What about "No-Salt" Water Conditioners?

The new whole house water conditioners are all the rage. Infomericials about them promise low maintenance, no salt softened water.  But can you really stop buying salt and get the same results as you get with a traditional water softener?

The advertising for a no-salt system draws you in.  Who wouldn't want to stop buying salt?  But what the advertising doesn't tell you is that you will not get the same sustaining results without the salt.

The “No-Salt” type systems include magnets, electro-magnets, electrical frequency, and crystallization polymers. All of these systems claim to change the structure of hardness minerals that prevents scale from forming.  Many have only supplied information that is generated from within their companies. Some may refer to “Customer Successes”, but it is being reported from within.

The main problem with all no-salt systems is that you can’t verify that they are doing anything. There is not a test that can show a difference in water before and after the treatment. There is not a detectable difference in the feel of the water, the reaction with soaps, or with laundry. The water before and after the treatment is the same.

So that leaves you with one claimed benefit, scale prevention. The problem with this is that you can’t see inside of the plumbing. So you can’t know if it is having any effect on scaling. You are left to have faith that scale is not forming inside your plumbing. You can’t see it, verify it, or prove the PWC is working. If you disconnect a water softener, and install any PWC, you will immediately get white crust forming all over your fixtures. You will also immediately lose the soft water feel while bathing.

The use of salt is a great tradeoff to problems caused by hard water. Soft water reduces energy consumption used to heat water, saves appliances from un-necessary wear, reduces soaps, and eliminates the need for harsh cleaning products. These claims are not internally generated, hyperbole, they are known facts and confirmed by various third party testing. All of these benefits are achieved with something natural we get from the ground called salt.

In summary, dig deep for the facts. If you want soft water, you can’t get it from “No-Salt” water conditioners. If you love soft water, and you want minimal salt consumption, and you still want to get a great shower, it can all be done with a water softener from PB&J Water.