Water Softeners/Conditioners

[troy]

So way off the 2 wheel topic, but do any of you have a water softener or conditioner or reverse osmosis (RO) system in your home? WaterOne water in JoCo runs 7 to 9 grains hardness, and that's hard enough to make my lovely wife complain about what the water does to her hair & skin. My 5 year old daughter also continues to get dry, itchy, red patches (psoriasis?)--especially agitated after a bath. This could just be the heat of the bath, but I've read several testimonials from people who claim to have suffered psoriasis until they got a water softener.

18 years ago, back in Wichita, I bought a fancy Culligan whole house water softener and under-sink RO system. It was expensive, but nice to have. We enjoyed it.

So now I'm shopping again....and the technology hasn't changed one bit in 18 years except for a few salt-free "water conditioners". A leading no-salt system is from EasyWater, and it uses a special electrical charge to change the hardness molecules (primarily calcium and magnesium). While the water won't feel soft, they claim it does completely prevent scale buildup in your pipes and appliances. Some say this "tech" is snake oil.

I'm pretty sure my wife wants that silky-soft water that you can only get from the salt-based softeners, but I'm especially interested if any of you have a no-salt water conditioner and what you think of it.

[safiri]

Water softeners use an ion-exchange resin to swap Na+1 cations (positive ions) for most of the other cations in the water. Cations are formed by the metals (the left 3/4 of the periodic table). So she gets hair that feels silky and you all get a monster dose of sodium (with all of its health effects). Hence the RO under the sink: to remove the Na the softener put into the water.

If the plumbing is exposed in the basement, you could soften the bath water and leave the kitchen unsoftened (no need for a RO). Initial cost for a plumber (or a friend) to split the source, but no RO cost. In Wichita you needed to soften the kitchen water (and then remove the Na+ with RO) so as to avoid soap-scum buildup / spotting. Water in JoCo isn't that hard.

Remember that most of the minerals in our water are also found in multivitamins. In fact there has been concern expressed about people shorting themselves on mineral intake by drinking only pure water. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_hea ... chap12.pdf (I know, a UN agency. But when the UN becomes the world government ...)

http://www.easywater.com/products/no-salt-conditioner/ So they are charging the copper pipe (+) to repel the cations (prevents scale buildup) but the minerals stay in the water ... As to changing Mg+2 and Ca+2 ions into something else ... only if they are using a nuclear reactor (probably not safe for home use) or are successful alchemists (oxymoron alert).

Some good psychology here, too. I grew up in JoCo without a water softener. When bathing someplace with a softener I feel like I can't get the soap off.

[Hank Moody]

I have one of those salt water softeners (a large one) that I will give you. All you have to do is come over and pick it up. I have no idea if it works or not, it hasn't been touched since I bought the house 18 months ago.

[troy]

I have one of those salt water softeners (a large one) that I will give you. All you have to do is come over and pick it up. I have no idea if it works or not, it hasn't been touched since I bought the house 18 months ago.

Daryl, here are the possible reasons I assume for why you don't want it:

• Already had one when you moved in, and yours was better/newer.
• Don't like slippery, soft water--hard to get soap off your skin feeling
• Believe softened water is unhealthy (lack of good minerals, added sodium, etc.)

So what's up?

[troy]

Mike, thanks for the detailed reply. (Well written and had me laughing!) Yeah, I've been reading all about the science and the various arguments. I did come to the conclusion that the under-sink RO systems are sold primarily because of the need to remove the sodium added by the water softener...but they don't sell them that way. Of course, we'd have to be naive to think our city water doesn't have a lot of nasty crap in it we should not be drinking.

So far, the only 2 arguments I've heard against RO systems are:

• Your body needs lots of those things in the water--don't remove them.
• RO water is actually acidic, and your body will balance that pH by leeching from your teeth and bones.

I don't have issue with the science of these statements, but I guess I'm not real concerned with them either. I'll give up whatever small amount of good stuff in the water to remove the bad stuff and rely on getting my good minerals from food and vitamins.

There are good arguments against water softening. There are arguments against RO. I've not found any arguments against a whole-house dechlorinator. The amount of chlorine in WaterOne's water is amazing. You can use a standard swimming pool test kit to see it. When I tested mine, it was more chlorine than I kept in my swimming pool back in Wichita. I'm told you don't taste or smell it so much because they also add ammonia--producing chloraminated water, which has it's own scares. Of course, that chlorine is necessary or we'd have worse problems with bacteria. But once the water hits your house and just before you consume it, it would be good to remove that chlorine.

[katbeanz]

I clicked your rmatv link when buying tubes in the wee hours, untold riches abound.

[troy]

I clicked your rmatv link when buying tubes in the wee hours, untold riches abound.

I've got my resignation letter ready to send to my employer. It's easy money for me from now on! Thanks!

[Hank Moody]

Daryl, here are the possible reasons I assume for why you don't want it:

• Already had one when you moved in, and yours was better/newer.
• Don't like slippery, soft water--hard to get soap off your skin feeling
• Believe softened water is unhealthy (lack of good minerals, added sodium, etc.)

So what's up?

Actually, It was disconnected when I moved in and I have no problems with the water from Water One so I never had it reinstalled. So I would say #2 would be my answer plus having to buy the salt to put in the thing. Again, a free water softener all you gotta do is bring your truck over and load it up!