Salt free water softeners are becoming more popular these days as being more environmentally friendly products. These saltless units are also referred to as descalers or water conditioners. They prevent hard water scaling in the pipes, fixtures, and appliances. Instead of using salt like conventional water softeners, these units use a variety of other technologies, such as using potassium, electrical or magnetic water treatment. These systems do not produce water waste that harms the environment.
If you have hard water problems in your home and you are looking for an eco-friendly solution, the following salt free water softener reviews will help you find the best product for your home. First, you can compare the features of the best salt free water softener models in the chart, then read the reviews below.
Saltless Water Softener Reviews
1. NuvoH2O Manor Salt Free Water Softener Review
The most popular salt free water softener system is the Nuvo H2O Manor model. This model is really compact, measuring only 8×29 inches. So it’s perfect even for small condos, apartments, and other limited space residential areas.
The system uses an advanced technology based on the process of chelation. This process is eco-friendly and uses a chelating agent to attract the calcium and magnesium, making them soluble and unable to create hard water buildup, corrosion and clogging. The produced water is safe for drinking, bathing, washing, and other uses.
It’s really easy to maintain this unit, as it requires no electricity, no salt or potassium, and no waste to run.
Nuvo H20 Manor uses a filter to operate that will produce about 60,000 gallons of clean softened water, after which it will need a replacement.
2. Aquasana EQ-SS20 SimplySoft Salt-Free Water Softener Review
For those looking for a budget friendly saltless system, the top recommendation would be the Aquasana EQ-SS20 model. Alternatively, Aquasana has multifunctional units that function as a filtration and softening system in one product.
Aquasana SimplySoft has designed an innovative SLOW PHOS technology for natural conditioning of the water. It does not add sodium to the water, but instead uses a technology that reduces the attraction of hard mineral carbonate crystals to one another. So the ionic charge of hard minerals gets altered and they do not clump together, which is usually the cause of scale buildup.
The benefits of this system include that it does not demineralize the water and does not have a negative effect on the environment.
3. Scale Sentry SFSP844 Salt-Free Water Softener Review
Scale Sentry SFSP844 also does a great job of water conditioning. Additionally, the system includes a sediment and carbon whole house filter. This filter can also reduce chlorine, making the water you drink even healthier.
For water conditioning it uses special media that acts as a catalyst. It gives something the hard water mineral molecules to start their binding process on, so they don’t look for other surfaces to stick to. The result is prevention of scale buildup.
The Scale Sentry system works without electricity, salt or chemicals. It produces no waste water, so you won’t need a drain for flushing it out.
4. Apec FUTURA-10 Salt Free Water Softener Review
Apec FUTURA-10 is another saltless water softener that also includes a complementary carbon filter. So it will produced softened water with reduced chlorine, odor, bad taste, and organic compounds.
For water softening FUTURA-10 uses ceramic media that neutralizes the hard water properties, thus eliminating mineral buildup and scale. The catalytic surface of the media attracts the hard water minerals, which when attached to the ceramic granules become converted into crystals that are then carried away with the water flow. This scale resistant crystalline form is harmless and will not attach to any surfaces.
The softener requires no salt, so also no backwashing or drain.
5. Aquios FS-220 Salt Free Water Softener Review
Aquios FS-220 is also an all in one system that performs both water softening and filtering. It will prevent scale buildup, remove sediment, chlorine, as well as other undesirable materials.
The natural water softening technology used by Aquios involves a polyphosphate additive Siliphos. It does not remove the hard water minerals, but instead ensures that they don’t buildup scale.
The carbon block filter is made of commercial grade quality and delivers clean healthy water to the whole house.
The Aquios FS-220 salt free system requires very little maintenance. It requires no electricity and you won’t need to do any programming to keep the unit running.
6. Eddy Electronic Water Descaler Review
I will also recommend a water softener alternative a saltless water treatment system. This is a water descaler, so you won’t see water softening results. But if your main reason for purchasing a water softener is to reduce lime scale buildup, eliminate corrosion and clogging, then you will definitely benefit from this product.
Eddy Electronic can be easily installed onto most plastic or metal pipes. It requires no plumbing changes and just simply clips onto the incoming water supply pipe.
The system features two coils that produce an ever-changing electromagnetic field for the passing water. It does not alter the chemical hardness of the water. So you will still get the beneficial effects of calcium in the water. The system just changes the adhesion properties of the limescale and as a result you won’t have to deal anymore with mineral deposits on the surfaces.
Do Salt Free Water Softeners Work?
Many people question the concept of saltless water softening, saying that it only conditions the water. Most of these systems don’t remove the calcium and magnesium from the water. Instead they use special media that makes these hard water minerals soluble and de-ionize them. So these systems are mostly recommended for people who wish to get rid of and prevent lime scale buildup. However, many users comment that they do also see water softening effects.
So if you want real water softening results, I would still recommend getting a conventional water softener that will use salt. This way you will get all the benefits of soft water. Purchasing a salt free water softening system, you will also be able to have the benefits such as lengthened span of plumbing fixtures, water-using appliances, softer skin, softer laundry, and lower energy bills.
The Bottom Line
So while there is still a lot of debate on how effective salt free systems are at softening water, a lot of users have seen results and are getting the benefits with these products. If you are looking for the best salt free water softener system, these are the top picks for the year 2016. When compiling these salt free water softener reviews I have used the feedback of users, the level of their performance, their popularity, price, and salt free water softener ratings.
