Question:
Just had the Rainsoft person give me her pitch. I live in central FL &everyone knows about the hardness of the water down here. I am lookingto put in a water softner/purification system in the home. I amlooking more at the benefits from taking a cleaner shower, havingcleaner laundry, & no more hard water stains around the drains. I'mnot to much concerned with the drinking water aspect as I buy bottledspring water & refrigerate it.

I was able to talk her down to $4000 & her throwing in all the goodies(soaps, cleaners, etc) for their Amazon 24 model. She emphasised itwas more than a softener - it purified. What exactly is thedifference? From what I'm looking for in benefits, do I only need asoftening system?

From what I've read in posts, it seems that Rainsoft is overpriced,but quality-wise they are on the upper-end. One can buy a system fromHome Depot or Sears, but you will get what you pay for. For what I aminterested in, are there cheaper & better alternatives? I have notbought the Rainsoft system yet. By law I have until Saturday night tocancel the transaction.

Answer: I don't agree with the "upper-end" quality from what I know of theirold equipment. It is a very old design and technology. Is there anyway you could e-mail me a picture of what they offer? Or a copy of abrochure?

They certainly are way over priced, by up to 4 times what truly highquality stuff is priced at. And their stuff is proprietary, whichmeans you're married to that dealer and/or the company forever. That"purifier" part is not going to prove out to be true. In the watertreatment industry, the word "pure" is only supposed to be applied tothe microbiological sense. And no softener regardless of the pricepaid will produce a biocide that can treat the water that is runthrough it.

In the natural sense, pure water does not exist anywhere and to myknowledge, the closest man can get to pure is DI (deionized) water at18 megohms. Usually they add carbon to their softeners but they may beadding KDF, which is not a biocide but bacteriostatic; meaning itprevents bacteria from colonizing the resin bed. But, there is adownside to KDF also. There is another company with a softener thatgenerates an amount of chlorine to 'sanitize' the resin bed duringregeneration.

If they told you, how much hardness and iron is in your water and whatis the pH and TDS (total dissolved solids)? I assume you have no odorin the water. Did they test for anything else? If you're handy you maywant to install your own softener.