[Rzepecki]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

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...

I get a report once a year that shows what is in the water I get from my tap. I have no idea what’s in bottled water.

[Rocksnap]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

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.

Using salt, then having the system back flush into the grass will kill the grass and/or landscaping that may be around the discharge outlet. Which is why many of us use potassium.

[Rzepecki]

We love our whole house softener and filter by Kinetico/Kwater. It’s non-electric; it runs on water power, backwashes in 17 minutes based on usage, not timed intervals and in almost 2 years , we are only using our third bag of salt.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Rzepecki

I get a report once a year that shows what is in the water I get from my tap. I have no idea what’s in bottled water.

When I buy bottled water, I always buy purified water, not spring water. I am skeptical that Evian spring water (or any spring water) can come from the same source year after year and still taste the same. Am I missing something?

[LuLinn]

We have a whole house water filter and salt-free softener system. We're very pleased with our decision. I didn't want to store and lift pellets. Once a year, we have someone from Torri Plumbing come and change both filters. We have the tankless water heater cleaned at the same time. We are pleased with our choice.

[crash]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

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.

If you have a water softener and put salt in it regularly where do you think the Na goes. A water softener trades sodium ions for Mg and Ca there will be an increase in Na small but still there.

[Cuervo]

I had a whole house Pelican water system installed years ago, when the person installed it, he claimed that I would notice a difference in the water immediately. He said I would no longer need to change the water filter in my refrigerator, and he was telling the truth saving me $120 a year just on the frig. Though I could have done it myself they I had a service that would flush out the system and change the filter twice a year and the UV light once a year.
Now in the past few years I don't know if they had change hands or what happened, but they had dropped the service.
Next month I'm having the system replace with a filter system called Halo, which if I understand it is more of an open market system that many companies install and takes less maintenance.
I don't know if these systems pay for themselves in the long run, but it's one of those things that after you install it you forget it's there.

[treylagger]

We recently bought a one-year old home in Dabney that came without any water treatment system. There was significant calcium build-up in the shower which took some scrubbing to get rid of. We also hated the chlorine smell the water had and bought bottled water to drink. The very first home improvement we made was adding a water system After researching we opted for the Pegasus system. Not cheap..... $2,700 installed and they recommend using potassium which is more expensive than salt (about $40 a bag, plus it supposedly takes more potassium to treat your water than it does with salt). The improvement in water quality was immediate and we love our water now. The jury is still out on whether we stick with potassium (we're a month in to owning our home).

[dtennent]

We had a Kinetico softener (NaCl) system up north for 30 years on well water and loved it. Down here, we put in a KCl system which works as well. However, if I were to do it over, I would go back to a NaCl system. See no reason to pay 5 X for a bag of KCl vs. a bag of NaCl. Since we travel a lot, I like the Kinetico system which works on demand rather than a time based system. If the taste of chlorine is a big deal to you, put in a carbon filter at the house inlet. Much cheaper than the filter on refrigerators.

[BlackHarley]

The ONLY down side I've noticed with a softener is the brown bacteria ring that will form in the toilets due to the lack of chlorine to kill it.

[PugMom]

go Pegasus. the water is so easy on your skin & hair, -there's no buildup and my skin is soft. i wouldn't live without it, because i can drink water right out of the tap with no nasty taste. i'm pretty sure i fill the unit with potassium. the bags are big and heavy, but for a fee Pegasus delivers it to my door and they fill my tank. it's typically a Friday delivery.

[PugMom]

Originally Posted by BlackHarley

The ONLY down side I've noticed with a softener is the brown bacteria ring that will form in the toilets due to the lack of chlorine to kill it.

use a bleach toilet cleaner or dry Comet, it comes off real easy

[PugMom]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

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.

yep, mine is set up that way

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Rocksnap

Using salt, then having the system back flush into the grass will kill the grass and/or landscaping that may be around the discharge outlet. Which is why many of us use potassium.

You may need to direct the outflow so that it doesn't kill the grass or possibly dig a French drain. But I would not run the pipe to the curb. I see several possible issues with that. The pipe could clog up in your front yard, pets could drink the water at the curb and get sick, and you don't own the right-of-way, so you may need permission from the county.

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

You may need to direct the outflow so that it doesn't kill the grass or possibly dig a French drain. But I would not run the pipe to the curb. I see several possible issues with that. The pipe could clog up in your front yard, pets could drink the water at the curb and get sick, and you don't own the right-of-way, so you may need permission from the county.

Good points.