Whole house water softener/filtration system (Charlotte, Raleigh: sales, new home, buying)

[tiffanyj31]

I was visited by a salesperson, who tested my (Charlotte-Mecklenburg) city water, showed me the dirty sample vs. the clean filtered sample from his portable system. He showed us all differences of filtered water vs. our dirty, hard, chlorine filled water (all sampled from our tap and his filtered system). He made a very good case for the system he was selling.

We recently moved into a new home and my husband and I have often commented to each other about the smell/taste of the water, as well as the water spots on the shower doors and pink rings in the toilet bowls that just never seem to stay clean.

I'm curious if other people have issues with Charlotte water? I often hear people say Charlotte water quality is great, but this isn't the experience at my new home. Does water quality vary from area to area in the city? I only lived a few miles from where I am now, before, and the water seemed fine there.

Also, does anyone have a whole house softener system? Which one and what are the benefits (pros/cons)? The system we were pitched is really expensive. We feel like we need something, but aren't quite sure this is the way to go.

[Ex-LI]

Do you think the salesperson would ever have said "Wow, you have good water, you don't need me. Have a nice day." ?

[Mike409]

You would not catch me drinking straight from the tap around here. Right now we buy bottled water for drinking and cooking. We have not looked into whole house, but I know it can run several thousand dollars. Considering a good reverse osmosis system for under the sink and the ice maker, even that runs near $500.00.

[flexysteve]

A whole house water softener isn't a bad idea but no need to filter your shower and toilet water. An RO system on your sink like mentioned is good but not cheap.

We just Brita our drinking water and take the shower heads off every year and clean them with vinegar.

[VickiT]

When I purchased my first home 11 years ago I was in a similar situation. I ended up purchasing the system and paid a few thousand dollars for it. I was 20 years old and didn't know that I could shop around for these things. I think Sears sells these and they are much cheaper. I would call around to a few places, Lowes, Sears, etc. to see if they have something similar. I think it is a good idea to have one.
My mom's house was just one mile from where I lived last. There was a huge difference in the taste and smell of the water. Same city btw.

[Barkingowl]

If you get one make sure it filters out fluoride too.

[ZnGuy]

I went to County Health Dept to get container to send water sample to Raleigh. Unbiased and $5. I'll then see what kind of results water treatment company comes up with to see if it matches.

[GoodLifeNC]

A lot of people who move here get the water softner "sales pitch" that makes you think you can't live without it. Make sure you research the company online, as there are many complaints registered against some of them. Also, ask them for referrals that you can contact. Going to Sears, Lowes, etc is a good idea as thier return policy is always good if you are not satisfied.

[Metallisteve]

Please heed the advise already mentioned that this guy was a salesman and his livelihood depends on people taking his bait and buying his product. As someone who has studied water treatment and everything associated to it, believe me when I say we're in competent and strict hands drinking public water from a source like Charlotte or one of the surrounding municipalities. Now, go out a bit further into the sticks or even a privately maintained well system that hasn't been kept up, sure you may find some issues. But those are the exceptions, not the norms. Public water is very safe and much cheaper than bottled water or a water system for the house.

I had a good friend who worked for one of these sleazeball companies down in FL. He came over one day a while back and practiced his sales pitch on me. I was fresh out of a class learning about water treatment and was able to pick apart his pitch effortlessly. The fancy chemicals they use to "flock" the water (cause it to look like someone blew a snot load into the water sample after a few minutes of out-of-sight setting up), sample hardness (after injecting some additives to put it off the scales), and other gimmicks are all a crock.

Softened water is a big sale in FL since FL's water is naturally very hard (since it's stored in a limestone underground aquifer). Lime (aka calcium) is the primary cause of hardness so everyone's water is a little hard in FL. Softened water is, in my opinion, like torture! When you take a shower, it feels like you can't ever get the soap off of your body. Clothes feel different/odd. Your hair feels and acts differently. The salesman will tell you "that's just you being more clean than you've ever been." Malarky! It's the odd ball soft water throwing everything you know about water out the window! There's nothing more clean about it. It's a different compound that you're using--plain and simple. In many professional's opinions, some water hardness is needed to make the end user happy. I can personally vouch for this as I had a few friends that lived on ranches with a well system that they softened. I hated taking a shower at their place since I'd rub my skin raw with a towel trying to "get clean!"

All this said, I will admit that there an be impurities in water lines that introduce some unwanted things. A lot of the time, this stuff comes from the home's own pipes after the water meter--epsecially (but not limited to) in older homes.

[fsquid]

I'm currently relocating to Jacksonville and the water softener systems down there are promoted big time when we were looking at homes. I settled on a home that did not have a softener system, so we will see how that goes.