In the United States, over 85% of households have hard water. Hard water is water that has an increased amount of minerals (primarily Calcium and Magnesium).

On the surface this may sound harmless, but the side effects of hard water affect almost every household task and can add many expenses to your monthly budget. Hard water makes it more difficult to clean your shower and tub because of the minerals that build up and leave soap scum. Hard water can also leave your skin and hair dry and your laundry dull and stained.

Criteria:

A good water softener system should :

When looking for a whole house water softener you want to make sure that you get the correct size for the needs of your household. If you get one that has a higher capacity than you need, you will be wasting money, but if you get one with a lower capacity it won’t be as effective.

Another thing to look for is how the unit regenerates. The two most common methods for regeneration are using a timer to regenerate at particular time intervals and metered regeneration, which measures the water using a meter. The meter regeneration method is preferred, because it wastes less water and electricity and will save you money in the long run since it only regenerates itself when necessary.

Pros

Once installed this unit starts working immediately and customers rave about how effective it is at solving their hard water problems. Not only will everything that uses water in your home be cleaner, but it will also save you money on your water bill because it will meter your actual water use and only regenerate when necessary. However, there is also a delayed meter regeneration option so you can set the unit to regenerate at a particular time if you’d like. The unit is easy to use, with a digital LCD display and touch screen controls that you don’t need a lot of technical knowledge in order to work. It also comes with a 10-year warranty on the tanks and a 5-year warranty on the electronics.

Cons

Although there are plenty of pros to this unit, some people find the installation to be a challenge. The company says that installation will take a few hours and only require basic plumbing skills, but some customers found it impossible to install on their own. However, there were also buyers who stated that as long as they prepared the tools ahead of time it really wasn’t too difficult to install. Another recommendation is to buy Shark Bite fillings, which will make the installation easier.

Conclusion

Fleck water softeners are known as some of the best water softeners on the market, with the Fleck 5600SXT being the most popular. Although it may be priced slightly higher than some of the units in its range, the quality is equal to that of a much more expensive unit.

If you are in the market for a whole home water softener, this is the unit I would recommend.

Hard water is a common problem that affects a majority of households. The high mineral content of hard water causes unpleasant soap scum and limescale build up. Long term, this buildup could lead to inefficient furnaces and water heaters.

To avoid the potential problems hard water can cause it is wise to consider a water softener. A water softener removes a large amount of the minerals from the water.  More in-depth information can be found on our “How a water softener works” page.

There are two types of water softeners, salt and salt-free.  Unlike salt-based water softener systems, a salt free water softener is practically maintenance free and almost as effective as salt based softeners at solving your hard water problems.

With all the available choices how will you know which is the best system for you? Take a look at our Best Water Softener page which reviews both salt and no-salt water softeners.

This page focuses on salt-free water softeners. Here are the best no salt water softeners on the market to help you narrow it down.

Conclusion

When looking for a salt-free water softener system the choices can be overwhelming.

Each of these salt-free water softener systems offers its own benefits and it is important to know what you need in your home before purchasing. These units are some of the best salt free water softeners on the market and you can’t go wrong with purchasing any of them.

They all use their own innovative technology to protect your appliances and your health from the limescale deposits caused by hard water.  Some even reverse the previous damage.

You can look forward to clean showers and glasses without spots after running the dishwasher.

Clean water is important to many people. Reverse osmosis is one of the best methods for removing contaminants from water. A list of contaminants can be found on our Types of Water Contamination page.

The APEC RO-90 has impressive user reviews on AMAZON and other consumer review sites. Below is a list of APEC RO-90 features, pros and cons and our thoughts on whether it is worth the money. Other RO filters are compared on our Best Reverse Osmosis Filter Systems page.

Criteria

As mentioned above, APEC RO-90 is a reverse osmosis water filter system. It is a five-stage reverse osmosis system that eliminates 99% of contaminants such as arsenic, chlorine, fluoride, lead, copper, and selenium. Removing such contaminants eliminates risks of health related complications, improves taste and removes odor.

A good RO system should :

The APEC RO-90 satisfies all these standards. The system is easy to install and the company provides support throughout the lifetime of the product.

Product Overview

APEC RO-90 produces bottled-water-quality water from your tap and in the largest quantities of any of the APEC RO Filters. The contaminant-free water can be used for drinking, cooking, making tea, coffee or ice cubes. The system has a very high rejection rate, making it highly efficient in the elimination of organic and inorganic contaminants.

Contaminants (Removes 97% or more)

5 Stage Filter System

The system has five filters. The first filter is the sediment filter that removes silt, dust, rust and other large particles. It is essential for the prolonged life of the other filters. The next two filters are carbon block filters that remove chlorine, bad taste, and unpleasant odor. These filters also remove other chemicals including VOCs. The fourth filter is a high-quality reverse osmosis filter responsible for the removal of 99% of contaminants. The final filter is a Coconut Shell Refining Carbon filter that polishes the water by removing odor and improving taste. You may need to change the water filters after 1,000 gallons of water pass through the system.

Capacity

APEC RO-90 has a capacity of 90 gallons per day. Its tank, which measures 11 × 11 × 15 inches, can hold 4 gallons at a time. The tank fills in about 2-3 hours, according to the manual. Any time the tank fills up the system ceases running. The water filtration system runs on water pressure alone, no power supply or fuel is needed.

Requirements

APEC RO-90 can handle water with a pH value between 2 and 11 and temperature between 40 and 100° Fahrenheit. For efficient filtration of water, the feed water should have pressure above 40psi. The system’s dimensions are 16 × 5.25 × 17.5 inches (w × d × h). The dimensions allow installation under the sink. The fittings are high quality, with no extra clipping needed. The fittings are leak free, eliminating any need for leak detectors.

