Water softener installers

[nrpvk]

We had ours done by a plumber. He purchased the water softener system as well. The cost was almost half of what the name-branded companies quoted. Unfortunately the plumber no longer services the Irvine area.

That's really unfortunate. Thank you for sharing your experience. Which model did your plumber install?

 

[zovall]

Mind elaborating what was a pain about your install? I've had 2 vendors come out (including Diamond Pure) and they couldn't identify a suitable drain location (without tapping into walls to look for a drain pipe). Well, Diamond Pure gave option to route drain to a clean out port on the garage floor, but it would involve routing the small drain piping on the garage floor and putting a protective plate over it so cars could still drive in. Didn't seem visually appealing.

We decided we wanted the softener outside due to limited space in the garage. We had it placed in our side yard behind the concrete wall. The water comes into the home from the other side of the gate (where the green hose in the picture is). So, they had to route two pipes through the bottom of the wall. The drain went from the softener to the ground, underneath the door, and into the drain for the pool pump. The power comes from the garage and they made a small hole for that cable. I'll take a picture of what it looks like now (give me a couple days).

 

[sgip]

We had a new neighbor move in nextdoor and one of the first things they did was install a water softener. The tanks (2) and other equipment sit 3 feet from their front door, outside, and clearly visible from the street. The sub-HOA hasn't made a peep about the location but I'm amazed to see it where it is. Who knew such things were possible!

Might want to check with your installer if the conditioned water flow also goes through your irrigation or yard hoses. Depending on your system the salt or potassium may wreak havoc on your landscaping.

 

[mythicquest]

Against the grain here a bit, but I?ve used Lifesource and was very happy. It?s a conditioner aka salt free, and there?s many discussions on the internet re what is true softening vs conditioning, but for my use it was exactly what I wanted. Very expensive and proprietary, but zero maintenance. I chose this for whole house conditioning and filtering and opted against RO for my last house setup. I?ll be moving into a new house in a couple months and planning to do this setup again.

I?ve had regular salt softeners before lifesource and personally I won?t be going back.

 

[CalBears96]

Against the grain here a bit, but I?ve used Lifesource and was very happy. It?s a conditioner aka salt free, and there?s many discussions on the internet re what is true softening vs conditioning, but for my use it was exactly what I wanted. Very expensive and proprietary, but zero maintenance. I chose this for whole house conditioning and filtering and opted against RO for my last house setup. I?ll be moving into a new house in a couple months and planning to do this setup again.

I?ve had regular salt softeners before lifesource and personally I won?t be going back.

It's good that you're happy with your water conditioner. However, if you have hard water, the water conditioner does absolutely nothing for it.

Water hardness is the total calcium and magnesium ion concentration in a water sample and is expressed as the concentration of calcium carbonate.

A water conditioner removes chlorine, chloramines, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and other undesired contaminants altering the smell and taste of your water. In other words, it is closer to a RO than a water softener.

Personally, living out there in the Inland, I could feel the difference on the water hardness during the period of time when my water softener broke. The hard water was not a good feeling.

 

[Danimal]

Against the grain here a bit, but I?ve used Lifesource and was very happy. It?s a conditioner aka salt free, and there?s many discussions on the internet re what is true softening vs conditioning, but for my use it was exactly what I wanted. Very expensive and proprietary, but zero maintenance. I chose this for whole house conditioning and filtering and opted against RO for my last house setup. I?ll be moving into a new house in a couple months and planning to do this setup again.

I?ve had regular salt softeners before lifesource and personally I won?t be going back.

It's good that you're happy with your water conditioner. However, if you have hard water, the water conditioner does absolutely nothing for it.

Water hardness is the total calcium and magnesium ion concentration in a water sample and is expressed as the concentration of calcium carbonate.

A water conditioner removes chlorine, chloramines, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and other undesired contaminants altering the smell and taste of your water. In other words, it is closer to a RO than a water softener.

Personally, living out there in the Inland, I could feel the difference on the water hardness during the period of time when my water softener broke. The hard water was not a good feeling.

This is exactly what I?ve been told from several vendors when I was looking to install a system for my current home.  I just hated the calcium deposits on sinks, showers?There are salt free water softener systems out there but they dont work that well. Unless you want to taste the water everywhere in your house ( drinking in a shower maybe? ), water conditioner is not necessary. A water softener and RO at the sink for drinking and ice maker should be sufficient.

 

[mythicquest]

It's good that you're happy with your water conditioner. However, if you have hard water, the water conditioner does absolutely nothing for it.

Water hardness is the total calcium and magnesium ion concentration in a water sample and is expressed as the concentration of calcium carbonate.

A water conditioner removes chlorine, chloramines, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and other undesired contaminants altering the smell and taste of your water. In other words, it is closer to a RO than a water softener.

Personally, living out there in the Inland, I could feel the difference on the water hardness during the period of time when my water softener broke. The hard water was not a good feeling.

Well, I wasn't talking about water conditioners in general, just Lifesource. I specifically chose LS because I was looking for a way to neutralize mineral deposits from the water without a salt based system, and LS is the only commercial product that I found at the time that offered template assisted crystallization (TAC). That's not a feature in any other conditioner that I've researched, and the whole point of it is to crystalize the Mg and Ca ions so that they don't deposit in the water heating systems or fixtures. That's the key here and why it's misunderstood that LS is just a water conditioner. You're right about water conditioners in general, which is why the Falsken water conditioner offered by IP as a builder option is not useful.

Granted, I do not like the complete proprietary nature of Lifesource (and it's damn expensive, even back then and probably more now), but they use TAC and I do know TAC technology because we use it in applications for industrial settings. In fact, I first learned of TAC because of it's use in commercial settings where minerals need to be neutralized/softened for use in large scale industrial machinery/devices. In those situations, of course we don't use salt softeners and instead use tech such as TAC to run the water through to prevent mineral deposits. Ultimately, I didn't care to or need to remove all the Mg and Ca ions from my water, I just want clean water filtered whole house that won't deposit inside my water heater or on my fixtures/hardware, and for that I have achieved my goal.

I totally hear you about IE water tho, that water is so hard you can chew it lol

I have other reasons for not wanting to drink RO water. Pure water without minerals will actually leech minerals from the body, increasing risk of mineral deficiency. Same reason you don't RO the whole house, the pure water will leech the minerals from the pipes. In residential settings, most regular RO systems are fine because those systems aren't going filter out ALL the minerals... but without re-mineralization, I don't find the taste of RO water pleasant at all. I do love crystal clear RO water ice though

 

[bitmaster20]

That's really unfortunate. Thank you for sharing your experience. Which model did your plumber install?

Clack WS1 control valve with 48k grain capacity

 

[zovall]

I'll take a picture of what it looks like now (give me a couple days).

Here's the picture of what it looks like now. And also a pic of where they routed the pipes through that wall.