5 Considerations When Purchasing a Water Softener

A lot of homeowners don’t know what to look for exactly when they’re in the market for a water softener, and this may be because these are relatively new appliances. Of course there are countless homeowners who truly need water softeners, so it’s important to know about the following 5 considerations that are associated with purchasing a water softener.

We’re very lucky to have teamed up with Utah-based Beehive Plumbing to assist us with compiling this list of considerations associated with water softeners, and by going through this article you’ll have a much more thorough understanding as to what you should be looking for when you are in the market for a water softener.

So here are the 5 considerations you should think about when buying a water softener:

1. You should always ensure that your home’s water pressure is hard enough to actually require professional softening. Making sure that your home has hard water is your first and foremost concern, because it is the prerequisite that actually brings about the rest of this list. We consider hard water to have “hardness minerals” of more than one grain per gallon, and this is something that you can easily test!
2. The next step for you to do as a homeowner is to talk to your family and try to determine just how much softened water you’re going to need on a daily basis. Every home is different in this regard, so it’s important to think about each and every family member’s shower usage habits. When you’re in this stage of the purchasing process you’ll undoubtedly start considering what type of softener you’ll need. Some examples are fully manual, fully automatic and semi-automatic. Your choice will ultimately depend upon the daily habits of your household and overall output.
3. One of the main considerations that water softener buyers need to think about is if they think it’s necessary or not to remove all manganese and iron from their water supply. You should also look into whether or not your water softener is salt-based, because if it is you’ll want to know if there are any potential health problems associated with it.
4. Next you should get a solid understanding as to your installation costs, because you’re never going to purchase a water softener with installation fees included. You’re going to need to make sure that you’re not getting ripped off by hidden, outrageous installation costs!
5. The last consideration on this list deals with understanding whether or not you’ll be willing to maintain your water softener. It’s undoubtedly going to need maintenance, so you’ll need to think about your commitment to keeping your water softening system running smoothly.