EasyWater system - real deal or snake oil?

[Dargo]

I have to admit that when I first saw the commercials for EasyWater water conditioning systems I laughed and thought it was a complete scam. Now I don't know. Here is their homepage Order Your EasyWater System Online Today

I have three tankless water heaters and am in an area known for particularly hard water. I get all of the typical issues associated with hard water. In my last home I had a Culligan water softener system that seemed to work really well, but it was expensive and it seemed that I constantly had to add salt. So, I never installed any water softener when I built my new home.

That takes me to the EasyWater system. I would not have given them even a second glance but I've had a few people tell me that Rinnai has endorsed EasyWater for use with their tankless systems. I can't seem to find that endorsement now and, even worse, it seems that Rinnai is foolish enough to call their water heaters Tankless Hot water heaters. I cannot imagine a company that makes water heaters actually calling them "hot water" heaters. Um, I learned in grade school that you have no need to heat "hot water", and what you have in your home is a water heater; to provide hot water, not heat already hot water. I know that may sound picky, but it is typically such foolish mistakes that are tell tale signs of scam deals. As I said, I can't imagine any company in the business actually calling a water heater a "hot water heater".

This all leads me to wondering if this "EasyWater" system is simply an "EasyScam" setup or is the real deal. I'm curious to see if anyone here has the system or has researched the EasyWater system. At least they don't call them "soft water softeners".

 

[mikim]

what about getting somethin like what I saw on Water Softeners, Water Filters, Reverse Osmosis Units at AffordableWater.us ...I just did a search and that looks like what I bought last year for the country place......but haven't installed yet due to priorities in town. I don't remember where I got mine from - but it was off the web.

 

[jinman]

Actually, on the Rinnai website, they do not call it a "hot" water heater. They just call it a "Tankless Water Heater." If you heard it the other way, it was probably some mindless 2nd grade dropout working for an ad agency who wouldn't understand the difference if you explained it to them. Very often I hear "stuff" on radio and TV commercials that is just stunning in its stupidity.

Did anybody see where I left my vacuum cleaner?

 

[Dargo]

You're right. I saw it here Rinnai | Tankless Hot Water Heater Installations - in Toronto, Mississauga, Etobicoke, Oakville & Burlington I thought I was on their official website when, in fact, I was on a distributor's website using Rinnai's name in the web address.

Now you have me wondering if that dealer runs any TV or radio ads and calls them "hot water heaters". ROFL!

Hey, you didn't comment on the EasyWater system. Think it is legit or a scam deal? I really don't want to have to back flush all my tankless units (and I have not done any yet ), so I really need to get some sort of water conditioner.

 

[reb]

I looked into this a couple of weeks ago. I found these links interesting:

Yes or No to EasyWater water softener by Freije - Plumbing Forum - GardenWeb

Dubious Water Treatment Schemes

I thought it was interesting that the first couple of pages of a google search on "easywater" seemed to lead only to the manufacturer or dealers. It was several pages before I found any user comments or opinions not linked to the company.

 

[jinman]

Hey, you didn't comment on the EasyWater system. Think it is legit or a scam deal? I really don't want to have to back flush all my tankless units (and I have not done any yet ), so I really need to get some sort of water conditioner.

I did that on purpose. I don't know enough to really comment. I am skeptical of systems that have lots of anecdotes, but not a lot of science on their site. The system does not remove the components that make water hard and they skirt around this fact and talk abouit scale prevention and removal. Can you remove the effects of hard water without removing the components that make water hard? I'm not sure. I'm just blessed that relatively soft water is what comes out of the ground at my well.

 

[texbaylea]

Snake Oil!!!!

Vernon

 

[Dargo]

Snake Oil!!!!

Vernon

Hey, I like a guy who doesn't beat around the bush.

 

[MossRoad]

There is a local company up here in South Bend that has been around for a very long time.

BAUER SOFT WATER CO.

I have one of their softeners. It was installed in my house about 10 years before we bought it. We've been there 12. So at 22 years, it is still working just fine. It uses about one 40 pound bag of salt every 4 weeks. That's it. We typically take 21 showers, 3-4 baths, 7-8 loads of laundry and 5 loads of dishes each week. Their newer units are supposed to use even less salt. I have nothing but good things to say about their product. Several of our relatives have them, too, and really like them.

 

[Simple]

I have been using the Easywater system for about 8 months now. I was concerned if this would work and more importantly what my wife would say.

I would like to say we noticed a difference right away, but we did not. It took about a week before we noticed several things. The first thing we began to notice was the scale in the dishwasher was being removed. The easywater people send a bottle of "Lemon Shine" with the unit and recommend that we use it with powder type soap. We did not use the Lemon Shine the first few days and we had spots and the wife was not happy. The sales rep at easywater told us to try the Lemon Shine and said we would like it. We did and we use it all the time now.

