Home water system advice

[JavaBrewer]

We are really interested in a whole house home water system (water softener). We've been pitched several times over the years but could not justify the expense. Well after visiting the folks in Santa Barbara and enjoying their soft water the wife and I are determined to get something installed this year.

Last night we had a salesman from LifeSource over. The unit we are interested in is a carbon filtration system (1620E) that has a life of 10-12 years before needing refurb. Installed cost is $3400 and refub cost is $900 and they have a 6 months same as cash (no interest) deal.

Does anyone have experience with these systems and or competing products? We're looking forward to better skin, less clogging/buildup of our showers and faucets, and not buying bottled water anymore.

Thanks.

[Rot 911]

For less than a grand you can have installed from Sears, Lowes, Home Depot etc. a decent digital water softener and a whole house carbon filter that you can replace the filters on yourself. Cost for a pair of filters is 2 for $9.00. The guy you talked to is just selling you hype.

[JavaBrewer]

Those systems seem to be salt based. That's what my dad has and he also installed a reverse osmosis system under the kitchen sink so they cold actually drink the water. The sales guy said the salt systems were a no-no in Cali - probably B.S., but I'm just starting my investigation.

EDIT - apparently salt systems don't inject much sodium into the water. Consensus so far from internet is that softened water is safe to drink.

[asphaltgambler]

The thing that most people miss is first having their water analyzed (and not by the water sales guys). Each region is unique in what contributes to hard water. If you know exactly what the chemical make-up is you can then shop for a system that addresses your problem specifically.

[JavaBrewer]

Thanks for the info. I've got some homework to do.

[id10t]

My water comes off a well here in N. Florida. Ginnie Springs is about 10 minutes away, so I've got water so hard it will just about cut diamonds. We use a salt based system with a simple timer, and it works fine.

[azasadny]

Don't trust any sales guy to test your water. Take it to a local lab or ask your city water dept. if they will test it or could recommend someone.

[K.B.]

My Dr. has always been telling me to drink more water, so a while back I put in a 5 gal water dispenser in the kitchen. Part of my weight loss "diet" was to drink a big glass of water before each meal. I also try to drink the 8 glasses a day. I lost about 30 lbs and my Blood pressure went down and I got off my BP medication.

I recently talked to a relative who always lifted weights/ worked out at his girlfriends house and drank a lot of water there. His BP was a little high. His Doc asked him if he ever drank water that went thru a "softner". The only place was at the gf's house. He stopped drinking the water there and BP went down. Gf's parents were high BP's too. They stopped drinking the water. Their BP went down. That must be why mine went down too.

"Softners" add salt to the water. Salt raises BP.

The moral of the story is *****Don't drink water that goes thru a water softner!*****

I used to have a Water Boss softner. I went more conventional and wish I had stayed with the Water Boss. They sell them at Home Depot or Lowes or Menards.

If you don't like the bottled water thing you can get a reverse osmosis system for about $150 at Sams Club or Home depot type places.