Salt-free water softeners are sold in San Antonio as a way to deal with hard water without a brine tank or bags of salt. With SAWS water at a typical 15 to 20 grains per gallon, it is a fair question to ask. This article does not judge whether a salt-free unit will work in your house. It tells you what the standards cover, and the questions that get you a straight answer from whoever is selling one.
What a conventional softener does
A conventional softener is an ion exchange unit. It removes the calcium and magnesium that make water hard by trading them for sodium or potassium held on a resin. When the resin is loaded, the unit recharges it with brine from a tank of salt or potassium chloride. NSF/ANSI 44 is the standard for these residential softeners: it covers units that use a cation exchange resin regenerated with sodium or potassium chloride.
That trade is where the sodium question comes from. Water utilities put it plainly: in home softeners, sodium is added to the water in exchange for the hardness removed. Utilities also suggest that people on a sodium-restricted diet may want to consult their physician. If that applies to you, ask your doctor.
What a salt-free unit is
A salt-free unit, which may be sold as a “conditioner”, is a different technology from ion exchange. As the name says, it does not use salt. Because NSF/ANSI 44 is written for ion exchange softeners regenerated with sodium or potassium chloride, a salt-free unit falls outside that standard as it is described. That does not by itself mean it does or does not do something useful. It means you have to ask what it is certified for, and to what standard.
The question that matters
Ask: what is this unit certified for, by whom, and under which standard? TCEQ advises choosing a unit certified by NSF, Underwriter’s Laboratory or the Water Quality Association to remove the contaminant you are concerned about.
Removing hardness or changing it?
When a seller describes a salt-free unit, listen for whether they say it removes hardness or does something else to it. A hardness test before and after a working conventional softener should show a drop. Ask the seller of a salt-free unit what a hardness test after their unit would show, and how you would check for yourself that it is doing what they describe. If the answer is that a hardness test will not show a change, ask what test will.
Questions to ask before you buy
- What does this unit do to hardness: remove it, or something else?
- What is it certified for, by which body, and under which standard?
- How would I test, after installation, that it is working?
- What does the maker say about San Antonio water at 15 to 20 grains per gallon?
- What upkeep does it need, and what does the maker’s schedule say?
- Which Texas license do you hold, and which San Antonio permit applies?
License and permit apply either way
A salt-free unit is still water treatment equipment. Under TCEQ’s Water Treatment Specialist rule, any individual who under contract installs, exchanges, connects, maintains or services water treatment equipment in Texas needs that license unless exempt, and Texas licensed plumbers are exempt. In the city, the Limited Service Repair permit covers replacing an existing water softener or purifier and installing one in a building already pre-plumbed for it; new piping needs a regular plumbing permit.
Comparing a salt-free quote with a conventional one
If you are choosing between the two, ask for both quotes in writing and put them side by side: what each unit does to hardness, its certification, its upkeep, the permit and the license. SAWS says hard water is not a health hazard, so the decision is about scale, spots, soap and upkeep, and about which claims you can check. The water softener page explains sizing a conventional softener for SAWS water, and San Antonio hard water covers the numbers.
Questions people ask
Do salt-free water softeners work in San Antonio?
This site does not judge that. Ask the seller what the unit is certified for, under which standard, and how you can test that it works.
Is a salt-free softener certified to NSF/ANSI 44?
NSF/ANSI 44 covers ion exchange softeners regenerated with sodium or potassium chloride. A salt-free unit is a different technology, so ask what it is certified to instead.
Will a salt-free unit add sodium to my water?
The sodium question comes from ion exchange softeners regenerated with sodium chloride. Ask the seller of any salt-free unit what, if anything, it adds to the water, and ask your doctor if you are on a sodium-restricted diet.