Thursday, August 20, 2015

Making Our Water Soft(er): Yay or Nay


It's almost Friday so I thought I would share our experience as we play with the option of installing a water softener system. 
Kinetico brochure
Growing up, we never spoke of a water softener system.  I knew that when I traveled to different regions, the water had a different taste from home, but never thought anything more beyond that. After many showers in our new home, I realized I was a little more ashy and 'dry' than normal.  I am one of those people who MUST apply moisturizer or lotion after any water activity.  I like to feel soft and smelling good is always a plus!!!  

Kinetico Sales Rep 
So we decided to get our water tested for water hardness as we played with the option of adding a water softener system to the home.  Our interest was to price out some systems, while learning more about the different options.  There are a few big names out there, as well as some smaller companies.  We decided to have a representative from Kinetico come out and give us his 'spill'.  I must say that he was not a pushy salesman and he did not ring our phone off the hook afterwards.  Based on the reviews, it is very common of this company to not be so pushy with potential customers.  I can appreciate that because sometimes you just need to 'think' for a while right?

So, he came out and performed a series of tests on our water to determine how hard the water was as well as the impurity levels.  While there were no impurity issues, our water was considered "hard" on the hardness scale.  He showed us the different systems...and then he showed us the price. 

The price tag was a little over $2K and maintenance did not seem to be an issue.  I will say that based off my research (and they will confirm), their system is not for the DIY-er.  With that, I wanted to make sure I read there warranty because if something was to go wrong, I would want them out ASAP.  I wanted to make sure they offered locations throughout the US because if we moved and took the system, I need the maintenance crew to be available.  Overall, the warranty was pretty good and I liked them.  However, we want to speak to more people and hear from real-life customers who used their services. 

We are still "thinking" as we have larger priorities at the time.  I will keep you posted on what we decide. 

Have you installed or thought about installing a water softener system?  Which company did you decide to use and why?  What do you love about having one?  Any regrets?

Above: Preparing the water sample
Above: Hardness level identified

Above: Performing a carbon comparison on the fridge water

xoxo

4 comments:

  1. Wow, something else to think about! We've never had a water softening system, but my husband has a lot of skin issues, so it's definitely not something we would ignore if we noticed the water stripping oils from our skins.

    And I'm with you, I have to have my skin, my elbows, everything moisturized always, or else I just don't feel presentable. lol I have been using Oil of Olay in-shower body lotion for about five years now, and it is amazing--and probably why I don't notice hard water issues at all, unless we are at a hotel, then it's really bad.

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    1. You are dead on! I tried that in-shower body lotion a few months ago and I was nothing less than amazing. Ha...I should've added that in this post, but the rep stated that the shower would leave you feeling similar to that of the in-shower lotions. Not sure how true that is, but it would be great!

      Surely keep it on your list...we may still be "thinking" about it by the time you guys get around to it. LOL Then you can tell me what you think! :-)

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  2. We live in Greene County Ohio which has awful hard water. A water softener is a must here and we added the water softener "rough-in" with our package. My boyfriend bought the water softener from Lowes and installed it himself. He does the maintenance on it, the same as our last home. Without one, soaps and shampoos just don't sud the same. The deposits that hard water leaves on glass shower doors is just awful as well. Our last rental home was so bad it almost looked like a frosted glass door. The water softener helps prevent that. I can't imagine not having one.

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    1. Thank you Kathy for this info. I will have to look into this option as well. I was hoping to have someone chime in who have used another brand. Being able to do the maintenance yourself is always a plus. Thank you so much for sharing!

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