SOME
IMPORTANT THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
BEFORE
PURCHASING A REGENERATIVE WATER SOFTENER FOR HOME OR COMMERCIAL USE
(1)
There are 34 states which have instituted
restrictions at city or county levels regarding the discharge of regenerative
water softeners into the sanitary sewer systems. These restrictions
have been put in place to protect either local
water quality of municipal water sources or to protect agricultural,
orchard or other food producing areas from the high total dissolved
solids(TDS) which are discharged by regenerative water softeners
and in many cases find their way back into the local water supplies.
High
levels of total solids, and in particular, discharged sodium, chloride
or potassium salts prevent normal hydration of plant life much like
these same salts can create severe dehydration effects in humans. (try
drinking ocean water with high levels of sodium, chloride or potassium
salts and wonder why people die of dehyration when doing so).
Whether
you are a homeowner contemplating the installation of a regenerative
home water conditioner/softener or an industrial user which requires
this type of water conditioning in your operations, we recommend that
you contact your local or regional Water Resources Board to determine
if any such restrictions apply in your area.
(2) Because
of the increasing number of regenerative restrictions as noted in (1)
above, a wide variety of "alternative" water conditioning
technologies have been slowly appearing in the marketplace.
This flood
of "alternative water conditioning" technologies comes from
both European and American developers who have been sniffing glue in
the closet too long or who have been walking around in the sun to long
with a metal pyramid sitting on their heads.
Outrageous
claims of "water conditioning" have not been backed up by
any reputable scientific studies, Nor have peer-reviewed technical articles
appearing in the accepted journals of water technology. With 34 states
desperately seeking ways of eliminating regenerative salt discharges,
if any of these alternative systems worked as advertised it would represent
a windfall solution for this environmental problem. Yet, no such solution
has proven successful.
Many of
these "alternative" systems employ some type of electronic
or magnetic component which it is claimed changes the water condition
to one which eliminates scale and other hard water conditions. While
the Soviet Union and the US Air Force appear to have successfully employed
extremely high powered electromagnetic systems to alleviate hard water
problems, such technologies have not been successful in home environments.
Afterall, a two million dollar investment is not what the average homeowner
has in mind when looking to solve a hard water problem in the home.
A final
warning - beware of high pressure salespersons using various slight
of hand and mouth tricks to convince you that these magnetic or electronic
systems will solve your problem. Water associations and respected water
journals simply do not allow such falsely promoted equipment to appear
in their shows or journals.
