[vjcrowe]

Has anyone ever bought and had a Water Conditioner System installed by Environmental Quality Assurance. They come to your home and test the water and sell the systems.

[villagetinker]

OK, I has 2-3 of these people at the house, one because I was interested in water quality, and 2 more because I did not realize what they were selling. Anyway, did my own research, water is basically very good, has higher than normal (if you are from the North) chlorine level, and is a little on the hard side. I went with a Sears system of a water softener and a whole house filter, cost less than $800.

Result we have fabulous water, we was the crystal in the dish washer without any additives, and they come out cleaner than new. Water tastes so good, we no longer use any bottled water.

Hope this helps.

[biker1]

Be careful - easy to overpay. "Water conditioning" can be loosely broken down into "water softening" and "chlorine removal". You can get a big box store system that does both for perhaps $800 and have one of the local plumbers install it. You can also get a bit box store "water softener" for maybe $500 and add an external chlorine filter and have a local plumber install it. Google is your friend - do some research before making a decision.

The water in The Villages is "hard" but not excessively so. There is a fairly high chlorine level which is why it taste funky. A water softener removes the hardness (less water spots and less soap required plus less scale build up on appliances) and a chlorine filter removes the bad taste.

Originally Posted by vjcrowe

Has anyone ever bought and had a Water Conditioner System installed by Environmental Quality Assurance. They come to your home and test the water and sell the systems.

[Bonanza]

I would caution you against all these people who call you or send you mail regarding water softeners, water conditioners, or whatever you want to call them. The worst are the ones who knock on your door.

My husband and I feel that the water here is not so hard that we need a water system. We moved here from Vegas where the water is incredibly hard and brought our system with us. It is an Eco System and is expensive and after having an inexpensive one (under $1,000) finally got that one because it works. It is truly the only one that is worth a damn, but we still have not installed it because we don't feel the need here.

Our dishwasher does a perfect job with Finish tablets (no spotting ever). We use Dawn dish detergent for hand washing. We spray the shower with "Scrubbing Bubbles." And lastly, we drink tap water. It may taste different from what you are used to, to begin with, but after a couple of days, it tastes fine! I've never had a problem with the taste.

Frankly, I never liked the feel of taking a shower or washing my hands when we've had a water softener. I always feel slippery and slimely like I still have soap on my skin.

I've found that when people move to the Villages, they get caught up with what everyone does. The must have a pest control contract, they must have a water system, they must, they must, they must . . . If you don't have a "real" problem, don't waste your money.

[biker1]

I have had a couple of big box water softeners and they have worked fine - they remove the calcium and magnesium ions. While you can spend $3000 on a water softener, I don't see the point. They might last a bit longer but a $500 system can reasonably be expected to last 10 years. Typically the resin (which is where the calcium and magnesium ion exchange is done) will deteriorate and need replacing after 10 years of so. Your mileage may vary. High chlorine levels in the water will shorten the life of the resin. Water softeners are "sized" by the hardness of your water and size of your house (i.e. how much water you use). For a two-person household with the hardness level we have in The Villages, a 20,000 to 30,000 grains system should be fine.

Water softeners are not complicated things. There is a resin tank (essentially a tank containing "plastic pellets" where the ion exchange takes place by having water flow over the pellets), a brine tank to create a sodium chloride (NaCl) or potassium chloride (KCl) solution, and a valve unit to control the system. Water is softened when it flows through the resin tank and the calcium and magnesium ions are removed. Periodically (typically weekly or so), a brine solution is passed over the pellets during a regeneration mode to strip off the accumulated calcium and magnesium ions from the pellets. The valve unit orchestrates this. All brine-based water softeners can be expected to reduce the hardness to 0 to 1 grains per gallon of water. In The Villages, I measured about 12 grains per gallon of hardness but the water department claims about 9 grains per gallon. This is normally characterized as "hard" water. As a point of reference, "really hard water" is 20 grains per gallon or higher.

Do you "need" a water softener - no. Are there advantages to having a water softener - yes. If you have glass walls and a glass door in your shower, hard water may eventually etch the glass so it looks cloudy. Without a water softener, some diligence is needed to preserve the "new" look of anything touched by water.

Some people claim the softened water feels slimy, as if there is still soap on their skin. This slimy feel is actually just normal skin oils that you will feel when calcium and magnesium is removed from the water.

The Villages water has about 1.5 ppm of chlorine according to the water department. This is pretty high and the water taste pretty crappy, in my opinion. There are those that will try to scare you with the health consequences of chlorine in the water. I don't really know whether this level of chlorine has health consequences but I do know that it tastes bad and smells bad when taking a shower, to me, anyway. It can be removed via a carbon filter and can be removed fairly cheaply for the entire house. Your refrigerator probably already has a carbon filter that should be replaced periodically. It will "clean up" the water used for ice and the water tap in you refrigerator door.

The term "water conditioner" or "hybrid water softener" typically refers to a water softener with an included carbon filter to remove chlorine. The term "water softener" refers to a device that only removes the calcium and magnesium ions that cause "hardness". As I mentioned before, a separate carbon filter can be installed to remove the chlorine - it will also extend the life of the resin tank in the water softener.

If you feel the need, the least cost way is to buy from a big box store or order over the internet and have a plumber install it for you (or do it yourself if you are handy).

Originally Posted by Bonanza

I would caution you against all these people who call you or send you mail regarding water softeners, water conditioners, or whatever you want to call them. The worst are the ones who knock on your door.

My husband and I feel that the water here is not so hard that we need a water system. We moved here from Vegas where the water is incredibly hard and brought our system with us. It is an Eco System and is expensive and after having an inexpensive one (under $1,000) finally got that one because it works. It is truly the only one that is worth a damn, but we still have not installed it because we don't feel the need here.

Our dishwasher does a perfect job with Finish tablets (no spotting ever). We use Dawn dish detergent for hand washing. We spray the shower with "Scrubbing Bubbles." And lastly, we drink tap water. It may taste different from what you are used to, to begin with, but after a couple of days, it tastes fine! I've never had a problem with the taste.

Frankly, I never liked the feel of taking a shower or washing my hands when we've had a water softener. I always feel slippery and slimely like I still have soap on my skin.

I've found that when people move to the Villages, they get caught up with what everyone does. The must have a pest control contract, they must have a water system, they must, they must, they must . . . If you don't have a "real" problem, don't waste your money.