Worried about scale and sediment build up in your water heater but don’t like the feel of softened water? Worried about sodium and the complications associated with a salt based softener?
Salt based softeners remove hard water minerals through a process called ion exchange where calcium and magnesium ions are exchanged for sodium ions. Since Las Vegas has some of the hardest water in the country, that also means double the sodium is being added to the water compared to softeners used in regions where the water isn’t as harsh. Our salt free water conditioner neutralizes the hard water minerals instead of exchanging them for sodium and converts the calcium and magnesium to a mechanically stable and heat resistant “nano” crystalized particle that won’t adhere to surfaces like dishes, pipes, faucets and showers. Most importantly, the harmless calcium carbonate crystals are now able to travel through your plumbing system without attaching and causing premature failure from scale buildup in water heaters, dishwashers, coffee makers and washing machines. This substantially extends the life of your appliances and reduces the tedious work of cleaning showers and faucets from scale buildup. It also reduces the need for a rinse aid in the dishwasher keeping your glassware and silverware spot free.
Filtersorb media
The scale reduction media known as filtersorb sp3 is the only media we use in our salt free conditioners. It’s based on Nucleation Assisted Crystallization (NAC) technology and the media itself is known as Template Assisted Crystallization (TAC). Filtersorb consists of tiny polymer beads covered in craters called “nucleation sites”. It acts as a catalyst to transform the hardness minerals in water to calcium carbonate crystals. When hard water comes into contact with the media, the calcium and magnesium ions are caught in the nucleation sites where they are crystallized and start bonding together. Once the micro-crystals reach a certain size, they break free from the media and release back into the water where they no longer have the ability to stick or bond causing scale buildup. Instead of the hard water spots sticking, they simply wash down the drain, or easily wipe off the surface. Filtersorb sp3 has good capacity to absorb iron, copper, lead, zinc and other contaminants. Because of this we always pair it with our whole home carbon filter to ensure that there is no chlorine or contaminants in the water to foul the Filtersorb giving you many years of clean maintenance free refreshing water from every tap.
Why Filtersorb instead of other salt free scale reduction methods?
There are effective and true salt free softening methods on the market, but they are extremely unrealistic, and too expensive for residential use. These methods include Reverse Osmosis, lime softening, chemical treatment and capacitive deionization.
What about magnets and electronic descalers?
In a nutshell, they’re not nearly as effective as TAC media. The University of Arizona conducted a series of tests and evaluated the best known alternatives to salt based water softeners for scale prevention. The study concluded that TAC media was the best salt free method for scale reduction and prevention in residential homes. You can read the full report here.
What to expect and not to expect
If you are accustomed to the feeling of soft water and want to change to a no salt conditioner, this will not give you the same “silky” feeling that only a salt based softener will give you. On the other hand, if you don’t like the “slimy” feeling of soft water, but want to prevent scale buildup up in your appliances and pipes, than this is the most effective alternative. Our water conditioner actually breaks down the scale found in pipes and appliances, so If you have an older home with older appliances, you will experience a clean out period. Depending on the condition of your homes plumbing and appliances, this can take 30-90 days. The use of a citric acid cleaner such as Ban T or a tankless water heater descaler kit will help speed up the clean out process in your appliances. You will probably notice more water spotting from your faucets, showers and counter tops during this time. If you live in a newer home with newer appliances, than the clean out period should be pretty quick.
Red Rock Water Conditioner
Our Red Rock Water Conditioning system combines our whole house carbon filter with the best scale prevention technology available for homeowners. This provides you with a maintenance free softener alternative without the wasted water and electricity from necessary backwashing, without adding sodium to the water, without giving you that slimy feeling you get from softened water and no parts to fail from a mechanical control valve.