I just moved into a new place with some really hard water. I know that hard water can cause all sorts of problems with your appliances/pipes over the long run, and short term requires more cleaning products to get things clean.
I'm also resistant to getting a salt water softener.
Does anyone know of any good replacement for a salt water softener, or some other simple solutions to help?
Thanks!
Hmm, I don't have too much personal experience in this department but I did a little research. I came across two different electronic water softeners which supposedly work to adjust the minerals in your water without the use of salt or chemicals. One of them is the Easy Water system and the other is the ClearWave electronic water softener.
I'm not really scientific enough to quite get how they electromagnetic signals work to alter the state of the minerals in the water...but they sound like potentially a good option.
I had seen the Easy Water system - and upon further investigation had found a review from a chemical engineer that had claimed it was a rediculous claim. I was dissappointed too - it sounded great.
I'm beginning to think that the only solution will be to suffer with the hard water - or try to get the most efficient salt softener I can afford. I just wonder which would be the worst long term impact - adding salt / chemicals to the environment or having to replace pipes / appliances and use more cleaners. Most likely I will deal with the hard water for a while.
I had seen the Easy Water system - and upon further investigation had found a review from a chemical engineer that had claimed it was a rediculous claim. I was dissappointed too - it sounded great.
Yeah, I was wondering about that...these are the times I wish I knew more about chemistry and what not.
Well..in the meantime, I believe the Lemi Shine dish soap and the rinse agent are specially formulated to work in hard water...so at least your dishwasher might be able to do it's job with just one go. And I'll keep an eye out for other more legit hard water solutions.
The products Stins recommends I have used and are a good solution... dealing with the water as-is is likely your best option.
If you go with a salt-based water softener, I would not be too concerned about "adding salt" to the environment. Salt is natural, and is not only plentiful, but obviously dominates our oceans... If your salt supply is sea salt, even better as you are salt-neutral with the oceans...
Salt is a problem for a number of reasons, I don't remember off hand as we've had our water softener for several years now, but my research lead me to avoid using salt.
Instead of using salt pellets, we use potassium which doesn't appear to be as bad for the environment, plants, and water treatment facilities.
