Why Buy A Sterling (Poly) Water Conditioner instead of a Water Softener?
Advantages that our water conditioner unit has compared to a water softener are as follows No Salt: For an average household, salt costs $200 per year. Salt-based water softeners are expensive, time-consuming, and inconvenient to continually purchase and carry heavy bags of salt from the store, into your home. Protects Your Investments: The Sterling Water Conditioner not only stops scale from forming but usually removes existing scale from your piping, faucets, and appliances. By dramatically reducing scale deposits, your water heater will last several times longer than in hard water. Additionally, your dishwasher, washing machine, water filter system, and hot water appliances will last significantly longer. A water softener will help protect your investments better than not having a softener at all, but, water softeners cannot keep scale and hard water deposits from forming.
Cost: The average softener has an initial cost of $1,200 to $4,000 including installation fees. Additionally, it requires regular maintenance and service which can be expensive. Our water conditioning system costs $649.00, is very easy to install, and requires very little maintenance. The only maintenance you will need to perform is to pour vinegar into the system every 12 to 24 months, depending on the hardness level in your area. Sterling Water Conditioner uses and discharges no harmful salt or chemicals into your home or the environment. Salt from softeners cannot be removed by wastewater treatment plants and ends up in our lakes, rivers, streams, and aquifers. For this very reason, water softeners are being banned in states such as Texas, California, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. [Read more about water softener pollution below]
Convenience: A water softener has to regenerate and backwash which raises your water bill and can be noisy. Water softeners also take up space and decrease your water pressure. Our Sterling Water Conditioner system does not use any floor space or additional water and makes no noise. The Sterling Water Conditioner has the approval of the UPC, (United Plumbing Code), because there are no pressure drops; unlike water softeners.
Safety: Since water softeners add sodium to your water, it is not healthy to drink and can be dangerous for people with high blood pressure and on salt-restricted diets. Our water conditioner does not add anything to your water and leaves beneficial calcium and magnesium minerals in your drinking water.
Similarities and Disadvantages of our Sterling Water Conditioner compared to a water softener:
The Sterling Water Conditioner and a water softener will both mix soap very well in your washing machine allowing you to purchase and use less detergent and soaps. Salt-softened water will lather soap better in the shower but will leave a slippery feeling on your body as previously mentioned and may lead to dry skin because of the sodium chloride in the water. Our Sterling Conditioner system will keep glasses and dish-ware nearly spot-free up to 15 grains of hardness. For water above 15 grains. Sterling Water combined with a high-quality rinse aid such as Jet Dry will eliminate spotting as good as or better than a salt type softener. (Find out what your water hardness level is.) A water conditioning unit will make cleaning in your home much easier and less frequent compared to a home with no water conditioning system and hard water. A softener will leave slightly fewer spots on a clear glass shower door than our system, but the spots are still hard to clean. Spots from Sterling Water can be easily removed with a sponge and a cleaner such as CLR (Calcium / Lime / Rust) or vinegar. Water spots from a water softener are much harder to remove compared to a water conditioner and require something abrasive to wipe clean.
Iron Removal: A Sterling Water Conditioner will do a great job preventing iron from forming in your home water systems. If you have well water with considerable amounts of iron, a softener will do a great job because it will remove some of the iron along with the hardness and add sodium in its place. At the same time, many people with iron problems have decided to use both our conditioning system and an iron reduction filter which can also be purchased from us.
Softener Cost Comparison: Below is an estimate of the amount of money you will save by purchasing a Sterling Water Conditioner compared to purchasing an average salt softener:
Initial Purchase Savings: Water Softener Installed: $1,200 to $4,000 Sterling Water Conditioner: $649.00! Initial Savings: anywhere from $500 to $3,100
Yearly Savings: Annual Salt Cost*: $200 *(Annual Water Regeneration Cost Calculated using an average of 4 regenerations per week with 30 gallons of water at a cost of $4 per 1000 gallons $25)
Annual Maintenance Cost: Assume an average of one service call every two years + $60 Yearly Savings: $285
Ten Year Savings: Initial Savings = ($400 X 3% Per Yr. Inflation) $540 Salt and Water = ($225 X 10yrs X 3% Inflation) $2660 Maintenance = ($60 X 10yrs X 3% Inflation) + $710You Save $3910!
Additional Savings: In addition to the savings shown above, a Sterling Water Conditioner will also save you a considerable amount of money by extending the life of your water heater, piping, dishwasher, and washing machine. Your water heating bills will be reduced over time from the prevention of scale in your water heater, and you will be able to purchase and use less detergents and soaps in your home.
Saving Energy: Chemicals and saltwater softening can reduce scale deposits but are not powerful enough to eliminate them for most applications with even mildly hard water. These scale deposits create an insulating barrier on heat transfer surfaces which results in more energy being used. For many applications such as water-cooled refrigeration and air conditioning systems, these relatively thin layers of scale on condenser tubes can result in 20% or more additional energy usage. A Sterling Water Conditioner will safely remove these deposits.
Eliminating Chemical Pollution: The primary scale inhibiting chemical used to treat cooling water applications such as cooling towers and evaporative condensers is phosphate. Phosphate is a food source for algae and is therefore very harmful to our rivers and streams. This is why phosphate laundry detergent was banned years ago. Sulfuric acid, various biocides, and many other water treatment chemicals are also major sources of pollution that are eliminated by the use of a Sterling Water Conditioner.
Eliminating Salt Pollution: Salt-type water softeners exchange hardness (mainly calcium and magnesium) for twice as much sodium. Since waste treatment plants do not remove the salt, it all ends up in a stream, river or aquifer. This is why portions of Texas, California, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Connecticut have banned or partially banned salt-type softeners. [Read more about water softener banning]
Lengthening Equipment Life: Scale deposits, harsh chemicals, and salt-type softeners can cause the life of water using equipment to be dramatically shortened. Equipment such as water heaters, boilers, cooling towers, evaporative condensers, chillers, and piping will last several times longer if they are kept free of scale deposits, harsh chemicals, and the corrosive effects of salt-softened water. Our junkyards and landfills are packed with equipment whose life was cut far short through ineffective water treatment. Find out more about the Sterling Water Conditioner!