School me on hard water treatments

**Alpinord** · 10-16-2017, 10:36 AM

After drilling a new well and installing the pump, line, pressure tank, etc, things have settled down and now it's time to consider treatment options.

The water is moderately hard which coats water lines, toilets and appliances. I've never been psyched about salt water softening systems due to the waste and disposal of the salt. After watching a recent episode of Ask This Old House where a NuvoH2O system was featured, my interest piqued since it sounded exactly like what we are seeing. The system is saltless and over time, supposedly, it'll clean the scale from pipes and possibly appliances and hot water heater elements. (This might in turn present the option for instantaneous water heaters or heat exchangers.)

The claim:

Treating Hard Water

NuvoH2O treats hard water in two ways:
First, instead of removing calcium like traditional salt softeners, the NuvoH2O system chelates (binds) and sequesters (isolates) the calcium ions, preventing them from precipitating out and forming scale. Once bound to CitraCharge, the NuvoH2O chelant, the mineral cannot form scale.
Second, NuvoH2O also lowers the measured pH of the water to reduce or eliminate scale formation.
Effects of Chelation on Scale Formation

The NuvoH2O Salt-Free Water Softeners use a process called “Chelation” (pronounced key-LAY-shun). Chelation involves the binding, or stabilization, of mineral ions naturally found in hard water. The chelant in CitraCharge creates a ring structure to bind the ions to the CitraCharge instead of to other ions, which is what typically causes scale and hard-water deposits.

Looking at the system like all things water, it looks like a NuvoH20 is a HUDGE rip off for the plastic system and and filters. Obviously, the value over time may be worth it, but what other competitive, similar systems or alternatives are worth considering that won't require a full tube of KY Jelly while I continue to take it up the ass dealing with our water system. Hell, just a water test costs over $200.

**skinipenem** · 10-16-2017, 11:20 AM

In the process of making a similar decision. It looks like salt based potassium or sodium are still the way to go.

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**plugboots** · 10-16-2017, 11:59 AM

We looked at other stuff as well, and agree with skinipenem. We buy KCl once in a while to reduce Na.

**skinipenem** · 10-16-2017, 03:27 PM

Pmed you plug

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**Alpinord** · 10-17-2017, 06:37 AM

Originally Posted by skinipenem

In the process of making a similar decision. It looks like salt based potassium or sodium are still the way to go.

What was the source for that comparison? There are definitely advocates against salt systems and pro other saltless options like magnets, chelation, etc.

The ATOH segment and elsewhere stated that some municipalities are moving to ban salt based softening systems due to the difficulty in treating the 'pollution they create'. This makes me wonder about the effects on septic systems, too.

**oldblue** · 10-18-2017, 02:56 PM

Originally Posted by Alpinord

What was the source for that comparison? There are definitely advocates against salt systems and pro other saltless options like magnets, chelation, etc.

The ATOH segment and elsewhere stated that some municipalities are moving to ban salt based softening systems due to the difficulty in treating the 'pollution they create'. This makes me wonder about the effects on septic systems, too.

Some states do not allow the regeneration cycle to be discharged into the septic system as it is not great for the life of the septic. My system currently discharges to the septic and at some point I suppose I will reroute the discharge to a dry well which seems to be preferred.

I would like to use a system other than a water softener but at this point I haven't seen anything worth switching to. Haven't really found any unbiased info out there regarding systems so good luck on that front

**El Chupacabra** · 10-18-2017, 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by oldblue

Some states do not allow the regeneration cycle to be discharged into the septic system as it is not great for the life of the septic. My system currently discharges to the septic and at some point I suppose I will reroute the discharge to a dry well which seems to be preferred.

We're on our own well, with a septic system, and a traditional salt regeneration water softener to help with the hard water from the well. The water softener drain is plumbed separately to a dry well that is on the opposite side of the house from the septic tank and leach field. Seems to work fine.

I don't have any complaints about the water softener. Took a little while to get used to the soft water feeling, but now hard water feels weird to shower in. We run through about 1 bag of softener pellets per month. I buy the basic yellow Morton bags at Walmart.