Most people think of water softeners as a piece of equipment that requires you to constantly feed them a whole paycheck’s worth of salt. Fortunately, they have come a long way over the past few years. These units have gotten much more efficient when it comes to salt usage, but that’s just the beginning when it comes to some of the most recent advancements.
I get asked very frequently about units that don’t use salt at all (what we call saltless water softening). As I’ve mentioned in the past, if you don’t use sodium, you cannot truly remove the hardness out of the water. Those who claim the contrary have absolutely not been able to provide proof or a demonstration of the saltless system’s effectiveness. If you want a water softener that actually provides results, the bottom line is that salt water softeners are tried and true technology.
Reduced Salt Usage
When it comes to salt consumption, we now have units that use a total of 5 bags over a whole year. These units are able to reduce the amount of salt usage while still being just as effective. (Of course, the total amount of salt consumption will be relative to how much hardness is in your water and how much water you use.)
Network Capabilities
One of the improvements that has just taken place this year is WiFi capability in new models. Although water softeners have had computer boards on them for a few years, they now have an integrated WiFi adapter that allows them to be reviewed offsite. If a customer lives in an area with daylight savings time, the softener can be programmed to the proper time much more easily. These kinds of features can sometimes eliminate service calls to your home because they allow the device to be reset/reprogrammed and updated through WiFi.
Consolidated Equipment
Sometimes homes require multiple different units to be put in. Over the past few years, our manufacturer, Evolve, has combined these different units together in order to save water and reduce redundancy across multiple pieces of equipment. For example, in areas where city water has both chlorine and hardness in it, a single unit that has both the carbon and resin in it is going to use much less water when it backwashes. It will also be very efficient with the salt component as well.
Reduced Clumping
The salt in a water softener’s tank tends to get rather nasty because it would collect water and clump up, rendering it ineffective. The Evolve units that we use have a feature called dry brining. Instead of waiting until 2:00 a.m. to start the regeneration process, it actually starts at 10:00 p.m. the night before by adding some water to the brine tank. The water is able to soak up the salt so that once it starts its regeneration and it pulls the water out of the brine tank, it’s left completely dry. You won’t be left with the gunky nasty residue in the brine tank itself.
These advancements have led to water treatment systems with much more longevity. Whereas units used to last around 6-7 years, a good solid unit can now push up to 20 years if it’s well maintained. If it’s been a while since you’ve looked at your home’s water treatment options, reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing and Air today by contacting us online or giving us a call at 540-483-9382.