The second thing we noticed was the excess scale/spotting on the glass shower walls and door. My wife also felt like her hair was heavy and not as clean. The sales rep said there is scale being removed from the pipes and it may take some time for it to clear out. Again we gave it more time and by the forth week she was very happy with how her hair felt and skin. I too noticed a difference in my skin not being so dry.

The third thing we noticed was the showerhead and water was flowing out of all the holes. The showerhead was partially blocked from scale. We noticed around the 8th week that the shower head was clean and the water pressure has increased.


We have noticed other things over the past few months and we are happy with the unit. I will say that there are some downsides to everything and easywater does have a few. When we installed the unit we read that we would be able to cut back on soap usage by 1/2. Well this is only if you do not currently use a water softener. We had already cut back our soap usage by 1/2 because we used a softener. By doing that we were only using 1/4 of the soap and it did not clean well. You will also notice spots on and in your sink and counter tops. However, they are easy to wipe off and require little effort.


I hope this helps, I have purchased the easywater system now for most of my family and they all love it. I know it's not for everyone but it is worth looking into. I would recommend that if you like the feel of a softener you are probably better off with that instead.

 

[Jwarren]

Rinnai, Inc is the largest gas appliances and tankless water heater manufacturer in the world.
2+ years ago they tested Freije (EW parent co) Descaling Technology in a private lab against 24 other "no salt" water conditioners from all over the world and a salt water softener. After the testing they chose to work exclusively with Freije and wanted to to do further testing at existing hard water sites where they were having (scaling) issues.
They chose 3 locations in San Angelo, Texas which is one of the hardest water areas in the country (25-35 gpg/ 500+ppm). The heat exchangers in the three locations were failing due to scale in the approximately 3-6 months due to the high hardness of the water and the 160 to 185 degree heater temps (commercial). After testing for 6 months Rinnai cut the heat exchangers open to find no scale present at all.
Rinnai only recommends Easy Water and Freije descaling technology to eliminate scaling issues in their tankless water heaters.
Please note that at no time did I state that Freije EW system will soften your water if that is what is most important to you go with salt softener. I will tell you that tankless water heaters are "very prone" to scaling and failures due to it. Please feel free to contact me if you are still looking for more info on Freijes' EW treatment system.

 

[reb]

Pardon my skepticism, Jwarren. Your post sounds to me like an advertisement. Can you offer some documentation of the Rinnai tests? I find no mention of EasyWater on the Rinnai website.

 

[Dargo]

I can't tell you if EasyWater real or snake oil myself. There simply was not enough quantifiable proof available for me to convince me that it actually worked, so I ended up going with a conventional (tried and true) water softener. Heck, after a bit of an issue with a contracted plumber, I even got to install it myself.

 

[MicroPilot]

I looked into the "easy Water" system after seeing an ad on the TV. I was looking to answer one question, "how does it work". I failed in answering that question.

My opinion is it's bunk.

 

[ghendric]

I find it hard to believe that wrapping some wire around a pipe is going to change hard water to not be hard.. How does that work? What does that do to you're health if the chemicals that make the water hard are changed in some way? What changes them? an electric current? That doesn't make sense..

 

[MossRoad]

I find it hard to believe that wrapping some wire around a pipe is going to change hard water to not be hard.. How does that work? What does that do to you're health if the chemicals that make the water hard are changed in some way? What changes them? an electric current? That doesn't make sense..

Passing water over plates with electricity running through them can do all kinds of stuff, depending on the current, the type of metal in the plate, etc...

For example, I have a swimming pool with fresh clean water in it. I added several hundred pounds of salt to the water. Regular old solar salt, 99.8% pure. I then use the swimming pool pump to push it through a little device that has some plates in it with electric current on them. I converts the salt to chlorine. The chlorine sanitizes the pool, dissipates and returns to its form of salt. Then the process starts over again.

In an electric water heater there is an anode. A rod with current on it. It attracts minerals to it.

In a water softener there is media, salt water, electricity, etc...

All kinds of stuff that uses electricity to modify water.

 

[The Dougster]

the anode has no current in it... it is made up of a soft material, usually magnesium. As the process of electrolisis (sp?) takes place, rather than erode metal from the tank's surface, material is removed from the anode rod, thus saving the metal tank..
There are magnetic systems that allegedly serve to treat the water... GMX is the one brand I am familiar with..

