Conditioner vs. Softener

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M Cole

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I'm on a private water system fed from local wells; after 8 years in this new house, I'm tired of struggling with the water hardness and resulting maintenance problems, including damaged water heater elements, scale build-up on fixtures, etc. etc. I've had great results after installing small inline RO systems for my steam humidifiers; they hardly need cleaning anymore. Aside from scale, I don't have any other complaints about water quality, taste, etc. I know there are some larger debris particles that should be filtered, but currently we don't have any whole-house filtration. Recent water tests showed 8.8 GPG of total hardness (CaCO3), so not sky high. I'm turned off by the thought of a salt-based softener system and would like to avoid it if other solutions would be effective and economical.
Question is: Are water conditioner systems (such as Scaltrol, Next Filtration Technologies, Ecoflow, and Pelican NaturSoft) worth considering? All seem to promote the logic that the scale-causing minerals are not removed by their processes, just neutralized so they cannot form scale.
 
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Reach4

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Note that RO systems do better when fed by soft water.

I am sceptical of the product you are suggesting. If they worked, there would be independent studies showing that. Do they point to such studies?
 

M Cole

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Thanks for your reply.
None of the companies I've listed have results of studies posted online. I don't intend to contact them all to request any data they can provide, but I would be willing to contact one or two if there's some hope for success. Before I go on let me say I'm a potential customer, not a salesman.
With that said, and having done another hour of research to answer your question, I've found:
Numerous negative reviews of the other types of systems , obviously more negative reviews for the more popular brands (particularly Pelican).
Some differences in how they claim to work: Scaltrol claims to use "polyphosphastes" to suspend the unwanted minerals; all the others rely on some kind of "nucleation" process to isolate the minerals. We all know how great phosphates are for things like detergents, but consequently how they're banned in certain products (such as dishwashing detergents) in certain parts of the country. I also find it interesting that the manufacturer of my water heaters (Rheem Marathon) specifically referred to Scaltrol in their old(er) installation guidelines.
Scaltrol also lists a long list of commercial and institutional clients, while the others are clearly oriented toward the residential market: http://scaltrolinc.com/about/
 

ditttohead

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We are a large manufacturer of "Water Conditioners" and the truth is that they do not work as well as softeners in most applications. Too many companies make wild claims and use dubious studies or testimonials to push their products. For wetted surface locations, some of the "anti-scale" technologies show some merit. But when it comes to surfaces where the water is allowed to dry, or where excessive heat changes occur 1e: tankless water heaters, instant hots, electric water heaters etc., these softener alternatives start to show their true weaknesses. If you are absolutely opposed to salt based softening, then the alternative technologies are your best choice. It is very important to ignore 99% of the marketing garbage written by most of the online companies touting how they have the best solution and how bad traditional softening is. Expect the water to be a little better, do not expect the same results as you would get with a true softener. We have a great article written about alternative technologies that will be available on our website in a few weeks. I am building a new site now. Remind me and I will post a link to the article.
 

M Cole

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Thanks, dittohead.
I asked Scaltrol about documentation of their systems' effectiveness, and I received a response that is more sales pitch than science. It reads, "
Thank you for your interest in Scaltrol products. We don't have any studies demonstrating the effectiveness of our systems but I have attached a couple of documents provided to us from the chemist who designed our product, Mr. John Walsh. If you have any technical questions about the chemistry involved in Scaltrol products, John can be reached at 704-905-XXXX.
I would also be happy to provide you with some homeowner references you could speak with who currently use our product."

The attachments include some "feedrate" analysis and "formulation" information for the phosphate mixture.

Looks like it's back to the softener approach.
 

ditttohead

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Funny thing, I forgot to reply regarding the scaltrol system. It does work fairly well as it is a phosphate feeder filter assembly. This is commonly used for scale control in low temperature change applications ie: ice makers or residential style tanked water heaters. For high temperature change applications (commercial dishwashers, tankless heaters etc) its effectiveness is not as good. Phosphate feeders have been around for decades and while not ideal, they do help a little with scale control. They do not soften the water in any way and they do not mitigate spotting. The scaletrol filter assembly also has a limit of 55psi, that is 25 pounds below UPC limit of 80 PSI. Clear housings should not be used in any application that has the potential for high pressure or fluctuations in pressure.

If you want to be sure, a true softener is your safest bet.
 

Tom Sawyer

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Like the old commercial said, "you can pay me now or you can pay me later". Get a softener and be done with it.
 
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