Pros

Advantages of the APEC RO-90 include;

Cons

Even an excellent product has a few drawbacks; These drawbacks are common for all RO filter systems.

Conclusion

For less than $300, the APEC RO-90 delivers what the company promises. You will get quality and clean drinking water with this low maintenance water filter. We highly recommend this product.

While other articles on this site, focus on picking the best water softener with specific reviews, this article will answer the question “how does a water softener work?”

To understand the concept of water softening and its advantages, we must first learn about the types of water. Depending upon the amount of dissolved minerals in our water, we have two types of water: hard water and soft water.

Water picks up minerals such as magnesium and calcium when it passes through the soil and rock underground. The amount of minerals in the water determines the hardness of water. If there is a high concentration of minerals in a gallon of water, it will be called hard water compared to a gallon of water with only a few minerals.

Hard water is not harmful but it is undesirable because it can clog pipes and reduce water flow.

Hard water also causes problems when used in daily tasks around the home such as cleaning dishes, bathing or laundry. Hard water does not form enough lather and usually leaves a sticky scum when it comes in contact with soap. This makes washing off soil and bacteria difficult, and leaves the skin and hair feeling dry and dull

Washing laundry with hard water doesn’t completely clean the clothes and can damage clothes in the long run. It is preferable that household water doesn’t contain these minerals. The process of removing these minerals is known as softening of water.

The hardness of the water is due to minerals like calcium and magnesium saturating the water. The act of softening of water is removing these minerals.

(Click Infographic to Enlarge)

Water softeners work on the principle of ion exchange where the harmful minerals are replaced with another mineral. In the case of salt based water softeners, these minerals are replaced with sodium.

A water softener is a mechanical device that is attached to the household water supply system where the water enters the home. After exiting the water softener, the soft water is then sent to the different water faucets in the home.

A water softener consists of a softener tank which has thousands of tiny resin beads or zeolites, which are basically polystyrene beads. The resins are coated with sodium positive ions. The resin beads attract and bind the magnesium and calcium ions present in hard water.

Calcium and magnesium have a positive charge and they switch positions with the sodium ions on the resin bead as water is pumped through the beads. Water coming into the softener has calcium and magnesium minerals. Water exiting the water softener will have sodium ions..

After some time, the beads are saturated with calcium and magnesium and the water exiting the water softener is hard again. To remove the calcium and magnesium from the resin beads, a regeneration cycle is required.

A strong saltwater (brine) solution (created using common salt in a separate brine tank) is used to wash away the minerals collected by the beads. Calcium and magnesium ions are displaced by the high concentration of sodium ions in brine solution, and the resin gets coated with new sodium ions. The salty rinse water, and the minerals are flushed down the drain and a cycle has been completed. This is known as recharging of the resin, and the process is repeated every few days.

Trigger a Recharge Cycle

The process of recharging can be controlled in a variety of ways.

The most common method is the use of electric timers which automatically flush away the rinse water and minerals through the drain on a fixed scheduled time.

The second method is to use an electronic device or mechanical meter to measure the amount of water usage. The device starts the regeneration process once the set amount of water has passed through the mineral tank.

There are some arguments against salt-based water softeners.

The main argument is that minerals like magnesium and calcium are healthy and beneficial to us and they are being replaced by sodium. Sodium can be harmful to both our health as well as the environment.

Also, the cost of maintenance can be high, and the cost of buying salt must be factored into your budget.

Is A Salt-Less Water Softener Good?

Water softeners have been developed that don’t use salt at all. These are the salt-less water softeners. Technically they don’t soften the water because the hard minerals aren’t removed from the water. Instead they are crystallized so they don’t adhere to the surface of clothes or utensils.

The term “water conditioners” or “descalers” is used to describe these devices instead of water softeners. They use either magnets to “condition” the water.

Usually permanent magnets are fixed to either the inside or outside of water pipe. The magnetic field from the magnets crystallizes the minerals.

Another alternative is using an electromagnet – an electrical current carrying wire – around the water pipe which performs the same function as the magnets.

But Is a Salt-Less Water Softener Effective?

In a word, No.

Although salt-less water softeners are cheaper and easier to maintain than salt type water softeners, studies suggest they aren’t as effective.

Many people argue that the laundry is not as soft and the whites aren’t as white when salt-free water softeners are used.

The use of salt-less water softeners is limited. Salt based water softeners are much more popular than salt-less water softeners.

In many areas, water softeners are a necessity because of the issues caused by hard water if not treated properly.

We have discussed “how do water softeners work” with an overview of removing the problematic minerals magnesium and calcium that build up over time. This “scale” is what you’re trying to prevent.

These minerals don’t form lather easily and mess up the cleaning process.

More importantly, they cause buildup of scale in water pipes which if not treated at the earliest would become a huge issue in the long run. The replacement of pipes would result in huge costs and inconvenience.

It is important to invest in good water softening equipment and there are two main options available.

One uses salt such as sodium in the recharging cycle of resin beads.

The second is a salt-free water conditioner that is popular due to concerns related to sodium intake and is a cheaper alternative. It uses either magnetic or electric fields to neutralize the minerals. It also has a much simpler set-up and is less costly (no monthly salt purchases).

As is the case to every technology, there are pro and cons to every alternative.

Water softeners with salt are preferred because of their reliability and efficiency.

Ultimately it comes down to the preference of each individual but this article has given an overview of the different types of water softeners.  For a more detailed look at water softener options, look at our best water softeners reviews page.