The 10 Best Salt Free Water Softeners: Which Saltless Water Softener is Right for You?

What is Hard Water?

Hard water is water that has a high volume of minerals like magnesium and calcium. Hard water is most common in areas where there are large limestone deposits. The greatest concentrations of hard water are in the Midwest and the west. The softest water tends to be in the southeast United States.

An estimated 85 percent of all homes in the United States have hard water, but the only way to know for sure is by testing your water at home. The JNW Direct Water Total Hardness Test Strips, which comes with 150 strips in every pack, is a great option. 

If your water hardness is greater than seven grains per gallon, you may want to invest in a water softener to prevent limescale buildup, damaged appliances, clogged pipes, and ruined clothing.

Why is Hard Water An Issue?

The typical family pays $800 or more in expenses every year due to hard water. Hard water expenses can pop up anywhere in your home where water is used, including:

Bathroom and Kitchen

One of the biggest problems with hard water is that the metal ions present in magnesium and calcium reduce the effectiveness of soap. The chemical reaction between soap molecules and metal ions prevents soap from lathering, making it hard to rinse the soap away. That leaves soap residue and buildup on dishes, on counter tops and floors, and on ceramics, metals, and glass in bathtubs and showers.

Laundry Room

The ions in hard water minerals that make soap less effective can do the same thing to laundry detergent, leading to clothes that lose their brightness, become stiff and brittle, and become permanently soiled. The problem gets worse over time because the more mineral deposits a piece of clothing collects, the harder it becomes to wash.

A study at Purdue University found that clothing washed in hard water wore out 15 percent faster than clothing washed in soft water. Many people that wash with hard water end up using more detergent than should be necessary and hotter water, which causes additional expenses.

Appliances

First things first: salt-free water softeners, descalers, and water conditioners are not as good at protecting appliances from hard water damage as salt-based water softeners because they do not remove hardness necessarily. 

Salt-based systems actually remove hard water minerals from the water through ion exchange, while salt-free systems simply condition the hard water minerals so they don’t build up as quickly. A saltless water softener acts more as water conditioners, but we’ll get into that later.

What you need to know is that hard water damages appliances. Hard water can reduce the efficiency of a water heater by half over 15 years. Other appliances that rely on the uninterrupted transfer of water also lose their efficiency and experience reduced lifespans as a result of hard water.

If you have several expensive appliances and very hard water, it may be a good idea to invest in a salt-based water softener so you can soften water with salt. If you have only moderately hard water, you may find a salt free water softener does the job without the added expense and environmental impact.

Saltless water conditioners are the way to go if your water hardness level is at the lower end. You can use the mentioned JNW Direct Water Total Hardness Test Strips or a similar product to determine what kind of softener is best for your appliances.

Pipes

The deposits left behind by hard water minerals are called limescale. It builds up over time, causing bad odors, leaks, clogs, pipe damage, and frequently required maintenance that can become quite expensive in the process. Limescale buildup also slows water flow over time. It's a big pain in the "you know what," and can also become a big pain in your finances if you don't take care of it early. 

One of the first areas people tend to notice reduced water pressure from limescale buildup is in the shower when shower heads become blocked. Hard water can reduce the flow rate of a shower head by 75 percent over a year and a half from the build up.

Skin and Hair

Hard water minerals also deactivate the shampoos, soaps, and body washes you use in the shower, and that can have negative consequences for skin and hair. The ions in hard water don’t properly dissolve the soap and other cleaning agents, which means they stay on your skin and on your hair, they remove the body’s natural oils, and they leave skin and hair dry and irritated.

If you happen to live in an area with a particularly dry climate, hard water can even cause dermatitis and worsen skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema. Lastly, the drying effect of hard water can cause acne by clogging your pores with dead skin cells. A hard water treatment system is a great way to take care of these physical ailments. And remember, saltless water conditioners are the best option if your water isn't too hard.

Salt-Based and Saltless Water Softeners: What’s the Difference?

Now, let’s clear up some common misconceptions about salt-free water softeners and salt water softeners. A Saltless water softener does not soften water—not technically, anyway. Here’s what you need to know.

The term “soften” means literally removing the minerals from water that make it hard, namely magnesium and calcium. Salt water softeners do this with a process called ion exchange. During ion exchange, the hard water flows through a bed of salt resin that exchanges hard water particles with sodium particles. The calcium and magnesium are flushed down the drain and “softened” water comes out of your faucet, and the hardness minerals are converted during the ion exchange process.

