Water Softener Recomendation? (Salt Lake City, Herriman: house, water heater, buy)

[Whatever4]

Can anyone recommended a water softener system & dealers in the area? Please also list the sytems or dealers to stay away from!

Thanks!

[kaytidid]

We have a Culligan water softener and RO system. We really enjoy our's. They can be rented or purchased and we had a 12 month interest free financing option when we bought our's.

Of course, this thread is almost 2 years old, but maybe some new people moving into the state might be interested.

[dcisive]

We've had our system, which was installed by Peak Water Systems out in Herriman now for nearly 5 years. Can't imagine being without it as the water is rock hard out there. We too have one of the reverse osmosis systems installed on our kitchen sink which provides us with very pure water to drink. They installed it very inconspicuously in our furnace room making no mess at all. We've been happy with them ever since.

[tokmik]

There are at least 80 patents filed with the US Patent Office just for "Permanent Magnet Fluid Conditioners". One of the first patents on this science was US Patent No. 531,183*, which was filed October 17, 1890 and was granted Dec 18, 1894. One of the newest patents granted in this area is US Patent No. 6,716,346* which was granted April 4, 2004. So these devices have been in use now for 115 years and there are still new patents being applied for. There is a whole other group of patents for these devices that use electro-magnetics in place permanent magnets.

If you do a search for "magnetic water conditioners" you will find (have found) many vendors of these devices that provide explanations of the science behind them (some better than others). What you typically will not find is any real specifications by which you can compare the products of the different vendors of these devices. What is even worse you will typically find statements that says that what ever their competitors are doing just will not work. These statements are just bald face lies that are not backed up by any scientific test data. water softening systems.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Hmmm, I must have lived in some awful water areas b/c I think the SLC water is excellent, both taste and smell.

[Driller1]

Originally Posted by Whatever4

Can anyone recommended a water softener system & dealers in the area? Please also list the sytems or dealers to stay away from!

Thanks!

You have the right idea. Buy local!!!!

[Zionide]

My grandfather installed and repaired water softeners for 60 years, until about 2 years ago. From going on hundreds of calls with him and listening to him explain things to customers, I'd stay away from Culligan, GE, or anything you can buy at Home Depot. I'm not too fond of local places like Superior Water & Air, either, as they're always trying to upsell you more than your area needs (and they don't have a great reputation around town).

You can do a hard water test very easily with a home test kit that will tell you how hard your water is. If it's only moderately hard, you may do fine with a Culligan/GE/Home Depot, but their water softeners are kind of the Yugo of the water softener world. Why buy that when for pretty much the same price (really!), you can buy a Lexus from a commercial manufacturer? And if you have very hard water (as is the case in many suburbs---SLC has pretty decent water naturally), you definitely want a workhorse.

Anyway, this is what I have in my home, based on my grandfather's recommendations:
A water softener from Pacific Water in Salt Lake City (801-485-6510) (I don't know the model number, but it will depend on the size of your house anyway)
A reverse osmosis system made by Bruner (I think purchased direct from Bruner, or from Hajoca in SLC... sorry, can't remember)

Now, be aware that Pacific Water is a small, local, family owned company. They're not very 21st century and don't have a website or anything (and no, I'm not affiliated with them in any way), but they build a very, very good product and know water softeners.

I installed both myself (it's not too complicated if you're relatively familiar with plumbing), but if you're not comfortable with that idea, I'd hire a local independent plumber to do it rather than a large company. Those larger companies have a vested interest in selling you more than you need. I'm happy to recommend a few individual plumbers if you DM me. Regardless, be sure that your kitchen cold water (or wherever you get your drinking water) is NOT softened, particularly if you don't get a reverse osmosis system for drinking. Soft water is not good to drink; it's only for bathing and washing. Some plumbers may tell you to just soften everything, but don't do it!

Soft water is one the best things you can do for yourself! Yes, it's a luxury, but it's SO nice for your skin.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

So how do you get the softened water to the dishwasher, laundry, and tubs but not the faucets for the frig ice-maker/water and the kitchen sink?

[Zionide]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

So how do you get the softened water to the dishwasher, laundry, and tubs but not the faucets for the frig ice-maker/water and the kitchen sink?

You plumb the water softener in after the kitchen sink and refrigerator, but before the water heater, bathrooms, or washing machine. Hot water--including at the kitchen sink--should always be soft since it feeds the dishwasher and usually the washing machine, and you're never going to be drinking it.

At my house, the water main comes in at the back of the house. Right after the main shut-off, I split it; one side runs to the kitchen sink (with a "T" for the refrigerator/ice-maker) with cold, hard water, and the other side runs to the softener. After the softener, it splits again and one side (cold, soft water) runs to bathrooms, dishwasher, washing machine; the other side of THAT split (soft, hot water) runs to the water heater, which of course provides hot water to everything---including the kitchen sink. So, really, the kitchen sink is half hard, half soft.

Oh, also, your outdoor hose bibs should also be HARD. Watering your lawn etc. with soft water is a big waste, and sometimes plants do better with the minerals in hard water anyway.

Hope that makes sense!

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Thanks, yeah, but it sounds very complicated when the basement is finished. Don't think I can manage that even with a plumber!