New house, new well-- which softener type?

[Aggie83]

Just moved into my new house, which is on a new well. Super hard water, so softening is desired. The well house is 8x8, so we will put the softener in there. (We have other wells for ranch irrigation).

What type of softener is recommended? Most around here have salt pellet type, but I get tons of facebook ads for non-salt types. Thought I would reach out to the professionals and not be bamboozled by internet charlatans!

Thanks in advance.

 

[havasu]

Do you have a way to backflush without contaminating your water?

 

[Aggie83]

yes, can build aything, plenty of room

 

[Whisk(e)y]

Not a professional but had a similar experience recently. Before looking at saltless you need to know the exact Ph and hardness of your water. Most of the saltless systems won’t work with water that is too acidic/alkaline or too hard. The issue is most of the saltless companies bury this information or omit all together in their sales pitch.
We had a saltless, citrus based, softener on hard city water and it was able to just barely make a noticeable difference in the hardness of our water. We switched after about 2 years back to a salt pellet type and have been very happy.

 

[Aggie83]

Not a professional but had a similar experience recently. Before looking at saltless you need to know the exact Ph and hardness of your water. Most of the saltless systems won’t work with water that is too acidic/alkaline or too hard. The issue is most of the saltless companies bury this information or omit all together in their sales pitch.
We had a saltless, citrus based, softener on hard city water and it was able to just barely make a noticeable difference in the hardness of our water. We switched after about 2 years back to a salt pellet type and have been very happy.

Thanks! I do have alkaline water that is very hard.

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

The reason why you are seeing the "salt free water softener" advertising on Facebook is that they are a scam. Just like the 50 MPG carburetors of yesteryear, and all those "Elon's Watt Saver" devices that claim (with a picture of Elon Musk no less) to save you 70% on your electric bill. It's all a bunch of bunk.

Here's one man's opinion, but if you search you'll find more, all similar: https://www.freshwatersystems.com/blogs/blog/the-truth-about-salt-free-water-softeners

If you are concerned about the extra sodium (salt) either in your water or in your effluent, you can get (at significantly greater cost) potassium pellets instead.

Always best to get an independent water test, to see what you have and then research how to remove it. You may need an iron filter before the softener, for example, or an oxidation system to rid the water of hydrogen sulfide odors.

 

[sawsaw]

I have had a Pelican water "conditioner" for about four years. It has performed as advertised. A plus is, the deposits typically left by a softener, which are onerous to remove, are light, to nonexistent. What is left is very easy to rid if attended to in a timely manner. We are very pleased with it - no salt hauling either.
Pelican is now under Pentair.