One drawback of using salt-based water softeners to obtain soft water is the salt. A small amount of salt, roughly 86 parts per million, is left in your water at the end of the process. The harder your water is, the more salt your water will contain. That’s why some municipalities and towns restrict or even outlaw the use of salt-based water softeners. Saltless water conditioners, on the other hand, achieve similar results without the need to maintain expensive salt additives for the ion exchange.

How Does a Salt Free Water Softener Work

Salt free water softeners (saltless water softener) do not use salt and, therefore, do not remove hard water minerals from water. They are not technically softeners. Instead, they alter the chemical structure of hard water minerals so they don’t stick together, build up in pipes and on surfaces, and damage clothes, skin, and hair. Overall, salt-free options still provide soft water and remove hardness minerals that cause build up and appliance issues.

Sometimes salt-free systems are called “descalers” or “conditioners" because they descale and condition rather than remove hard water minerals. They work as a water conditioner for water softening, but not to the same scale as salt systems. On our list of the 10 best salt-free water softeners, you’ll see that these salt-free systems use different technologies, from a potassium-chloride salt substitute to electricity and magnetism in the process of achieving soft water.

One problem some people have with salt free water softeners is that they don’t produce the “slippery” feeling of truly soft water. These salt-free systems provide similar results, but they don't use the exact process that salted water softeners use to create soft water. 

Another issue is that they are not as good at preventing limescale in places where water sits, like in water heaters, as salt-based systems. If you're constantly needing to replace your water heater because of issues from build up, you may want to consider a salt water option for the sake of your hot water production and water heater.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Salt-Free Water Softener

As you go through the list of the 10 best salt free water softeners below, which are organized by price from high to low, you’ll notice significant price differences between the different water softening units. Largely the price variation has to do with whether the system filters and conditions water or just conditions, it’s capacity, and whether it treats water across the entire home or in one area during the process. 

All of these systems come highly recommended, but you can check and see which of these systems will work best for your home or office water softening needs.

Whole-House Softening/Conditioning and Filtering

If you want water that is filtered and softened (AKA descaled or conditioned) across your entire home, rather than just at one or more output points, then investing in a whole-house water softening/conditioning unit makes sense. It’s by far the most expensive option, but it’s more cost-effective than purchasing a whole-house water softener as well as under-sink filtration units for every sink to produce soft water. 

With a salt free whole-house softener-filter, you don’t have to worry about purchasing and replacing salt in your unit. It’s a comprehensive, set-it-and-forget-it approach that leaves you with soft water, every time.

Whole-House Water Softening/Conditioning

If you don’t need filtered water across your entire home but do want to soften/condition the water where it enters your home, a whole-house salt free water softener is your best bet. These salt-free softeners and water conditioners will provide you with soft water without having you commit to expensive salt refills.

Mixed Approach

If you want whole-house softening/conditioning, but don’t want to filter all the water that enters your home, you can still filter the water you drink by placing an under-sink or faucet-mounted reverse osmosis or charcoal water filtration unit in your kitchen. 

This mixed approach is the best way to reduce the impact of hard water minerals across your home while filtering contaminants from the water you drink and cook with.

Hardness

As we mentioned above, the unit and the technology you decide on should ultimately depend on how hard your water is. If you have extremely hard water, you probably need to invest in a higher-end salt free water softener or a salt-based water softener. 

Salt-free softeners are the better option if your water is not that hard. You just need to figure out how hard your water is. Get a home testing kit by following the link in the "What is Hard Water?" section above.

Water Usage

The next factor you need to consider is how much water you use. You can figure this out by counting the number of bathrooms you have or by looking at several of your water bills and finding an average. Most of the 10 best salt-free water softeners on our list are rated for how much water they can treat before requiring a filter change for each water conditioner. 

You can opt for a less expensive model and change your filter more often, or pay more upfront and deal with fewer filter changes. Filter changes aren't affected by using cold water or hot water.

Budget

The other obvious factor that will go into your decision is your budget. The 10 best saltless water conditioner options on this list are arranged by price from high to low at the time of writing, though prices may change over time. If your water isn’t that hard and you’re not concerned about damage to your appliances, saltless water conditioners will be a great choice.

You can enjoy whole-house filtration and softening/conditioning for a fraction of the price of whole-house salt-based softening and filtration, plus you don’t have to deal with the $10 a month you’ll pay for softening salt.

 If you have extremely hard water, it may be worth it to invest in a salt-based water softening filtration system as the salt-free water conditioner is best for water that isn't very hard.