Even if the water softener reviews online are accurate, they may not be complete. They’re generally written by people who have not purchased or installed these units themselves. While the information they share may be useful, they won’t give you the details that only someone who has used the product can give.
A review will likely tell you features and benefits of a particular softener, but not get into installation details. For example, they won’t describe how to set up a bypass in your plumbing system or how to drain waste water. These are things you typically learn after you get the unit home and have to figure out how to install it.
Since I did the installation myself I had to cut into my existing plumbing system. It was all copper so I become somewhat adept at sweating copper. Well, good enough to not cause any leaks anyway. I installed new shutoff valves to turn off water to the softener if I ever need to remove or repair it (which I never did, thankfully) but I did not put in a bypass. I realized later that a bypass is useful if want to completely isolate the water softener, and even remove it, while still maintaining water flow to the rest of the house. I never needed to do that, but it bugged me all the time because I knew I didn’t have it if I ever did need it. Ah, and about those valves, it’s best to use ball valves over gate valves. Yes, they’re more expensive, but they are very reliable and have a short throw (90 degrees) which makes them easy to use.
The unit I ended up with was a “smart” unit that had a processor built in to keep track of how much water was being used and when to regenerate. The regeneration process is noisy as the unit will flush large amounts of water through the resin bed. Also, soft water is not available to the house during the regeneration process (our unit had an internal bypass so we could still get water) so the ability to schedule what time of day the regeneration process takes place is very handy.
Whether you’re doing it yourself or hiring a plumber you will want to make sure you are not making soft water for your sprinkler system. Soft water is not good for plants or grass and would cost you a lot more money to add salt more often. This is usually a pretty easy bypass to set up.
It may be pretty apparent to you that you need a water softener. The most obvious signs are orange stains in your fixtures and soap that doesn’t suds properly when doing dishes or laundry. Sometimes it’s just a nuisance but other times it can be bad enough to clog pipes. Another big hint that you might need a water softener is if the local supermarket carries the salts needed to maintain softeners.
If it’s not so obvious in your case you can have your water tested to determine the mineral content – most of the water softener reviews will mention this and even recommend testing facilities near your area. You may even be able to just bring it to your local hardware or home store to have them test it for you.
As you look through different water softener reviews be sure they compare several well known models. You might not want to get the most expensive option, but you will want to know what the differences are. When you know the diference between a generic and a Fleck water softener, you will be better prepared to make an informed decision.
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