Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsLOVE IT
Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2020
I had a whirlpool salt softener that was 40k grains and 8 years old.....it was still working but unbeknownst to me, someone had changed the salt setting down to 12 a few years back and I thought it was not working....well, it was working but not properly because someone changed the salt setting........so I bought this to replace it. I set it at 25 and it works great. It will take time until your hot water heater fills completely with the softened water, but cold should be ready to go after installation. I had a plumber switch this out for me in my softener loop. Immediately after and for 2-3 days, my water smelled and tested like acetone and I could not figure this out! I was scared to use the water. FYI, this was the pvc glue that was used and it took 2-3 days for it to completely cure? and wash away. Yes, I let the cold water run for an hour, but the taste/odor was still there until a few days later. If this should happen to you, just know that you have to wait a few days, and I would NOT NOT NOT use the hot water during this time as you don't want that in your hot water heater!! My plumber happens to be immune to this scent as he works with it every day. I happen to be hyper sensitive to it. It does go away though!
UPDATE! I just had a different plumber add a whole house sediment and charcoal/chlorine filter to the softener loop which is all pvc. Those need to be added BEFORE the softener. This plumber waited the CORRECT amount of time for the pvc glue to cure before turning on the water, at least half an hour. The result is there is NO primer/glue odor or taste in the water at all!! Make sure you give the glue plenty of time to cure and dry or make your plumber give it the correct amount of time before turning on the water.
So, it works good. If you need to adjust the salt hardness level, just know that this model only allows you to do this in increments of 5 above 25. I have it now set at 25 and my next option higher would be 30. At settings below 25, this changes in increments of 1 (10,11,12,13...) My hair no longer feels like straw and my shower is CLEAN. I can't live without a salt softener. There are just way too many benefits and the water does NOT taste salty. My appliances and fixtures will last forever without leaking or premature failure. Clothes are cleaner and not stiff. I could go on and on all day about the benefits of a salt softener, and I tried one that wraps around your water lines.....straight back to the salt softener for me!! This was the cheapest replacement I could find and my whirlpool was working still after 8 years which is very similar to this ge.
Update: This has been in use for about a month now. The thing I like most abut this unit is it has a display of when you will run out of salt! love this! I have the salt level on 2 and it is expected to run out in 90 days! This does NOT waste the salt. I would put the salt higher than 2, but I don't want to get a salt dam or salt bridge, so I just check it every few weeks and will add another bag when it looks too low.
For those of you who may be worried about adding salt to the water, this does not. The ion exchange happens in the softer's filter and it does NOT add salt to the water on any tap in the home. I tested the salinity of the water on all taps against the outside tap that is not connected to the water softener and the salinity is the same, 170ppm. Tested against a neighbor too on the same city water but without a softener, their results are 182ppm of salt. That is just what the city gives us, which is under the federal recommended standards of 200ppm. I do have an RO system in the kitchen, but I have that mainly for the fluoride, but the salt reading at that tap is 20ppm or lower depending on how long it runs.
