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Salt Free Water Softener Resources

There are so many different types of water purificaiton devices on the market today, that I wanted to put together a resource page showing the places on the World Wide Web where you can learn more about them.  I have broken down this page by category.  If anybody has any suggestions of topics or technology types that I can add, please let me know.

 

Reverse Osmosis

Reverse osmosis systems are an extremely popular way to purify the drinking water for a single faucet.  Typical reverse osmosis systems (sometimes abbreviated to R.O.) are installed under the counter, usually in the kitchen.  A saddle valve is usually used to tap into the cold water line which diverts water into the reverse osmosis filter system.  The first stage of a reverse osmosis system is usually sediment filtration.  This is typically a 5-micron or 1-micron polyspun filter cartridge that is used to trap sediment that may be present in the water.  The next filter stage in a R.O. system is almost always an activated carbon filter.  Activated carbon filters are used prior to the reverse osmosis membrane to ensure that all chlorine is removed from the water source before it passes through the membrane.  Chlorine is damaging to the reverse osmosis membrane and will drastically reduce its effectiveness and lifespan.

The next step in the reverse osmosis purification process is the R.O. membrane.  This is where the bulk of contaminants are removed from the water.  A reverse osmosis membrane is a spiral wound surface that has microscopic pores.  Only pure water is small enough to pass through these pores.  All other contaminants are too large and are flushed to the drain.  A typical reverse osmosis system will produce about 1 gallon of water for each 5 gallons it sends to drain.

The purified reverse osmosis water is stored in a tank and is dispensed using a dedicated faucet that is installed on the counter.

 

Ultraviolet Water Systems

Ultraviolet water purification systems, sometimes call UV Systems for short, are water purification devices that are used for eliminating microbiological contaminants from water.  UV light in the germicidal wavelength (285nm) is capable of destroying bacteria, viruses, and cysts such as crypto and giardia.

A typical household UV system is installed where the water main enters the home.  The UV system consists of a steel chamber that is plumbed into the water main.  A UV lamp inserts into the chamber and a power supply attaches to the end of the UV lamp.  As the water passes through the steel chamber it is irradiated by the UV lamp and this kills the organisms that float through.  No chemicals are added and nothing is removed.

UV systems are so effective, that many of the world's largest cities have adopted this environmentally friendly technology.

 

Conventional Salt-Using Water Softeners

Water softeners are a group of products that are used to remove the hardness-causing minerals from household water.  Calcium and magnesium are the two main hardness culprits.  Water that contains too much of these minerals leaves deposits on pipes, water tanks, coffee pots, shower doors and can drastically reduce the life expectancy of water-using appliances.  Water that is too hard is also very difficult to use for laundering clothes as the water hardness interferes with the sudsing of the soap or detergent.

For this reason water softeners have become a very popular technology in hard water areas.  Conventional water softeners are "ion exchangers".  That is, they absorb the calcium and magnesium ions that flow through them and exchange them for sodium.  Sodium does not have the ability to coat pipes and other surfaces and it does not interfere with soap and detergent.  When the softener gets saturated with calcium and magnesium, it goes through a regeneration cycle where the resin inside the softener is exposed to concentrated salt brine.  This causes is to release the calcium and magnesium that it has trapped and to be "recharged" with sodium so that it's ready to begin softening again.

A water softener is controlled by a valve that takes the machine through each cycle of the regeneration in a systematic way.  Some of the more popular valves are Autotrol, Clack, and Fleck.  All of these valves are metered, meaning they measure the amount of water being used in the home and only regenerate when necessary.

 

Salt Free Water Softeners

There are many places on the world wide web that discuss this new and often controversial technology.  We want to present an assortment of resources that will help you understand the breadth of products available, the numerous opinions about them, and then let you decide if any of it makes sense.

Please be warned that we do not endorse any of the products found at the end of these links.  Some of them look legitimate and some, well, let's just say we're a little skeptical.  But, in order to present a comprehensive overview of the topic, it's necessary to include a little of everything.  If there's a key resource that we're missing, please don't hesitate to contact us and provide us with a link.  Thanks.

Salt Free Water Softener Systems:

We've tried to offer an representative sampling of the different salt free water softening systems that are available on the market today.  So far, this list includes a number of different types of catalytic systems, magnetic systems, and electromagnetic softening devices.

  1. Link to the Pelican catalytic salt free water softener at Amazon.com:  Click Here
  2. Salt free system that uses "precious & semi-precious" metals:  Click Here
  3. Another catalytic style salt free water softener from Doulton:  Click Here
  4. Filtersorb catalytic salt free water softener from aQuatell:  Click Here
  5. A different catalytic machine (love the picture with the flower!):  Click Here
  6. Have a look at the Raindance catalytic salt free water softener:  Click Here
  7. "The Finest Salt Free Softeners Made in America" - you can decide:  Click Here
  8. The Pelican Natursoft Salt Free Water Softener - have a look:  Click Here
  9. Check out the GMX Magnetic water softening system:  Click Here
  10. Sirus catalytic salt free water softener from Water Value:  Click Here

Discussions on Sodium, Salt Free Systems, and Other Technologies:

  1. Quick discussion of sodium free softeners at HomeTips.com: Click Here

Links to other Interesting Pages:

  1. Interesting discussion of Water Filter Systems
  2. Go Green Directory natural, organic, and eco friendly
  3. Ultraviolet UV Water Filter Systems UK
  4. Rainwater Harvesting & Filters in South Africa
  5. Everpure Filters
  6. Ultraviolet UV Water Filter Systems Australia
  7. Water Filters & Systems Canada
  8. Water Filter
  9. Pentek Water Filters

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