The Salt Free Water Softener Experiment

This little experiment is a collaboration between three people: Reid Thornley, Carol Maas, and Tony Maas.  Here's a little more info about each of us.

REID THORNLEY

Hi.  My name is Reid and I'm the guy who runs this blog.  I have a background in the water treatment industry having worked in R&D for a major equipment manufacturer and having worked in Sales & Marketing in the industry.  I hold a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Western Ontario, and I've been a presenter to the Water Quality Association (WQA).

I now own and operate a web-based business that sells all kinds of different residential water purification technologies.  If you like, you can check out my website: Water Filters, Softeners, UV Systems.  For the 3 months leading up to the launch of this blog, I researched the various salt-free water softening devices on the market looking for some product that I could feel comfortable selling to my customers.  My motivation for offering a salt free alternative to conventional softeners is quite simple:  Salt is no good - it's damaging to our environment and it's a real pain for my customers to have to lug 50 lb bags of salt.

My research took me in a few different directions with the ultimate conclusion that catalytic media salt-free systems showed the most promise as an alternative to conventional salt-based water softening systems.  In my business, I've never been comfortable promoting and selling a product that I didn't have first hand experience with and since catalytic water softening technology was relatively new, I thought the only responsible thing to do was to run my own little experiment.  That's where Tony & Carol come in.....

CAROL MAAS

Hi there, my name is Carol Maas and I've decided to thow caution to the wind and put photos of my dirty toilet on display for the entire world to see - yikes. A more serious introduction would be that I have worked in the water and wastewater field for 10 years and I'm keen to find a technology that will reduce the build-up of scale on my toilet, bathtub and kettle without wasting a tonne of water and dumping excess salt to the river.

My career in water stems from a deep felt desire to protect our lakes and rivers, likely a result of growing up in Collingwood Ontario and spending many hours on the lakes with my father. I began working in wastewater treatment (research and development, consulting, modeling, etc.) and have come "upstream" in the last two years to the world of water conservation. I'm currently working for an environmental non-govermental organization based out of the University of Victoria, exploring the intersection between water conservation, technology, and policy. I truly love what I do.

I hope to use this blog to document the empirical evidence of success or failure of this salt free water softener, to note any operational issues, and just to generally make information available (good or bad) on this new technology that could change the way we soften water (and clean the bathroom) in communities served by groundwater.