The cost and size of a water softener

To convert hard water into soft water a water softener system is needed. The initial expense of buying a regular water softener and getting it installed can cost anywhere between $1,200 - $4,000. The other option available is to buy a salt water based softener which will cost around $1,000-$3,300.

Generally the costs of a water softener can vary between $0.25 and $0.51 a day. The costs of salt water softeners are usually far outweighed by the benefits and cost savings obtained, through using softened water. The running cost is merely the cost of salt. This is likely to be around $2.48 per person in the household in a month.

If you chose not to use a water softener there is the costs of chemicals to remove hard water spots or a professional to do that for you, as well as drinking water and possibly moisturizers for dry itchy skin.

To help you to choose a water softener size that is right for your needs. You will need to know the number of people in your household (additional person makes up for water using appliances) and the grains of hardness per gallon in your water. The following equations helps decide how large of small of a water softener to purchase;

Capacity = No. of People x Hardness x 70 Gallons x Days Between Regeneration

For example a family of four people with 33 grains per gallon hardness and no iron in their hard water would write there equation as 4 + 1(for appliances) x 33 Grains/Gal. x 70 Gallons x 4 Days = 46,200 Grains. In this example 46,200 grains of capacity is needed on average every 4 days (1 regeneration). Do to the fact that the family has no iron is present in their water the low salt setting can be used. They must then select the softener that will provide more than 46,200 grains at the low salt setting.