The Truth of Water - Answers

Nadia from Bettendorf Writes:

I was very interested in your site and am looking for an advice. I am currently reseaching two companies and their products but finding it very difficult to compare them. I would like to install a RO system for drinking water. I would also like to remove clorine and hardness from all the water in the house. I contacted Eco water and was advised an RO system with 3 gal tank and a water conditioner/purifier model ERR 3502
http://ecowater.com/systemERR3502R30.php
There are 6 of us in the house. I am wondering if 3 gal worth of drinking water is enough and if this purifier is big enough for us. It has coconut shell carbon filter.
The other salesman I talked to was from Culligan. He recommended 9 gal RO system. like this one:
http://www.culligan.com/en/products/drinking-water-systems/aqua-cleer/
He did not even want to go the whole system route. I need to check with him but I think he thought the amount of carbon that is included in those 2-in-1  (so to speak )systems would not be adequate. He said we would need a softner and a carbon filter tank - seems like a lot.
My question is what RO tank we need and if this coconut shell filter is enough.
The eco-water system carbon filter needs to be replaced every year for $100 while Culligan lasts 2-3 years but the price is $200 plus labor. So they are comparable this way.
I do not know why Culligan did not recommend this system
http://www.culligan.com/en/products/whole-house-water-filters/total-home/
Even though he was showing me the picture of Gold seried water softener that looks exactly like this one.  I think he was afraid that we would be going thru salt and carbon too fast.

Also, how would I compare water softners (valve, salt, etc) I am not sure what to look at.

I really appreciate your advice in this matter. I have kids who cannot tolerate bad water so I am trying to get the most bang for my $.

Hi Nadia

Thank you for writing in.

First off, since you mentioned chlorinated water, I’ll assume that you’re on municipal water.  If that’s not the case, please write back and let me know, as my answer will change.

My thoughts on reverse osmosis systems are that they are an absolute last resort device.  I’ve only recommended them a few times, like a woman in Manitoba who had high levels of uranium in her drinking water, for example.

This is because reverse osmosis is very expensive, produces only a small amount of water (some systems reject up to 50% of the water that goes into them), and produces water that is lower in pH and had no minerals which most health professionals agree is part of a healthy diet.

If you like the taste of de-mineralized water, then by all means purchase a reverse osmosis system.  You will probably need one larger than 3 gallons for a 6 person home, as it will produce the three gallons slowly.  If you drain the storage tank filling water bottles, or cooking a large pot of pasta, it will recover slowly.

Contrary to what water stores may have you believe, here in North America municipally treated water is safe to drink and use right out of the tap.  The only concerns with that water are the chlorine, which offer objectionable taste to some, and sometimes the hardness which makes washing chores more difficult.

My recommendation is a two fold process:

1) Carbon filtration and softening for most of your house
2) Carbon filtration only for your drinking water

In my municipality, I use a filter by a company called Kinetico.  The reason I use these filters is that they have a twin tank design for redundancy, meaning even if the unit is in a backwash mode you still get water.  They also do not require any electricity at all, and operate on water pressure. This saves a lot of hassle, wasted electricity and the potential for issues if you have power surges or black outs.

Kinetico makes a softener/carbon filter product that operates in this principle, so you will get soft, dechlorinated water for showering, washing, and laundry.  Check it out here:

http://www.kinetico.com/KineticoSystems/WaterSofteners.aspx

Scroll down to view the municipal water softeners.  I wholly recommend Kinetico products to be of top quality and reliability.  You may pay a little more than the Culligan systems but I think you will be pleased.

The reason I do not recommend softened water for drinking is because softened water adds a lot of sodium. The harder your water is, the more sodium it will add. This is especially a problem for those with heart problems or sodium restricted diets; but most health professionals agree too much sodium from water and/or food isn’t a good thing for your health.

When you get the softener installed, make sure your plumber plumbs a line from before the softener to the kitchen sink, where you will take your drinking and cooking water.

From there, my recommendation is to use a carbon filter.  Carbon removes chlorine, chloramines, and even some organics that may be present that might hamper taste.

You can get carbon filters in many forms.  Under the sink units with it’s own tap, under the sink that ties into the existing tap, units that attach right to your tap, and jugs with a built in carbon filter.

To see examples of this technology, I put together a simple Amazon web page.  Any of these carbon filters will do you just fine to improve the taste of your water:

http://www.truthofwater.com/store.html

One of the filters even comes with removable flavor cartridges.

The advantages of carbon systems such as this are that it works off direct pressure, so there is no “gallon limit”.  The filter cartridges are very inexpensive to replace compared to R.O. as well.

Elizabeth from Pheonix, AZ writes:

I live in Phoenix, Arizona, home to insanely hard water–according to the 2007 Phoenix CCR report, the lowest detected level of total hardness was 200 ppm/12 grains per gallon, and the highest was 341 ppm/20 grains per gallon. It is my understanding that anything over 7 grains/gallon is considered to be hard, which makes our water supply EXTREMELY hard.

My dilemma is this: while I would like to get a whole-home filtering or softening system due to soap scum on dishes, gunk in my laundry, scaling in the pipes, shower soap scum, and many other seemingly hard water related misfortunes, I live in a rented condo and therefore can’t install anything like a whole-home system. However, I would like to do something about the water in my shower, as the hardness seems to take a very detrimental toll on my hair and skin.

