Water Softener Buyers Guide: AquaMaster Exceeds Expectations

It's important to make sure you have an efficient water softener. The more efficient your water softener is, the less salt and water it will need in order to regenerate. Reduced salt and water usage means you'll be spending less of your hard-earned money on replenishing your water softener supplies!

Buying a water softener can be a confusing process—especially if you don't know what to look for. To help make it easier for homeowners to choose the right water softener, the City of Guelph and Region of Waterloo have collaborated on a water softener buyers guide. The guide offers an in-depth explanation of what you should look for in an efficient water softener.

Homeowners can refer to these guidelines when purchasing water softeners:

• Your water softener should be certified to the NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) /ANSI 44 Performance Standard (Click "Water Softeners" in the menu). This means that your water softener should remove a minimum of 3350 grains of hardness from your water per pound of salt used. Additionally, your softener shouldn't use more than 5 US gallons of water per 1000 grains of hardness removed from your water.

• Performance data about the water softener you are interested in should be readily available from suppliers. Although the NSF doesn't require suppliers to disclose regeneration water consumption figures for their water softeners, it's a good sign if they do! At a minimum, you should be able to get the salt efficiency information for your water softener.

As listed on NSF.org, all of AquaMaster's water softener systems meet and exceed the NSF/ANSI 44 standard. The AquaMaster AMS900, for example, removes 5,600 grains at the benchmark 1 pound setting—that's 67% more efficient than required! With its factory settings, the AMS900 uses under 1 gallon per 1,000 grains of hardness removed. That's only one fifth of the maximum specified by the NSF/ANSI standard!

Would you buy a car without knowing its "gas mileage"? Likewise, it's important to pay attention to you water softener "salt mileage." Buying an NSF certified water softener ensures the "salt mileage" meets the standard and that manufacturer's claims are verified and true.

For details on salt efficiency and regeneration water consumption, visit us online at http://www.aquamaster.ca/. AquaMaster carries a selection of water softeners for your home.