Water softeners are quickly becoming a required appliance for many people who are dealing with hard water characteristics like chlorine and magnesium. Without a softening system in your home, these calcified minerals can attach to your water pipes and appliances, causing major headaches for both you and your checkbook.
As water softening, technology evolves, more and more options are available to the consumer giving you endless options for a full, customized water softening system that is suited to your home’s water supply.
The most trusted water softening and filtration brands on the planet continue to add more and more features to their water softening units, ensuring that there is something for everyone.
Each home is different in terms of its water makeup, and because there are so many options available, odds are there is something that will work for you. By following the in-depth review breakdown and our handy buying guide below, we will help direct you towards the best water softener system on the market for you and your family.
First, Why Do I Need a Water Softener?
This is a question that will have a different answer for each one of you that is reading this article. For starters, there are some visual things that can tell you whether you are dealing with a hard water treatment system.
The first thing you should look at it is your dishes and glassware. If you are seeing a ton of hard water spots on glasses, then that is a tell-tale sign that you have a large amount of calcium in your waterline. Additionally, if you notice an odd smell, like sulfur in your water, this is another major sign of the need for a water softener.
If you have the means to test your water, this is the best way to know about your hard water treatment systems and the best way to have a definitive answer if a water softener is right for you.
Water testing will give you a direct and accurate count of how many grains per gallon you are dealing with, and the number of dissolved minerals like calcium and magnesium.
If you see a notable amount of these minerals in your water, it is best that you investigate installing a soft water softener.
What Size Water Softener Should You Get?
Both salt-based and salt-free water softeners will come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Most systems have an include pre-filter that removes larger sediment and grain water from your water, too. It is important to remember this because those filters will have a maximum capacity rating along with a maximum water softener capacity as well.
When it comes to choosing the best size water softener for you, make sure you consider the number of bathrooms in your home and the number of people. Many hard water softeners, both types, will come with a bathroom number rating.
The higher this number, the more water your softener will be able to handle. Each system will have a different formula for determining the perfect size for you; make sure you investigate this before buying. A combination of the total bathrooms within your home and the number of people will usually be the criteria for most sizing questions.
How Much Does a Water Softener Cost?
Water softeners, like all appliances, will fluctuate heavily in regard to the costs associated. The major factors that will contribute to costs include capacity, efficiency, additional filtration features, and overall reliability.
You will see water softener costs for smaller, single bathroom homes starting in the low $400-range, while other water treatment systems that are designed to handle larger homes and have a filter along with a softener will go for several thousands of dollars.
It is important to remember that many hard water softeners are affordable to run, and they are one of the most long-lasting appliances within your home.
The initial investment may seem steep, but over time, they are highly affordable, and the added benefits of how they protect your other appliances make them worth it almost right away.
Best Water Softener System Reviews
1. SpringWell FutureSoft Salt-Free Water Softener Review
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The SpringWell salt-free system comes with everything you need to improve the longevity of your appliances and remove some of those pesky hardness particles from your water supply. It has a great track record for being a reliable hard water softening unit at an affordable price. The included sediment filter is housed in a coconut shell container, which boasts its unique contaminant fighting qualities.
Installing the Springwell system is one of our favorite aspects of this system. It comes with in-depth instructions, and the support that the company provides is top-notch.
They have a bevy of online support manuals and DIY videos that allow homeowners to install this system with ease.
After the easy installation, you will see immediate results. The chlorine levels are virtually eliminated, and magnesium also takes a hit.
If you are trying to remove some of that gross limescale buildup, this system will be your best friend. On average, after a few weeks of usage, you will see a reduction of over 96%.
This Springwell system is impressive. It works especially well for those who live in cities and are dealing with municipal water supplies that are heavy in fluoride and sodium. One noticeable thing was the water pressure after the installation was not as affected as many other whole home water filters and softeners.
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2. SoftPro Elite High-Efficiency City Water Softener Review
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When it comes to the SoftPro System, the word that comes to mind is efficiency. They went out of their way to ensure that their salt-based water softening system does not waste any unnecessary water, along with ensuring that homeowners have full control over their water softener.
The first thing you will notice is that this system comes with a crystal-clear LED control valve that allows you to control the system simply. You can use this to place the system in vacation mode or refresh the system at your ease.
When comparing the system’s efficiency ratings to comparable water softeners, the SoftPro system is among the best.
On average, the SoftPro discharges nearly 65% less water than other salt-based water systems during the regeneration process.
Additionally, you will save money on both salt and total operational costs by about 70% on both accounts.
SoftPro also offers you the ability to upgrade your water softening with several upgrade options that you can add to your system. These include multi-stage filter systems, carbon filters, and quick-flow valves of any size.
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3. Pelican NaturSoft Water Softener Alternative Review
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The Pelican water softener alternative is a salt-free water softener that combines the typical water de-ionization process with a coconut-shell housed sediment filter.