What I’m confused about is whether a filter, such as the Aquasana shower filter (http://www.aquasanastore.com/aq-shower-filter.html), would be adequate for improving the effect of the water on my hair/skin, or if I need a specific water *softener*, not a filter. I know very little about chemistry, so while I have tried to read up on water softening/filtering, it’s hard for me to really understand what’s what–especially given all of the misleading pseudoscience out there when it comes to water.

Thanks so much for reading this, and hopefully you can help me out!

Hi Elizabeth, thanks for writing in.

Twenty grains hard is indeed very hard water.  Water hardness is caused by minerals in your water - mostly calcium but also magnesium and other trace minerals.  What happens with these minerals is they react with the soap you use, forming a precipitate you would call scum. Therefore, it takes more soap and a longer time to actually get yourself clean.  The same is true for your laundry and other cleaning activities.

There are two ways to remove excess hardness from your water. The first is by using reverse osmosis filtration, which removes everything. However, R.O. filtration is very expensive solution.  Most home water treatment companies only sell small systems that treat a few gallons a day for drinking and cooking.  A system that could produce enough water for showering and washing activities would be cost prohibitive for the average home owner.

The second - and more economical method - is by a chemical process known as “ion exchange”.  In this process, the calcium and other hardness atoms are “grabbed” by a resin media and in place the media gives back a sodium atom.  Sodium atoms do not react with soap and therefore there’s no scum formation and you get a better clean using less soap.

Because this ion exchange process uses up sodium atoms, they must be replaced. All units us a brine solution to do this.  You fill the machine with softener salt, and when it needs a regeneration it goes into a regeneration cycle, washing the calcium away from the resin and replacing it with sodium. That process ensures that you always have softened water available from the machine.

The shower filter you mentioned in your question will do a good job at removing chlorine from your shower water (until the carbon in the filter is used up) but it will not remove any hardness and you will still end up with the same problems you had before.

Unfortunately, to get properly softened water, there is no way of getting around installing a unit in your plumbing.  However, I did find something that may be of use to you.

There’s a large, well known water treatment company called Kinetico.  They specialize in home treatment, commercial, industrial and municipal treatment.  They manufacture a special softener for apartments, condos and other smaller spaces that is small enough to fit under a sink.

Here’s a picture of the unit, and dimensions to show it’s size:

The unit does not require electricity, it uses water pressure to power a timer and to power the regeneration cycle.  The unit also uses salt blocks, which you simply drop into the machine when they have been consumed.

You will need a plumber to install this unit. It will probably be best in a laundry room, as the unit has a drain that discharges during the regenration cycle.  You will need to shut off the water as well, to install this unit.  It is my understanding that all apartments have a water shut off valve to them, as it is not practical to turn off water to the entire building to do repairs only to one apartment.

If you want to find out more about this unit, it is a Kinetico 2020 compact softener.  You can click here, it will take you to the Kinetico locator website to find a Kinetico dealer closest to you.  They have professionals who will most likely be able to sell and install this unit for you.

I hope I’ve helped you today. If would like further clarifications or have any other questions, please do not hesitate to write in again.

Pete from Henderson, NC writes:

Does the EasyWater water softening product work?  I have seen a lot of discussion of this but would like to know if this has been tested and if so does it really work?

Hi Pete, thanks for the question.

Most people want water softeners because of the effect that hard water has on detergents and soaps.  The harder your water, the harder it is to get a lather from your soap.  This is because the components that make your water hard - dissolved calcium, magnesium, and other trace minerals - react with the soap to form a precipitate, or what you would call “scum”.

The key here is that regardless as to what form your dissolved calcium is in, as long as it is dissolved and in your water supply it will continue to react with your soaps and detergents and produce that undesirable effect.

I went to the Easy Water website.  There are a few key elements I found there:

• The main focus of the website was on how harmful sodium is, and how traditional methods add sodium to water.
• They claim only to reduce and remove scale, there’s nothing about effects with soap or detergents
• The only third party proof they have is some questionable photos of what they claim is calcium in tree like branches before hand and little smooth droplets after wards
• They post no data that they’ve had third party accreditation of this technology proving it works in blind studies
• The only other resources they do have points to articles on how unhealthy too much sodium is for you

This electronic water softener claims to send “electronic pulses” that change the state of the calcium ion.  Regardless, if it’s still there dissolved in the water, it will still cause problems.

The website does not address the science behind softening, it does not give any valid references to real studies and tests that has been done, it uses clever marketing and health scare tactics to try and drive sales.

To go into the actual and proven methods of softening, there are three ways:

1. ion exchange
2. sequestering
3. reverse osmosis filtration

Sequestering involves the addition of chemicals to “bind” the calcium in the water, rendering it ineffective for scale formation or reaction with soap or detergents.  This is generally done with boilers and large industrial heating systems, as sequestering chemicals do not make good drinking water.   Reverse osmosis filtration removes everything, and is extremely expensive for whole house water flows.

Ion exchange, for a home owner, is currently the most viable and trusted way to soften your home water.  It is a tried and true method, has been proven over and over again, and simply works, no questions asked.  There is of course two issues that an Easy Water sales representative would bring up, health issues from excessive sodium, and environmental issues with the brine backwash.

Both issues are easy to deal with.  When your plumber is installing your softener, have him run a line of un-softened water to your kitchen tap.  Use this water for drinking and cooking.  For the environmental concerns, please follow this link to an article prepared by the Canadian Water Quality Association.  It seems that dilution of your septic water with briny softener backwash isn’t such a problem after all.

My opinion is stay away from any of these electric water softeners, go with tried, true and proven, and you can’t go wrong.

I hope I’ve helped. If you need any further clarification, or have another question, please let me know.