[Raiderman]

Yes, I know there have been threads about water softeners ad nauseum. I am more curious about anyone wh has been renting and added one.

We will be most likely paying out of pocket, so obviously want to keep the expense down. I don't think we need a whole-house, as those get to be more than we want to spend.

Ideally (bear in mind, I know nothing of how these work), I want something for the dishwasher and kitchen faucet. Is that even possible?

Our dishwasher is virtually useless, as there is a heavy film on everything when done. We have tried 8 different products that are designed for hard water, but none have worked.

Our coffee maker lasted about 3 months (it's the kind with the reservoir) until the little spigot stopped pouring coffee when the lever was depressed. We clean it every week with vinegar and water.

Any thoughts on how, as renters, we can alleviate this problem for a minimal investment?

[Packrat1]

Perhaps you could see about leasing one if they have a short term lease. I know several of the water treament businesses due that. You probably would have to eat the install fee but would be able to return the equipment at the end of the lease.

I sure wouldn't be drinking that water untreated. Also baths and showers are a lot nicer with a water system.

Maybe you could even talk your landlord into splitting it. Also many of the treament places sell their leased equipment and you could get an even better price. If the dishwasher is suffering from hard water I expect that the laundry washer is too.

[Girlesq]

I could be wrong, but when my softener was installed I was told that it bypasses the kitchen sink and the refrigerator because softened water is not safe to drink because of the sodium unless you also have a RO system or other filtration unit.

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by Raiderman

Yes, I know there have been threads about water softeners ad nauseum. I am more curious about anyone wh has been renting and added one.

We will be most likely paying out of pocket, so obviously want to keep the expense down. I don't think we need a whole-house, as those get to be more than we want to spend.

Ideally (bear in mind, I know nothing of how these work), I want something for the dishwasher and kitchen faucet. Is that even possible?

Our dishwasher is virtually useless, as there is a heavy film on everything when done. We have tried 8 different products that are designed for hard water, but none have worked.

Our coffee maker lasted about 3 months (it's the kind with the reservoir) until the little spigot stopped pouring coffee when the lever was depressed. We clean it every week with vinegar and water.

Any thoughts on how, as renters, we can alleviate this problem for a minimal investment?

Go get the Sears $400 unit. It is good for a few years and works fine. They can install it or you can...if you are a little handy. i have a guy who will if all else fails. However you do it have the loop set up so you can take it out. When you move take it with you or sell it on CL.

Note this presumes you have a softener loop in the garage. That house must have one.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by Raiderman

Any thoughts on how, as renters, we can alleviate this problem for a minimal investment?

There are plenty of problems with our water. The one that is most noticeable is the carbonate salts in the water. This is what makes our water taste bad and not clean well. It's the least of our water problems, but it's the most conspicuous.

You could solve that (and several of the serious problems in our water supply) with something akin to a Brita filter. If all you care about is drinking decent water, and the life of your coffee maker, the Brita will do fine for not a lot of money.

An undersink RO system would work fine, too. Just make sure to price out replacement membranes for the system. Like toner and printers, membranes is where all the money is eventually spent. A $100 system with $100 membranes isn't as good a choice as a $300 system with $25 membranes.

Neither of these solutions is going to get the spots off your glassware. But the water will taste better and it won't scale up your coffee maker.

I wouldn't bother with any other solution until after buying a house.

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by Girlesq

I could be wrong, but when my softener was installed I was told that it bypasses the kitchen sink and the refrigerator because softened water is not safe to drink because of the sodium unless you also have a RO system or other filtration unit.

It's not "unsafe". But almost everyone could stand less sodium in their diet, and sodium doesn't enhance the taste of drinking water IMO, while does enhance the flavor of food. So why blow a portion of your sodium budget on drinking water where it doesn't improve anything?

It's only people on sodium restricted diets that need to worry. Do the math. Ion exchange in a water softener puts two sodium ions in the water for each calcium ion taken out. Since grains per gallon of hardness is a measure of the mass of calcium carbonate in the water, you can figure (23 x 2)/(40 + 12 + 16 * 3) = .46 is the scale factor for sodium in the water vs gpg. That's where you see the figure of 8mg sodium added per grain of hardness per liter of water when you soften it - a grain per gallon is 17.1mg/liter. 17.1 * .46 = 7.866 which is close to 8.

So, using the figure of 16.7gpg from the 2013 LVVWD water report, if you soften it, you'd get 131 mg of sodium in a liter of water. That's not too much if you're on a normal diet that allows around 2000 mg/day. But if you are on a diet that restricts you to much less than that, you probably don't want to blow 1/4th your sodium budget on drinking water, but drink R/O filtered water and save the salt for food where its addition enhances the flavor.

[Raiderman]

We don't have a softener in the house. I think the Brita filter may be the route for the coffee. We don't do a lot of eating at home, just some coffee cups and an occasional plate, so washing dishes by hand may make the most sense there, too.

Thanks for the help!

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by MediocreButArrogant

save the salt for food where its addition enhances the flavor.

Sodium enhances the flavor of water, too. Have a look at the sodium contents of the most popular mineral waters. My favorite water, Apolliinaris (one of a handful of naturally-sparkling mineral waters)*, has 470 mg per liter.

* Unfortunately, now owned by Coca-Cola.


PS -- Raiderman, you may need to run your water through the Brita twice. That's what we did until we installed the whole-house RO system. You are welcome to drop by and see our water system, incidentally.

[skugelstadt]

Originally Posted by Raiderman

Yes, I know there have been threads about water softeners ad nauseum. I am more curious about anyone wh has been renting and added one.

We will be most likely paying out of pocket, so obviously want to keep the expense down. I don't think we need a whole-house, as those get to be more than we want to spend.

Ideally (bear in mind, I know nothing of how these work), I want something for the dishwasher and kitchen faucet. Is that even possible?

Our dishwasher is virtually useless, as there is a heavy film on everything when done. We have tried 8 different products that are designed for hard water, but none have worked.

Our coffee maker lasted about 3 months (it's the kind with the reservoir) until the little spigot stopped pouring coffee when the lever was depressed. We clean it every week with vinegar and water.

Any thoughts on how, as renters, we can alleviate this problem for a minimal investment?

Have you tried bottled water for your coffee maker?

[Raiderman]

Originally Posted by skugelstadt

Have you tried bottled water for your coffee maker?

I haven't.. I would think a Brita or Pur on the faucet would be more cost effective.. although bottled water is pretty cheap in this town. We were toying with the idea of 5 gal dispenser, also. If I remember correctly, those can be leased as well.