The first thing you will notice about this system is that it is built from quality materials. It is a solid, sturdy system that NSF/ANSI has certified to be safe to operate and built solid.
We like having options, and the Pelican makes sure to provide this by giving is the option to choose from a system designed to handle 1-3 separate bathrooms or 3-6.
There is an included sediment filter that does a wonderful job of removing large rocks, grain water, and sediments from your water connection before it even hits the softener.
Water testing has proven that this system removes these grains but also does a wonderful job of lowering the levels of hardness minerals that can cause calcification and scale buildup. The system guarantees to remove upwards of 99.6% of calcium buildup, and water testing confirms this.
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4. Fleck 5600SXT Ion Exchange Water Softener System Review
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We cannot say enough good things about the Fleck 5600 SXT valve and ion exchange water softening system. The valve itself is loaded with features that allow you to have complete control over your system, including a vacation mode that will suspend the system’s intake, ensuring you are not wasting water.
We appreciate the options that Fleck offers in terms of grain capacity. There are five different options ranging from 24,000 to 64,000 grains; the best one for you will depend on how much water your home uses and the quality of groundwater.
Additionally, Fleck offers several optional upgrades to ensure that you are getting the absolute most out of your water softener.
These things include reverse osmosis (RO) alkaline add-ons specifically designed for drinking water, carbon filters, and high-efficiency resin that will lessen wastewater and improve salt efficiency.
Another thing we appreciate about the Fleck system is the easy installation process. They provide detailed instructions and a ton of online support options that ensure you will easily install the system by yourself.
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5. FilterSmart Whole House Water Filter & Salt-Free Combo
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The dual-tank FilterSmart water treatment system truly takes everything you could want in a water filtration system and rolls into a compact package that will fit in a tight space in your home.
The installation is among the easiest in the business, too. FilterSmart is known for its technical support, and in-depth installation guides, and this system is no exception. They have several online resources to leverage, and we are confident you will find it easy to install on your own.
In terms of performance, it is hard to look past the 1,000,000-gallon capacity, the longest in the business, and quite an impressive start. The rest of the whole house water softener system is one of the best whole house water softeners and filters we have gotten to experience.
The combined filtering agents and the resin-based softening process removes more contaminants than any other system on our list.
The pre-filter is also a nice touch; it removes large sediment and debris before it even reaches the softener and filtration tanks.
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6. Nuvo H20 Dphb-a Home Water Softener System
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The Nuvo system is the smallest and most compact system that we have reviewed thus far. It is our favorite for smaller homes or mobile homes where space can be at a premium.
The system is extremely simple, too, making installation take less than an hour in most cases. Nuvo offers a ton of resources to help with installation and maintenance as well; it truly is a user-friendly system.
The package will come with everything you need to install, including a mounting bracket that is solid, along with a housing wrench that will allow you to easily change filters.
When it comes to the water softening aspects of the system, for the price and size, you are getting phenomenal value.
The system will remove existing scale buildup among your pipes and appliances, which will elongate the life of your appliances tenfold. Additionally, it will help prevent any future scale buildup. Cartridge life is decent and is rated to handle up to 20,000 gallons of water before needing to be replaced. Replacing them is simple too, and they are affordable replacement cartridges that come directly from Nuvo.
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7. ABCwaters Built Fleck 5600sXT 48,000 Grain Water Softener
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Powered by the Fleck 5600SXT control valve, the ABCwaters ion exchange system is among the most reliable and most popular systems out there. They truly go above and beyond to ensure that you have everything you need to install this system when it arrives at your home.
The pre-filled resin tank, along with the pre-programmed Fleck control valve, removes any confusion about the control valve and helps you avoid lugging around heavy bags of resin.
Water testing proved that the system was ultra-effective at removing hard water molecules that derive from magnesium and calcium within your water supply.
These are two of the leading causes of hard water and scale buildup, making them among the most important things to consider when you are choosing the best water softeners for you.
Water testing showed that calcium and magnesium were virtually removed from the water line, ensuring that you will see a reduction in scale buildup in your appliances and pipes.
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8. Whirlpool WHESFC Pro Series Softener System
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The Whirpool Hybrid system is among the most unique systems that we have reviewed up to this point. It combines the best of both water softening systems and basic filtration devices into one small and compact system that runs effectively and efficiently. It comes with the NSF’s gold stamp of approval that ensures it is safe to operate, and the water it produces is safe to consume.
The system includes everything you need to install the system on your own. It is simple to install thanks to Whirpool’s in-depth instructional manual and an endless library of support videos that are available online to use at your expense.
This hybrid system comes with a secondary filter that removes sediment and contaminants, but the most notable part is that this filter never needs to be replaced. It is cleaned internally by the system, and because of this, you will never have to deal with cleaning or replacing the filter, nor will you see any deduction in flow rate due to a slow filter.
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9. EcoPure EP31 31,000 Grain Water Softener System
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We were highly impressed with the features that the EcoPure provides, especially for the price point that this system falls under. The easy-to-use control panel will al