Quote:
Originally Posted by uujudy
Thank for the info, Bill & Carolyn!
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Just to update you on this. I've been walking the ragged edge of insanity researching water softeners, water softener technologies, water filters, etc. I've looked at/talked to EcoWater ($2900), kinectico (~ $2000), Nuvoh20, Kenmore ($800), and a host of others. After much research (and tearing out what little hair I have left on top) here is what I have decided to do.
Background
Our house water (in Pennecamp) tested out at 14 grains hardness, 5ppm Chlorine. My better half has a sodium restricted diet requirement. the 5PPM chlorine will destroy my wife's hair coloring pretty quickly (apparently the pools can only have 1.5 PPM) so we will need to have a whole house carbon filter.
We're going to purchase and have installed the Kenmore Elite Hybrid Water Softener (that includes a carbon filter) and we will be using Potassium Chloride salt instead of sodium chloride. KCl is more expensive than NaCL but it is better for the environment and we don't have the worry about Sodium levels in the water. Given the cost differential between the Kenmore unit and Ecowater/Kinectico I figure I can replace the Kenmore unit entirely three times. Given the water quality/usage I'm expecting the Kenmore unit to last 7-10 years before I need to replace the medium and carbon.
We'll wait after the Kenmore is installed to see if we need to also install a Reverse Osmosis filter in the kitchen. If we do, I'd favor the Kinectico K5 - Consumer research tests rated it the highest by a good margin (and the most expensive too!).