 

[Dargo]

I just saw this thread again and thought I'd give an update since I've had the unit in use for about 8 months now. The softener I ended up going with was a Kenmore Elite 420 Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener. They had it on sale at the time and I had a "customer appreciation" (or some other silly name) coupon for 10% off any purchase and they gave me another 10% off if I applied for a Sears credit card. After all was said and done I think I paid just over $500 for it including tax.

I'd like to mention something I used for the first time that I was concerned about but has proven to be great, and that's the solderless connections called ProBite. Copper Pipe Quick Connect Fittings - No Soldering or Compression I have about 65 psi of water pressure and like that pressure because we have no problems with water even if we have 4 showers going and two or 3 commodes flush at once. Anyway, I'd always sweated copper together before. That's what I did when I built my home. Adding this water softener was going to require me to solder several joints up against walls and also require me to remove quite a bit of insulation. A plumber I know and trust suggested this method and this brand to me, so I thought I'd try it.

Man, does that stuff work great! Not only have I not had a single leak, but when I was finishing my install it was about 3am and I was tired. Apparently I neglected to finish all the hangers on the copper pipe on one long run. I discovered this oversight when I opened the valves and pressurized the system. The weight of the water in the pipes caused about a 30' section drop down. To my surprise and delight, not only did the fittings hold, but they allowed a surprising amount of flex and none of them ever leaked! After my panic of seeing the pipe drop, I quickly installed the proper hangers and none of the pipes had moved. I'd marked each pipe with a Sharpie marker to know how far I needed to insert it in the connector and each joint was still flush with the Sharpie marks.

Anyway, even with my large family I don't think I've used but maybe 3/4 of a bag of salt per month. The Culligan system I used to have (when my family was not as large and my home was 1/3 the size) seemed to go through a couple bags of salt a month. So far I'm very pleased with the aforementioned water softener as well as the solderless connections (which include 3 valves to allow me to bypass the system if need be).

 

[whistlepig]

I just saw this thread again and thought I'd give an update since I've had the unit in use for about 8 months now. The softener I ended up going with was a Kenmore Elite 420 Kenmore Elite 420 Series Water Softener. They had it on sale at the time and I had a "customer appreciation" (or some other silly name) coupon for 10% off any purchase and they gave me another 10% off if I applied for a Sears credit card. After all was said and done I think I paid just over $500 for it including tax.

I'd like to mention something I used for the first time that I was concerned about but has proven to be great, and that's the solderless connections called ProBite. Copper Pipe Quick Connect Fittings - No Soldering or Compression I have about 65 psi of water pressure and like that pressure because we have no problems with water even if we have 4 showers going and two or 3 commodes flush at once. Anyway, I'd always sweated copper together before. That's what I did when I built my home. Adding this water softener was going to require me to solder several joints up against walls and also require me to remove quite a bit of insulation. A plumber I know and trust suggested this method and this brand to me, so I thought I'd try it.

Man, does that stuff work great! Not only have I not had a single leak, but when I was finishing my install it was about 3am and I was tired. Apparently I neglected to finish all the hangers on the copper pipe on one long run. I discovered this oversight when I opened the valves and pressurized the system. The weight of the water in the pipes caused about a 30' section drop down. To my surprise and delight, not only did the fittings hold, but they allowed a surprising amount of flex and none of them ever leaked! After my panic of seeing the pipe drop, I quickly installed the proper hangers and none of the pipes had moved. I'd marked each pipe with a Sharpie marker to know how far I needed to insert it in the connector and each joint was still flush with the Sharpie marks.

Anyway, even with my large family I don't think I've used but maybe 3/4 of a bag of salt per month. The Culligan system I used to have (when my family was not as large and my home was 1/3 the size) seemed to go through a couple bags of salt a month. So far I'm very pleased with the aforementioned water softener as well as the solderless connections (which include 3 valves to allow me to bypass the system if need be).

We did the Culligan thing once. Two bags of salt a month and it was eating our plumbing away. When we moved here two years ago this place had an old Water Refining softener and it uses a half bag of salt a month. The plumbing is still like brand new here and it conditions the water much better than the Culligan system. I think Culligan is in the salt business. I'll not do Culligan again. We have a great water guy out here. He installed a $2500 filtering system for our well water. It back flushes just like a water softener. No rust, no hard water deposits, and reverse osmosis drinking water. A gallon of reverse osmosis water an hour. Best water we have ever drank. Much better than bottled water and a lot cheaper. It's every bit as good as spring water. Makes an awesome cup of coffee.

 

[slimbond]

From the research I did on GMX, which supposedly does the same thing as Easywater (but uses magnets instead of electric wire), in my opinion, run away from this product! It's junk science. You're being sold a bill of goods.