I have more than 20 years of experience in residential water treatment.
During that time I have had the opportunity to field test numerous non-traditional water treatment products. I have tested and compared pitchers, magnets, carbon tanks that are supposed to replace water softeners ... the list goes on and on. The common denominator, NONE of these non-traditional products actually worked. Pitcher filters don't remove dissolved solids and they breed bacteria. Carbon tanks do not soften water and they saturate quickly on hard water. Magnets don't work because water loses it's magnetic charge while sitting in your
plumbing. A good water softener with carbon combined with a good
reverse osmosis system has been my recommendation for as long as I have been in the business.
Here is what I have discovered so far. The taste of the water from my reverse osmosis system has improved dramatically. My drinking water has never been this good! This water also goes in my bird bath and the next thing I noticed is how the water stays clean in the bird bath. The VWR treated water no longer gets the usual mold that had been building up fast in the past. Before the VWR the mold would cover the spraying nozzle in three days. Now it stays clear. After a whole week I cleaned it anyway by habit even though there was nothing to clean apart from the old stains in the bird bath which are now reversing themselves. Then I noticed that the soft water now actually tastes good as well, instead of flat and brackish.
I have also noticed that the benefits of soft water seem to have been "amplified" in that cleaning has become even easier, skin is even softer and my soft water is now luxurious soft water. The plants have responded well to the new quality VWR water as well. My house plants, as well as my chili peppers and aloe vera have all responded to the new water with healthy growth spurts.
Eric Van der Wyk
California, USA
