Best High Efficiency Upflow Water Softeners

Water Saving Softeners for an Eco-Friendly Home

The results of the 2016 presidential election caused quite a stir nationwide—yet most Americans are like-minded when it comes to POTUS’ concern regarding the nation’s water supply. Donald Trump’s declaration that clean water may be one of the “most important issues we face as a nation for the next generation” brings to light the importance of working together for a greener future.

The sheer quantity of information relating to home water solutions can be overwhelming, but clean water—safe for drinking, bathing, washing, and the environment—is achievable. Hard water is one of the most common water issues, affecting nearly 90% of homeowners.

Helps Relieve Eczema and Psoriasis

People with skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis use water softeners and see a significant reduction with the following types of results.

• Over 66% of people used far less creams to treat their skin condition
• 8 out of 10 people experienced a significant reduction in eczema overall
• 9 out of 10 people had less itching

Hard water problems have made the use of water saving softeners a necessity. Energy efficient appliances like upflow technology softeners keep a home’s water supply in top-quality condition, in addition to reducing landfill waste, conserving water, and saving homeowner’s money.

The Hard Water Facts

When rainwater falls, it is naturally soft, but as it makes its way into the ground and waterways, it picks up minerals like chalk, lime, calcium and magnesium. Water that contains an appreciable amount of these dissolved minerals is known as hard water.

Hard water not only has an unappealing taste and odor, but it can also be unhealthy to drink. Adverse effects of hard water include: dingy clothes—whites turn yellow and colors are dulled; detergent deposits on fabrics; dishes and glassware with spots and streaks; hair that looks unwashed and sticky to the touch; and skin that feels itchy and dry.

Hard water reduces soap's ability to lather whether in the shower, sink, dishwasher or washing machine, and it reacts with soap to form a sticky scum. Scale build up on the insides of pipes, water heaters, dishwashers, washing machines, coffee makers, and other appliances will reduce flow through pipes and is a poor conductor of heat.

Hard water takes a toll on household appliances and the resulting scale build-up forces them to work harder and use more energy.

Water that has been softened will perform more efficiently, eliminate the soap scum and pipe-clogging scale, save on energy bills, and potentially double the life of appliances— keeping them out of landfills that much longer.

If it’s determined that a home has a hard water problem, water softening through high efficiency, upflow systems will use less electricity, reduce salt usage and save homeowners hundreds of dollars a year.

Discount Water Softeners are trusted local and nationwide water softener experts that have been supplying quality water softeners and filtration systems, as well as expertise to its customers for three decades. This makes them a valuable resource for homeowners seeking the best, high efficiency water softener.

Testing For Hard Water

Water hardness is measured in terms of grains per gallon (GPG) or milligrams per liter (mg/L). A grain is defined as 64.8 milligrams of calcium carbonate. If your water tests at 1 GPG (17.1 mg/L) or less, then you have soft water. Water around 1-3.5 GPG (17.1-60 mg/L) occupies a gray zone between soft and slightly hard water and 3.5-7 GPG (60-120 mg/L) is moderately hard. Hard water is around 7-10.5 GPG (120 - 180 mg/L), and very hard water is above 10.5 GPG. ¹

Get a free hardness test kit for city water customers and purchase a $15 private well water test kit since they can help any customer with the right size and recommendation with your hardness (city) iron and pH (well water).

Testing a home’s water is fairly simple and inexpensive. Discount Water Softener’s recommends the multi-use Hach Hardness 5 B test kit for an accurate and affordable hardness reading. Hard water test strips can be purchased from any home improvement store or online retailer.

Knowing the Problem, Finding the Solution

If hard water is the problem, the answer lies in modern upflow softener technology, an optimal choice in water saving softeners. What is an upflow water softener? This water purification method directs the water in an upflow direction.

Water enters into the system tank at the bottom and moves through an upper basket, and then travels down again through a tube in the center of the tank. Once the water hits the bottom of the tube, it is distributed through a lower basket.

Water then flows from the tank’s bottom through the filter media in a swirling motion. An upflow system not only eliminates the need for backwashing on city water (except every 10 ^th regeneration), but it also forces the filter media to swirl, allowing the media to have longer contact time with the water, producing better, cleaner water.

Industry premium high efficiency water systems like the Genesis 2 Premier are the best performing softeners, cutting down on salt and water usage, thereby producing significantly less waste than the competition. Upflow precision brining is the most effective way to regenerate a water softener since it uses only the precise amount of brine needed.

As homeowners review prices and comparisons before making a softener purchase, they will find that inferior, energy-hogging versions such as the Fleck create unnecessary waste and rank much lower in efficiency.

The Genesis system receives top ratings as a high-efficiency softener, using only 360 lbs. of salt per year for a family of 4 that regenerates once a week in comparison with a Fleck brand softener that requires 912 lbs. to operate. Green water softeners like the Genesis use less energy, which ease environmental strains. It’s a simple choice for homeowners wanting to save money and go green!

What’s Wrong with Old Downflow Technology?

Downflow brining is antiquated technology in which hard water enters from above the resin bed and is expected to flow throughout the resin to complete the ion-exchange process required for softening. The problem with downflow is that hard water will naturally settle above the resin, only penetrating the upper layers.

Downflow water systems require backwashing with every single regeneration to raise the filter media. The direction of the incoming water presses down and compacts the media, resulting in weakened effectiveness of the filter. When water cannot reach the other filter media, full softening capacity is never reached. This triggers frequent regeneration-recharging of the resin beads after they have become full of calcium and magnesium and lose their ability to soften water.

Considering Brine Efficiency

Softener efficiency relies on using salt and ion-exchange resins to remove calcium and magnesium from the water. More desirable sodium ions switch places with the calcium and magnesium ions in the water. This exchange eliminates the problem of hard water because sodium doesn’t precipitate out in pipes or react poorly with soaps or detergents.

Brine is water saturated with salt (sodium). Too much brine can have a negative impact on the environment. Brine efficiency is a measure of how much salt a softener uses to remove hardness from the water. The brine efficiency of a system is calculated as the grains of hardness removal capacity per pound of salt used to regenerate the system (grain/lb.).

Achieving brine efficiency will lower the system’s operating costs and reduce the level of brine discharged into the environment. Genesis water softener systems are an eco-friendly choice, saving as much as 75% on salt and 65% on water usage with each regeneration in contrast to other softeners. Using upflow softener technology results in the best salt efficiency and the capability to use the lowest reasonable amount of salt.

High Energy Bills and Hard Water Problems Disappear

Hard water puts a home at risk for a multitude of complications, detrimental not only to the environment and household appliances, but also to a family’s health. Softening a home’s water will remove the harsh, unwanted mineral contents and replenish it with clear, great-tasting water.

Discount Water Softeners recognizes the importance of greener products and avoiding environmental strain. Helping homeowners in their plight to protect against hard water using eco-friendly products, the  Genesis 2 Upflow and the Genesis 2 Premier offer an unmatched warranty of up to 10 years on control valves and a lifetime tank warranty. With the outstanding performance and efficiency of these systems, hard water problems and high energy bills will disappear. Families can enjoy clean, refreshing water…and drink happily.

¹ [source: Water Quality Association].