Question re water softner's
 

Have been in TV 5 years and bought second home one year ago. In the first home we purchased a water softening device at Lowes and it worked fine. Water in the new home did not seem to be as hard. Already have problems with a shower head in Master bath and a guy at Lowes said the problem is the hardness of the water. What do others on here use. I don't mind spending a few hundred dollars on another water softener and another few hundred to have it installed but I want to make the right decision. Thanks....

You will get a lot of differing opinions on this subject. If you do a search, there are a few threads on it. We personally have used a water softener for the last 30 years, even though there is one brand of whole-house filtration system whose owner claims that no water softener is needed. I am afraid to try it because I have a skin condition that flares up without soft water, and my understanding from some checking I've done is that it does not make the water quite as soft as a softener.

However, for your purposes you might prefer it. It's called Nova, its relatively inexpensive, and they are a TOTV sponsored company, so you can find them on here. People seem pleased with the Nova system.

I agree with above, do a search, there are lots of info and opinions. We have used Sears units for over 40 years, and have both a water softener and a whole house filter now. There are several options to have both functions in one unit. We like both as the filter gets rid of the extra chlorine.

Just be careful.....there are some devious salesmen out there.

I have lived in a lot of places, and I find that the water in The Villages is very good, and really does not need to be softened. I am very skeptical about messing with something that is already pretty good. If it's not broke, don't fix it.

The 2016 Annual drinking water quality report for Central Sumter Utilities stated that “Your water was analyzed for hardness which resulted in a value of 169 mg/l”.

Degree of Hardness Grains per Gallon (gpg) ppm (or mg/L)
Slightly Hard 1.0-3.5 17.1-60
Moderately Hard 3.5-7.0 60-120
Hard 7.0-10.5 120-180
Very Hard >10.5 >180

Softener w
 

We installed the "Nova" filters and tried to live without a softener here for about a year, finally installed a softener last year (Waterboss available at Home Depot $400+ and easy to instal). We are very happy we did. We feel we have the perfect combo. Now.

We use a phrase I really made up here since living here 4 years, it's kinda hard but not really hard.

We sell both the important filter is the whole hose filter that will get out the all chlorine and and 110 other chemicals your water.

I have independent lab results to back that up.

No water softener can do that, moreover, no water softener can remove the sediment (and there a lot of it in our water)

So the first line of defense is the Nova triple whole house filter installed at $575.

If you wish to add a softener you can but we ony use high end equipment not like the ones sold in big box stores (I taken a bunch of those out.)

Brad and I installed over 11-1200 Nova systems and about 10% of those customers added softeners, 90% were more than satisfied with it just the whole house filter.

Call us directly for more details.


Bob & Brad

352.566.2649

I am a Village resident also.

We had no issues with the hardness of the water here. We had a big problem with the taste of the water. Had Nova install their
whole house water filter....no more problems.

We just moved into our 2nd home in The Villages and immediately called NOVA and had Brad install the whole home filtration system and a water softener. We think it's a must have here and can now really enjoy the water straight from the tap!

We had the Nova filter installed and the taste and feel of the water was much improved. Our home in NY had VERY hard (well) water so we had always had a softener up there. The Nova water wasn't as soft as we were used to, but it was no where near as hard as what we used to have in NY. We did eventually have Nova add their softener (a very nice unit by the way) on account of a skin condition that we thought might benefit from additional softening. In the end the skin condition did improve somewhat, but mainly it was nice to have very soft water again. I'd say if you're not sure about the softener, start with the filter and add the softener later. Just be sure the filter is installed in a location where, if you do add a softener later, there's nearby access to power. We had to hire an electrician to add one for us.
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Bob C

What is the problem? Spending hundreds of dollars seems costly.

The water is hard and a filter will not soften it. If the problem is taste and the sediment a filter is what you are after, if hard water deposits like the shower head you need a softener. If you want it all you probably need both.

Our water is good but has a lot of calcium so we have a softener because we like soft water, have always had a softener. To get the purest available get a nova filter too.