Questions · Water treatment
Salt or salt free?
A salt based softener removes the hardness mineral through ion exchange, so the water leaving it is genuinely soft. A salt free conditioner does not remove it; it changes the mineral so it is less likely to stick. In hard Valley water that difference shows up in how much scale you still see.
Salt based softeners
- Actually remove hardness, measurably
- Need salt added and a drain for the regeneration cycle
- Take space for a brine tank
- Are what most Valley houses get when the goal is protecting the heater and the fixtures
Salt free conditioners
- Do not remove hardness, so the mineral is still in the water
- Aim to stop scale sticking rather than stop scale existing
- Need no salt, no brine tank and no drain, which suits some installs
- Are chosen where a drain or the space for a brine tank is genuinely not available
How to judge a claim
A softener's job can be measured: water leaving it is soft or it is not. A conditioner's claim is about behavior, which is harder to see and easier to overstate. If somebody promises that a salt free unit will soften your water, that is the wrong word, and it is fair to ask them what exactly the unit removes.
We would rather tell you which question you are actually trying to answer than sell you the unit with the better brochure.
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Answers
Is salt free better for plants?
That worry is about the drain water from a softener's regeneration cycle, not about the water at your faucet. Where landscape watering is the concern, the answer is usually about where that drain goes, which is worth looking at rather than assuming.
Does a salt softener put much sodium in the water?
The exchange adds a small amount relative to what most people eat. Where it matters medically, a drinking water system at the sink is the usual answer rather than doing without a softener.
Which one protects a water heater?
Removing hardness is what keeps mineral out of the tank, so that is the salt based system. A conditioner aims at scale sticking, which is a different and smaller claim.
If you need this done
- Water softenersValley water is some of the hardest in the country. A softener removes the minerals that scale fixtures, spot glass and shorten a water heater's life.
- Whole-home water filtrationCuts sediment, chlorine and taste at every faucet, installed with a bypass so it's easy to service.
- Where we workEvery town and ZIP across the Valley we cover.
In-home estimate
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We come out, look at the problem and explain what it needs before any work starts. For something urgent, calling is fastest.
Rather talk? Call or text (602) 833-4133.