Let's Talk Water Conditioners

[Mark W Pugh]

OK, my current water softener has decided to die. I've been looking at saltless water conditioners. Specifically, Pelican PSE2000.

I've researched to the end of the internet, at least it feels that way. One web site has all 5 star ratings, and another has all 1 star ratings. So, conflicting reviews, as expected on the net.

I understand the difference between a softener vs conditioner, so no need to go in to that discussion. I want to protect my appliances, get rid of spotting on dishes/showers/etc.

So, the question, does anyone have a conditioner, how does it work for you, and do you recommend? How hard is your water, if you happen to know that?

Thanks

[Matt Meiser]

Probably the reason there are such a wide variety of reviews is that there are a wide variety of water conditions. Finding a local expert who will test you water and recommend a solution based on that will be far more likely to yield good results than any internet advice.

[George Bokros]

I agree with Matt. I have a Borg sourced whole house water filter to remove the chlorine and sediment, a Kinetco water softener, and Kinetico reverse osmosis system for drinking water and the ice maker.

I installed the water filter soon after we moved in and was pleased with what it did to improve the taste. We had a water softener two houses ago because we had a well and needed one. I installed a water softener from Sears in our last house because we liked the soft water. The control on the unit was problematic so I looked for something better for this house. I liked the Kinetico because the control is very simple, no electric, it regenerates as needed at any time of the day based on water usage. There are actually two softeners that is how it can regenerate any time of the day and risk drawing brine wash when you use water. It has been problem free in over 8 years. The only issue was I did not but enough lubricant on the whole house filter when I changed it and a piece of the rubber washer tore off when I installed it and the rubber was caught in the water valve on the softener.

Get a reputable analysis done on your water situation and go with what solves your water conditions.

[Larry Frank]

Matt made an important comment about water conditions. I have well water with high hardness , iron, sulfur, manganese and others. One should get a good water analysis before looking at units. Also, find the best water treatment company.

I have had the same company for 35 years. I have equipment from an Indiana company called Aqua Systems. I have an air induction filter which uses air to oxidize sulfur and iron and filters it out. After that a good water softener and a RO system for drinking water.

[Larry Foster]

Without conditioning, my water is blood red.
For years I owned my own conditioner and hauled salt.

I found that Culligan will come once a month and switch tanks for just about what salt was costing me.
Without the hassle of getting the salt and finding a place to store it.

I pay them $40/month and they come every 4 weeks.

[Lee Schierer]

Mark, if you get a water softener, make sure it recycles after a set number of gallons and not after a set number of days. Out first softener cycled every 7 days and we used lots of salt over the years. When the control for that softener died, we replaced it with a control that measured gallons of use. We use less than 10% of the salt we used to use and get the same softness of water.

Note: Most water softeners bypass the resin tank when they are recharging. There is no worry about getting salt water in your house water lines if you draw water during the recharging cycle.

[Mark W Pugh]

OK, I understand everyone's inputs.

Anyone want to speak up to the Pelican water conditioner?

[Roger Feeley]

+1 on Lee’s comment about the controller. Make sure it recycles based on usage. We had the same experience years ago where we probably recycled way too much. Our new softener hardly uses any salt at all. To be fair, it’s way oversized for our needs. But it’s what I could find at the time.

[George Bokros]

My Kenetico uses about 1# of salt per regeneration and it regenerates on gallons used.