Water Softeners - What are the differences in brands?

Really? Then how come I can't find the link?

"Trust the Experts" when it comes to treating wate
A water treatment company is only as good as the equipment that they carry. And no other company has dedicated more into developing their own line of equipment than Culligan.

There is a reason that they are the nations leader in the water treatment industry. They hold the most patents. They are what all other companies try to compare themselves to on any website I have ever read. And quite simply, what other company can you even recognize the name of when someone mentions water softeners? Would you buy a car from a company that you have never heard of?

By the way nobody tests different brands of water softeners for a living. There is no such job. Only people who test their own companies equipment while developing better technologies. And the only company that does that on an ongoing basis is Culligan.

Whenever I see a t.v. program or internet website that has caught water conditioning salespeople on tape lying or misleading potential customers to hard sell their overpriced water conditioning equipment, it is never a Culligan Salesman doing the presentation. They simply do not have to stoup to those levels.

Culligan was #1 for many years, but the company has been sold and re-sold a few times over the last decade.
I do remember seeing a Culligan dealer busted for unethical sales techniques in Maryland back in '92.

"Hey Culligan Man!" is still the most recognized sales slogan in the water biz.

ECOWATER is the true innovator in todays market.

ecowater not what seems
Ecowater is simply a G.E. unit. Just like:
Whirlpool Softeners
Kenmore softeners
Morton water softeners
and of course G.E.

They do Know how to run a trade show booth. But I personally haven't been impressed by much else with their company's product.

But, some of their dealerships our run very well with providing good service. I just don't know if I'd pay that much for a similar unit I can buy @ Wal-mart for $199 or even @ Sears for $499.

Re: ecowater not what seems


Not really.

Ecowater is Ecowater with all the bells and whistles.
They make many other private label brands that are sold in the big box stores and plumbing supply houses (North Star).
The lower the price the less bells and whistles.
Ecowater does their own R&D and they produce their own components in-house.

HTH ~

Well O.K.
Ecowater does have a lot of bells and whistles compared to the lower end box store units.

But, most people are not interested in a cheap unit with bells and whistles at a higher price. They would rather have a name brand unit they know they won't find at a home depot at 1/3 the cost and only a couple less features.

And Ecowater doesn't make the other off brand units. G.E. does make all of them. Atleast their major components.

People usually don't like what they don't understand. Culligan and Kinetico equipment (Two good brands, for example ) cannot be serviced by just anyone because only a dealer can get the parts. Just like you can't go to a Ford dealership and buy Chevy parts. Since they cannot service them then they really don't like them. Customers can only get service from a factory trained service tech. who only work on that particular brand. Which is the best way to go.

So when you purchase a Culligan or Kinetico unit your not buying bells and whistles your buying a name brand unit with great dependability and a great value for the money.

Re: Well O.K.


Your information is not correct -- G.E. and ECOWATER are both part of The Marmon Group of companies, but neither makes parts for the other.

As for Kinetico and Culligan - I personally would not give either to a friend or an enemy.

The most user friendly valve in the business is FLECK.
FLECK works as advertised, parts are easy to get and the customer is
not paying extra for a proprietary brand name and proprietary service.

The independent dealer is the best value in both product and service for the customer.

If the consumer wants a big brand name with all of the associated features, benefits and cost I highly recommend ECOWATER over ALL other brands.

Brand Name
Most Culligans and Kineticos are independent dealerships. And you may be right about G.E. and Ecowater being part of the same group but a lot of the parts are the same. Just like a lot of washing machines and refrigerators out there are the same internally with different brands on the outside. And weren't you saying that Ecowater makes other units a few posts ago. The thing about fleck being a user friendly valve, don't you mean a service man friendly valve since any service man can get parts for it. If you could service a some of the name brand units out there (like Culligan ) you would find they are a lot easier for the home owner to operate if they ever even have to touch it at all for 30 years. And when needing a service call they are very easy to service.

I definitely recommend Culligan or Kinetico to all my friends for a good unit with good flow rates and a long life. You may not make service men happy by getting one since they don't break down all of the time like lower end units but, you'll never be happier.

Re: Brand Name


I know what I've said and what I mean, but I am not sure you do.

