bags of salt through the house after picking those up at the store.

 

[luvmysuper]

I bought and installed an AO Smith softener unit and an AO Smith whole house filter.
The softener is frugal on salt so that's good for the pocket book.
It holds 200 lbs of salt, so that's good for my patience about having to reload.
The whole house filter is good for 6 years.
We're on a well, and the combo does a superb job
As an aside, the sulfur smell comes from a harmless bacteria that consume metal and give off sulfur dioxide as a byproduct.
You can eradicate that sulfur smell completely by doing 2 things:
1. Replace your hot water heater anode with an electric one. The bacteria LOVE a metal anode.
2. Turn the thermostat UP on your hot water heater to 140 F.
This safety nonsense about hot water is silly. Feel the water before you get in it. If you're really worried, get a thermostatic faucet that closes down at high temperature.
Bacteria love warm water, and lots of bacteria, including the one that causes Legionnaires disease thrive in temperatures that are well within the "recommended safety set point" that is spouted frequently.
Most bacteria don't survive above around 135 F.

 

[FarmerTan]

We have a Kinetco that's hardly new. In fact, it's 22 years old. What I've always loved about it is that it doesn't run on electricity and that it still provides soft water while it's regenerating. It does use salt. It doesn't work on a timer, either. By design, it regenerates based on how much water has flowed through, and that eliminates a lot of waste.

It's worked like a champ for nearly all these 22 years. While it still does a fantastic job softening water, it stopped regenerating automatically recently. The flow meter no longer works. I just go out and do it manually from time to time. That's minor trouble, but I'm still going to give the folks who installed it a call to see what we can do. Yep, they're still around.

This sounds like ours.

 

[Commander Quan]

Our water is 29 Grains Per Gallon and we have 4 people in the house. I've been using an off the shelf Whirlpool from Lowes for the last 11 years. I add salt every 2 or 3 months, and it does it's job. I'm not sure what a more expensive unit would accomplish.

 

[MichWR]

I installed a Water Boss in our last house, and a Kenmore in our current one. I have no complaints about either one.

 

[Rudy Vey]

I installed a Water Boss in our last house, and a Kenmore in our current one. I have no complaints about either one.

Our first one was a Water Boss, it lasted exactly one day after the 3 year warranty....too much to repair (long story with their customer service...never get one of them - they are not standing behind their product). We got the new one then, the Morton unit - guess same maker as someone said for different brands, I see a few with brand names they are exactly the same principle, just a different design (Whirlpool, Rheem, aso) - it lasted a good 12 years. But as we found out, it was installed so that there was stress on some of the connections, and eventually it started leaking. We tried to replace some of the parts, but could not get it stop leaking from an other part area.
So, I guess the next one is an AO Smith from Lowes - what I like it is lower than the old one and I have not too lift the salt bags so high anymore. My Lowes card gives me a 5% discount....just have to get there and pick one up, but I am sick since the weekend and have not made it out the house other than to the ER and my doctor.

 

[South Dakota Guy]

I put in this water softener in January to replace a Morton unit that was bad. It is small but works fine for my two person home and my water is 25 grains. It is the hardest water I have ever had in a home. This unit has a built in bypass valve on it which is nice and the $550 price is right. If you have existing bypass valves you can remove them and crimp some PEX fittings to the pipe and to the valves and just crimp some PEX tubing in between. I also used a PEX elbow in both of my my lines. Cheaper than hiring a plumber.

 

[ByMyBeard]

Ironically, we've been struggling with water flow recently. Long story short, the contractor grade water softener that is 7-8 years old has been deemed at least part of the culprit (improved flow when bypassing said softener). Our water is 23gps, and we constantly have something running. So, I'm in the market now as well...

 

[Possum092]

One of the best for a household with kids or frequent guests and super hard water 64k Water Softener with Fleck 2510SXT - https://store.afwfilters.com/water-softeners/64-000-grain/64k-water-softener-with-fleck-2510sxt/ They have a ten year warranty, install easily, and work great. We upgraded the resin for a few bucks and its rated for 20 years.