Water softeners lower the life of a standard atmospheric tank significantly. I'm not sure why if anyone knows the answer to this question however a water treatment sales rep did a training with us and was questioned on this and he said if we put a polyphosphate filter in with the softener it would put a liner on the tank and protect it from this or atleast significantly help. He also said the total dissolved sediments could be to high ( anything over 200) and this will cause it to fail quicker. What are your thoughts?