Pure Elements – Whole House Water Filters

A movement to ban water softeners continues to grow in certain cities in California.  Rancho Cucamonga, Montclair, Fontana, Upland, Ontario, Chino, and Chino Hills are all looking to ban the installation of new salt-based water softeners, and considering offering cash rebates for the removal of existing systems.

Water in Southern California has been challenging for many people.  The tap water tends to be hard (high in calcium) and causes scale damage and buildup, and does not taste good.  Residential water softeners help reduce the calcium, but create a need to remove the salt with a secondary point of use purified drinking water system.  Water softeners help reduce the use of detergent in the laundry and water heaters can use up to 25% less energy when connected to these systems, which can provide a notable savings.  (However, those benefits are now available using salt-free, environmentally sound technology in whole-house water systems like the HealthyHome Solution by Pure Elements.)

There appears to be a significant cost to the environment using the old-fashioned salt-based water softeners.  All the salt that you pour into a softener is discharged into the sewer system and environment.  In this particular instance, the salt discharges into the Chino groundwater basin.  The basin runs underneath the ground and therefore it cannot be seen.  However, the Inland Empire Utilities Agency says the salt is polluting the groundwater, which is the main source of water for this area.  They are now offering up to $2,000 in cash to residents to stop using salt-based water softeners.

This issue is not just affecting California – It is a domestic and worldwide problem.  Europe and Australia are dealing with this as well, and their solution has been to embrace salt-free technology.  Water conditioning, rather than salt softening, is proving to be the best choice.

Culligan does not believe that the education of the public and the bans will significantly hurt their business.  They believe the benefits of the salt-based softeners will outweigh the environmental concerns, and people will continue to use salt-based water softeners at the expense of the environment.  Are they kidding?  It sounds like the same attitude BP Oil seems to have..?

What would you do?  Would you keep the old water softener and continued to pump salt into the environment?  Why not take the $2,000 and invest in a new salt free water conditioning filter that addressed the same issues as the water softener, with other added benefits such as great tasting drinking water and chemical free bathing?

Water conditioning systems are different then salt-based water softeners.  They use a different technology which in involves the use of a catalytic converter.  They do not use salt as traditional softeners do.  This is why water conditioners are better for you and the environment.

Pure Elements, Inc.  uses a proprietary catalytic converter that no one else has.  This unit deals with hard water issues very effectively without the use of salt.

The video above shows the whole home water filter version of the catalytic converter.

The key to the product is the proprietary core.  The core has fins which increase the surface area so the state of calcium carbonate can be changed more readily.  This core permanently changes the state of the hard water.  It reduces the scaling properties and reduces the hard water issues in the home.  It also helps with issues concerning landscaping, water features, spas, and swimming pools.

If you would like to know more details about this proprietary hard water conditioning system, please call us.  Again, no one else on the market has this proprietary converter.  Some competitors will claim they have something but it is not like all our’s at all.  In fact, in a future video we will dissect one of our competitors so called converters so you can judge for yourself whether you think it is a viable technology merely advertising hype.  We stand firmly by our technology and have for 30 years.

Contact us today.

The California Assembly has passed bill AB 1366, which will allow government agencies more power to ban new sales of the traditional home water softener system and force the removal of existing salt-based water softening systems.

As a strong proponent and developer of environmentally sound salt-free technologies for addressing hard water, we see this as a major sign of the times. Whole-house water filter and conditioning systems provide a superior alternative that meets the needs for a Green product.

So why do the big water softener manufacturers like Culligan call this “a Big Government grab at private property.”? Do they think that the government wants to own a bunch of used water softening systems? I believe they are in denial regarding the serious issues chlorides create at municipalities and treatment plants.

Aside from making it difficult to meeting federal water quality standards, these chlorides dramatically increase the cost of treatment (including fines for non-compliance). These costs are passed on to us, the individual homeowner. As stated by the home water softener industry, removing residential softeners would leave 25% of homeowners with hard water. If ¼ of homeowners are dumping chlorides into the sewer systems, this has to be a substantial source and volume of chlorides delivered directly to the water treatment plants.

We have the answers in proven alternatives that eliminate the extreme costs for the removal of chlorides, and benefit the environment. Hey, Culligan Man, when are you going to wake up and stop trying to save the dinosaur salt-based softeners?

References: Watertechonline 9/10/09 – Softener bill passes
LA Times 9/10/09 – Water Softener bill
LA Times 6/26/09 – Culligan lobbies for its life

Are Water Softener Companies Going to Help The Environment with New Technologies in California?

If you have been following the news in California, you have probably seen the recent move by cities and municipalities to ban old-fashioned salt-based water softeners.

This is not a new controversy – softener bans were in place in California over 30 years ago in some areas.  However, there is definitely a new awareness of the environmental issues caused directly by the chlorides introduced into the ecosystem from water softeners.  These products operate by removing calcium from incoming water and replacing it with sodium or potassium.  In the regeneration or self-cleaning process, salt brine goes down the drain as calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, and excess sodium or potassium chloride.  Wastewater treatment facilities remove very little of these mineral concentrations, and therefore they are passed along to the environment.  

Chlorides and increased salinity negatively affect recycled water and wastewater quality.  The ability for municipalities to meet federal guidelines becomes dramatically impaired as salinity increases, sometimes resulting in federal fines.   In addition to increasing the costs for wastewater treatment (seen directly in your water bill), the salts wreak havoc on landscape and farming irrigation, reducing crop quality and yields.  Chlorides can also harm aquatic life. Laundry detergents work less efficiently, plumbing fixtures and home appliances wear out faster, and costs increase for maintaining boilers, cooling towers and manufacturing processes.  Everyone bears these increased costs and the environment is adversely affected.

Why are companies like Culligan fighting so hard to avoid bans on these old-fashioned machines, rather than putting their efforts into finding alternative technologies that benefit the environment?  If you have been following the news, Culligan (the largest player in California) has been making every effort to diffuse the issue by pointing to other sources of salts and chlorides, rather than offering a real solution.  It is profit motivation, pure and simple.  The water softening business is a $500 million annual cash cow for these companies.  And the water softener salt and potassium business is also a multimillion dollar industry driving big profits for companies like Morton.

Major water softener companies also stand to make millions of dollars by providing a portable exchange tank service (where the regeneration takes place en mass at a plant instead of in the individual home, and the salts are routed to another area where a ban is not yet in place).  Rental services like this require access to the customer’s home once every three weeks, offer only unpredictable efficiency, and continually tap into checkbooks with no opportunity for ownership.

So what can the manufacturers of old-fashioned water softeners do, if they are really concerned about the environment?  The answer lies in alternative technologies, some old and some new, that do not rely on salt, potassium or chlorides to reduce hard water problems for consumers.  I have personally worked with several companies for nearly three decades that use specific catalysts and/or media to reduce hard water issues in the home, without any foreign substances required to perform well.  These technologies have stood the test of time, making permanent changes in the hard water minerals (unlike inconsistent magnetic or sonic devices).  When combined with whole house water filtration, these systems can produce exceptional water quality for consumption, cooking, ice and other household needs.

The time has come for the manufacturers of traditional salt-based water softeners to think outside the box, rather than spending their time, advertising and public relations dollars to scratch for share in shrinking market.  New technologies exist for those with open minds – everyone and our environment will be better off when these companies decide to become innovative once again.

Reference: LA Times Link…  LA Times article, June 26, 2009 — Culligan lobbies…