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Want Better-Tasting Water? 3 Types Of Water Softeners You Can Install In Your Home

by Lydia Herrera

If you don't like the taste of the water in your home, you can change the flavor of the water in your home by installing a water softener. When it comes to installing a water softener, there are a few different types of water softeners you can install in your home.

Salt-Based Ion Exchange

When it comes to water softeners, the type most commonly found in homes are salt-based ion-exchange water softener systems. With a salt-based ion-exchange system, you have two tanks that the water is filtered through.

One of the tanks contains special beads that help remove hard minerals from the water. The other tank contains saltwater, also known as brine. These two tanks work to swap out the hard ions in the water for the sodium in the brine tank, which then softens your water. 

Saltwater-Free Systems

Not everyone wants salt in their water. This is especially true if you are trying to reduce the overall amount of sodium in your diet. Luckily, there are water softener systems that work without the use of a brine saltwater tank.

They are made very similar to a salt-based ion-exchange, but instead of a saltwater brine tank, they use a potassium-chloride substitute that engages in the same ion-exchange as a saltwater based system. Some people don't feel that saltwater-free systems clean water as effectively as saltwater systems, but they can protect you from hard water.

Magnetic Water Softener

Third, there are magnetic water softener systems. With a magnetic water softener, the magnets are attached to the pipes the water flows through. These chips create a very specific magnetic field that is designed to pull in the minerals that make the water hard and change the properties of those minerals. A magnetic water conditions the water and changes how the water tastes without completely softening the water.

When it comes to dealing with hard water, installing a water softener can remove the minerals that make your water hard and make your water taste better as well. Any of the three water softeners above will help give you better-tasting water and will remove the hard minerals from your water.

Hard minerals in your water not only make the water not taste that great, but they can also be really hard on your plumbing and appliances. Installing a water softener will help improve the quality of your water and will help protect your home from hard water damage. 

Contact a water softener installation service near you for more information.

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