EasyWater system - real deal or snake oil?

[Dargo]

I have to admit that when I first saw the commercials for EasyWater water conditioning systems I laughed and thought it was a complete scam. Now I don't know. Here is their homepage Order Your EasyWater System Online Today

I have three tankless water heaters and am in an area known for particularly hard water. I get all of the typical issues associated with hard water. In my last home I had a Culligan water softener system that seemed to work really well, but it was expensive and it seemed that I constantly had to add salt. So, I never installed any water softener when I built my new home.

That takes me to the EasyWater system. I would not have given them even a second glance but I've had a few people tell me that Rinnai has endorsed EasyWater for use with their tankless systems. I can't seem to find that endorsement now and, even worse, it seems that Rinnai is foolish enough to call their water heaters Tankless Hot water heaters. I cannot imagine a company that makes water heaters actually calling them "hot water" heaters. Um, I learned in grade school that you have no need to heat "hot water", and what you have in your home is a water heater; to provide hot water, not heat already hot water. I know that may sound picky, but it is typically such foolish mistakes that are tell tale signs of scam deals. As I said, I can't imagine any company in the business actually calling a water heater a "hot water heater".

This all leads me to wondering if this "EasyWater" system is simply an "EasyScam" setup or is the real deal. I'm curious to see if anyone here has the system or has researched the EasyWater system. At least they don't call them "soft water softeners".

 

[mikim]

what about getting somethin like what I saw on Water Softeners, Water Filters, Reverse Osmosis Units at AffordableWater.us ...I just did a search and that looks like what I bought last year for the country place......but haven't installed yet due to priorities in town. I don't remember where I got mine from - but it was off the web.

 

[jinman]

Actually, on the Rinnai website, they do not call it a "hot" water heater. They just call it a "Tankless Water Heater." If you heard it the other way, it was probably some mindless 2nd grade dropout working for an ad agency who wouldn't understand the difference if you explained it to them. Very often I hear "stuff" on radio and TV commercials that is just stunning in its stupidity.

Did anybody see where I left my vacuum cleaner?

 

[Dargo]

You're right. I saw it here Rinnai | Tankless Hot Water Heater Installations - in Toronto, Mississauga, Etobicoke, Oakville & Burlington I thought I was on their official website when, in fact, I was on a distributor's website using Rinnai's name in the web address.

Now you have me wondering if that dealer runs any TV or radio ads and calls them "hot water heaters". ROFL!

Hey, you didn't comment on the EasyWater system. Think it is legit or a scam deal? I really don't want to have to back flush all my tankless units (and I have not done any yet ), so I really need to get some sort of water conditioner.

 

[reb]

I looked into this a couple of weeks ago. I found these links interesting:

Yes or No to EasyWater water softener by Freije - Plumbing Forum - GardenWeb

Dubious Water Treatment Schemes

I thought it was interesting that the first couple of pages of a google search on "easywater" seemed to lead only to the manufacturer or dealers. It was several pages before I found any user comments or opinions not linked to the company.

 

[jinman]

Hey, you didn't comment on the EasyWater system. Think it is legit or a scam deal? I really don't want to have to back flush all my tankless units (and I have not done any yet ), so I really need to get some sort of water conditioner.

I did that on purpose. I don't know enough to really comment. I am skeptical of systems that have lots of anecdotes, but not a lot of science on their site. The system does not remove the components that make water hard and they skirt around this fact and talk abouit scale prevention and removal. Can you remove the effects of hard water without removing the components that make water hard? I'm not sure. I'm just blessed that relatively soft water is what comes out of the ground at my well.

 

[texbaylea]

Snake Oil!!!!

Vernon

 

[Dargo]

Snake Oil!!!!

Vernon

Hey, I like a guy who doesn't beat around the bush.

 

[MossRoad]

There is a local company up here in South Bend that has been around for a very long time.

BAUER SOFT WATER CO.

I have one of their softeners. It was installed in my house about 10 years before we bought it. We've been there 12. So at 22 years, it is still working just fine. It uses about one 40 pound bag of salt every 4 weeks. That's it. We typically take 21 showers, 3-4 baths, 7-8 loads of laundry and 5 loads of dishes each week. Their newer units are supposed to use even less salt. I have nothing but good things to say about their product. Several of our relatives have them, too, and really like them.

 

[Simple]

I have been using the Easywater system for about 8 months now. I was concerned if this would work and more importantly what my wife would say.

I would like to say we noticed a difference right away, but we did not. It took about a week before we noticed several things. The first thing we began to notice was the scale in the dishwasher was being removed. The easywater people send a bottle of "Lemon Shine" with the unit and recommend that we use it with powder type soap. We did not use the Lemon Shine the first few days and we had spots and the wife was not happy. The sales rep at easywater told us to try the Lemon Shine and said we would like it. We did and we use it all the time now.

The second thing we noticed was the excess scale/spotting on the glass shower walls and door. My wife also felt like her hair was heavy and not as clean. The sales rep said there is scale being removed from the pipes and it may take some time for it to clear out. Again we gave it more time and by the forth week she was very happy with how her hair felt and skin. I too noticed a difference in my skin not being so dry.

The third thing we noticed was the showerhead and water was flowing out of all the holes. The showerhead was partially blocked from scale. We noticed around the 8th week that the shower head was clean and the water pressure has increased.


We have noticed other things over the past few months and we are happy with the unit. I will say that there are some downsides to everything and easywater does have a few. When we installed the unit we read that we would be able to cut back on soap usage by 1/2. Well this is only if you do not currently use a water softener. We had already cut back our soap usage by 1/2 because we used a softener. By doing that we were only using 1/4 of the soap and it did not clean well. You will also notice spots on and in your sink and counter tops. However, they are easy to wipe off and require little effort.


I hope this helps, I have purchased the easywater system now for most of my family and they all love it. I know it's not for everyone but it is worth looking into. I would recommend that if you like the feel of a softener you are probably better off with that instead.