What is a "Salt Free Water Conditioner"? There has recently been resurgence in the marketing of products labeled as "Salt Free Water Conditioners". Some marketers celebrate their products in promotional materials as “New Break-Through” technology. Some have gone as far as making suggestions that "now you can condition your water without salt". If you examine their words carefully, you will find that although they give the impression you can get soft water from these systems, they actually don’t say it. So what are these "No Salt Conditioners".

The technologies that are heavily marketing today are often in the category of "physical water conditioners" (PWC). PWC devices include magnetic, electromagnetic, electrical frequency and crystallization of polymer beads. All of these techniques claim to achieve the same result of creating an effect on the dissolved salts that are the source of scaling in water. PWC’s do not stop all scale from forming, they only claim to make scale form in such a way that it doesn’t stick. PWC’s do not produce “soft water”

Many of these companies are marketing their systems as an alternative to salt based softening. The technique they use might help with scaling in hot water, although that performance is not validated or demonstrated to be consistent, but none of these devices produce soft water. If consumers want hard water that might not scale as badly as un-treated water, then these products might have a place in the market. But, if consumers are expecting soft water, these products will disappoint anyone who buys them with this expectation.

The Water Quality Association recognizes products that provide verifiable results which usually means products with independent third party performance tested technologies. The professional water treatment industry embraces new technologies but strongly believes that integrity must not be compromised under the allure of selling products that sound good to consumers. The products must perform as promoted and should adhere to testing standards that substantiate such performance claims.

This article provided by The Indiana Water Quality Association.