An independent dealer is a non-franchised dealer that is able to sell
and service many different brands of water treatment equipment.
FLECK is a user friendly valve because if it ever needs service the
customer is not held hostage by a franchised dealership.


I hope that clears thins up a bit ~

rainsoft sales pitch
lillyblue,

I had to chime in on your rainsoft experience. I had this salesperson come out - he claimed to be a "scientist" in a previous job. He had alcohol on his breath. We should have asked him to leave before he even got started. He turned us off in the first 20 minutes with the high pressure sales. It got worse the more we tried to get rid of him. Said he would give us "free" soap for a year, a "free" water filter unit (worth supposedly $600 dollars), I said keep your "free" stuff and knock off a grand off your softner (3500 dollar unit). I dont know how long it will take companies like this to know this type of sales pitch turns people off, and word gets around about this. I've told so many people about this experience. They may very well have a good softener, but these kind of sales tactics hurt sales.

Rain Soft - our experience
The Rain Soft dealer out of Durham, NC has got to be the most unethical company I've come into contact with. The rep came out to our home and gave us a very pleasant (but very long - 2 hours) presentation. We asked for a quote on the system and the rep refused to tell us what it would cost. He became rude and we asked him several times to leave our house. He continued the high pressure sales tactic then asked us if he could use our phone. He called his boss and ridiculed our decision to not buy the system right then and there. What a joke! They may have the best system around - but after reading the comments here . . . I just had to write. A few days later we had the Culligan company come give us a quote. He never said anything bad about the Rain Soft system, but he gets so many Rain Soft service call requests he had to start turning them down.

You shoould have written a letter to the company about that lousy salesman. How could you buy without knowing what the thing would cost? And he used YOUR phone to insult you? I would have reported him to the BBB!

Culligan Man
I have had one of the $3000 Culligan units for about 4 years and it has NEVER worked right. I have had the service people out and they never get it working properly. I do know soft water because I have had units that did work properly. What do you recommend I do?

Culligan Man
I should say I STILL have the Culligan unit and I'm trying to find the best replacement unit.

H2O MAN

ECOWATER, NORTH STAR and the mid to upper end generic FLECK are all excellent replacement/upgrade systems.

Help. Our 15 year old Aqua Fine unit has finally expired. (Apparently the company expired a few years back.) Culligan services them now and we were quoted @$1800 (Canadian) for a new similar unit. My husband is tired of lugging salt and has environmental concerns also. We have been looking into the Catalytic water softeners (apparently endorsed by the city of Los Angeles as being more environmentally friendly) and wonder if anybody is familiar with them? (I don't think this is the magnet system I've been warned against.)

There is no such thing as a salt free water softener that actually functions.
The Catalytic softener you mentioned does use magnets...

I suggest the ECOWATER or NorthStar line of softeners. The new ECO system
uses the least amount of salt of any on the market and the NorthStar is a close
2nd. I happen to like the two tank systems with separate salt and softener tanks.
If money is tight, look for a softener with a metered digital FLECK 2510SE valve on it.
These are excellent systems without the higher price of brand name equipment.

HTH ~

Actually, a good Catalytic softener does a fantastic job!
I'm very familiar with the catalytic types in the LA area, and they do an excellent job of not only softening the water, but of actually removing any build-up already present. While I do recommend avoiding those that use magnets (I haven't seen any of those that work well in hard water areas, yet), a purely catalytic softener will give all the benefits of your salt softener, while also being good to drink, good for your plants, and of extra benefit to your plumbing! Why not call up the company and ask them to tell you about it...even ask to talk with 3 or 4 of their customers! And the system popular in the LA area doesn't use any magnets.

Hello H2Olady

My good old Aquafine Water Conditioner Model 201 is in trouble after 28 years. The electric timer is stuck at the beginning -- all it will do is empty the brine tank. If I force the dials around, the brine tank fills endlessly. Is it feasible to loosen the timer somehow? Are there replacement parts? Is it even worth saving?

A manual I was given with the unit says it's a Myers Fully Automatic Manganese Zeolite Iron and Sulfur Filter, M-14MG, made in Kitchener, Ontario.