Whole house water softener.
 

Whole house water softener.

What is your experience using a whole house water softener? Do you have salt, potassium, or something else? How satisfied are you with washing your hair, using the dishwater, and buildup around showers & faucets?

Our house came w/a Pegasus system, using Potassium.

We had no buildup at the faucets, the dishwasher and laundry worked fine. We did notice a "slippery feeling afer a shower, but no biggie...

Unfortunately, the Potassium gave SWMBO and the dog some "GI issues", so we switched over to salt. No noticeable change in the efficiency of the softener, still bo scaling at the faucets, and after a few months, the Potassium was completely replaced by salt and the Dog's GI issues went away.

SWMBO still insists on me getting the 5 gallon water jugs and we bought a free standing water cooler/heater, where the water jug sits underneath in a cabinet.

I drink the water from the fridge door with no problems...

We have a Sears water softener and whole house filter since 2013, NO salt in the water, I have a test kit to verify, NO buildup on any plumbing, dishwasher, refrigerator, or washer. On a side note, if the system is working properly, you will not have any residue in the house water.

Totally recommend system.
Have salt whole house softener. No problems with pipe/tap scale.
It uses about half of as much soap/shampoo/washing products than with hard water.
The remaining seventeen hairs on my head have never been so soft and manageable.
The main drinking cold tap (UK building regs.) in the kitchen is a separate supply of mains water.
The kitchen tap has a ceramic filter, otherwise water tastes like it has been pumped from a local swimming pool!

A plumber stated that it is not a code violation to drain a water softener discharge to the storm sewer. He would have the discharge go slightly underground to the curb where it will drain to the nearby storm sewer. Has anyone done that?

PS. I learn a new initialism: SWMBO :)

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The plumber is correct, but most systems just have a pipe that sticks out of the garage wall and the water is discharged downward directly onto the ground. It is not necessary to pipe the water to the curb. Also, note that, if you pipe it to the curb, you will be installing pipe through the street "right-of-way", which is land that you do not own.

Salt water softener. Your water will feel slick, you'll need less soap in the shower and washing machine. Soft water will dry-out your skin less than hard water, and leave less residue/build-up on your skin, clothes, and plumbing. Your clothes might even seem whiter/brighter after washing.

Softener may or may not make your water taste better (but not worse); but a filter on your fridge and the cold-water side of your sink (if a decent filter - like one with charcoal), will make it taste tasteless.
Worth the investment; and while these filters seem expensive, they are dirt cheap if you can only drink bottled water, and what a hassle dealing with the big or even little bottles.

Potassium is more expensive compared to salt; but I have no experience with them.

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I plan to replace my water softener soon. Current unit is very old, and it is very expensive to change the media. In my opinion at this point - not worth it; start over.
But, I plan to have a particle/sediment filter installed on the input. My theory is the softener will last longer if it doesn't have to fight garbage floating thru the pipes in addition to dissolved minerals. Should make the media last longer.

btw: We get a report on TV water once a year. We have pretty good water (safety wise / EPA wise), but they/we can't afford to have all the minerals removed.

Ironic - we remove minerals and then take vitamin/mineral pills to replace them. But, there is some bad stuff that needs to be removed.

Actually, its the chlorine in the water which shortens the life of the water softener. Its best to put a sediment and carbon filter such as a Nova Filter or equivalent before the water softener.

We have Nova softener plus their whole house filter. We started with a water softener back in the late '80s when we were on well water. We had to. Once you get used to it, you may never go back. I can tell the minute the salt needs replenishing in the softener--my skin starts to itch.
As for whole house water filter, it has made all the difference in the taste of our water. We don't buy bottled water. We use our own bottle.

We have a Nova whole house water filter. Took that chlorine taste out of the water immediately when it was installed about 10 years ago. I have bad scaling at faucets and on the granite. Have been reluctant to get the softener due to all the salt. That can't be good for us. I really don't want to start buying all those cases of water to avoid taking in all that sodium.

If the softener is working properly, there will be NO salt in your house water, if you do not believe me, please do some research.
I have been using water softeners for over 50 years, and have never had salt in the house water unless the system malfunctioned, had this happen once, and it was a very simple repair.

Water softener
 

We have Pegasus system and use salt. Absolutely no problems. No scale no build up no problems

We bought the Nova water softener and it’s excellent. The water tastes great. There are no rings or etching on our granite. That’s one of the things a softener helps with. We use DaLeon ours. You do not get any salt in your water.

Don’t let people tell you it adds salt to your water. That’s 100% false. They just don’t understand the science behind the salt and how it’s used to to clean the resin beads in your softener.