Do Salt-Free Water Softeners Actually Function?
I talk to numerous folks every day, inside and outside the water industry, as well as the claims by numerous firms who are trying to sell salt-free, saltless or no-salt (call them what you’ll) are really confusing. Numerous are also not rooted in fact. I attempt to keep an open mind and I am receptive to new and improved technologies, but it 1st has to pass the “smell” test. Devices that “cure” a plethora of water difficulties and “one size fits all” are dead give-aways to false claims. Let the buyer beware. Frankly, most don’t do what they say. Even so, there is no reason to be confused. The German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water (DVGW) has developed protocol for testing scale prevention properties of these kinds of devices. This testing protocol is called DVGW Standard W 512.
In order to be certified by this agency, a device need to reach the threshold of being at least 80% efficient. You can find many devices throughout the world which are certified as being at least 80% efficient, but to my knowledge, there is only one such device inside the USA that achieves this level of efficiency, that being nextScaleStop manufactured by next Filtration Technologies, Inc. of Incline Village, Nevada and which is the salt totally free water conditioner US Water Systems handles, and it’s sold under the brand name “Green Wave.”
I would not be comfortable selling a product that wasn’t nearly 100% efficient at decreasing scale and had the certification to prove it! No electronic or electro-magnetic procedure does that, but there is a process called Template Assisted Crystallization that does.
Q. Do salt-free water softeners actually work? – David M., Greenville, Ohio
A. Well, I am going to have to assume that you might be referring to electronic, magnetic or media devices which are purported to “condition” water. Notice, I did not say “soften” water. In my opinion, the only way you are able to “soften” water is by removing a “hard mineral” (calcium, magnesium) and replacing it with a “soft mineral” (sodium, potassium). Conditioning may be accomplished in numerous ways:
1. Filtration – by removing sediment, silt along with other contaminants the water is boing “conditioned.”
2. Carbon Filtration – by passing the water by way of a media containing carbon to remove chemicals and chlorine.
3. Seed Crystalization – by utilizing either electrical current, magnetic or media crystalization to form “seed crystals.”
4. Oxidation – by using chlorine, potassium permanagante, hrdrogen peroxide, ozone or oxygen to oxidize contaminants in the water.
How do you tell the difference? There’s the rub. I can rely on my 36 plus years within the water conditioning business and tell you that even though I have always felt that electronic or magnetic water conditioning has some validity, no one can really articulate or prove how. There is a protocal for testing and validating these forms of water treatment devices and to date, no ecectronic or magnetic device in the United States has passed that certification. By the way, to be certified, the developer of ths protocal, called DVGW-12, has established that in order to meet the requirements, the device need to be at least 80% efficient in preventing scale. Ask to see the certification of any device which claims to condition the water by any mechanical, electronic or magnetic indicates. To date, I know of no magnetic or electronic device that mets that criteria in the USA. My guess is that it means they cannot meet that minimum threshold of 80% efficiency in preventing scale. I by no means cease to be amazed by the claims that several of these organizations make. Most of their claims have small basis in reality.
Mark Timmons “The Water Doctor” has been in the water treatment industry since 1972. He currently is Certified by The Water Quality Association as a CWS-VI, CI, CSR and has held these certifications since 1980. He writes his “Ask The Water Doctor” column for several newspapers and publications.
Mark is Vice-President of Sales and Advertising for US Water Systems, it is possible to understand more about, and get, salt totally free systems on the US Water Systems salt free water conditioners page.
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