9 Best Salt-Free Water Softeners 2021

Hard water is not bad for drinking, but it is not good for your skin, hairs, and nails. Also, it damages the plumbing fixtures, appliances, and other surfaces. Washing your clothes or cleaning your house with hard water is also not a good option. Therefore, if the incoming municipal water is hard and you want to get rid of this hardness, then it is necessary to go for a water softener.

Salt-free water softeners are ideal to buy as they not only save your money but are also effective in removing scale deposits and preventing scale build-up. So, it is necessary to have a salt free water softener to save your fixtures, appliances, skin, hairs, and nails.

In this article, you will find some of the best salt-free water softeners that you can consider to buy the best one. Also, there is a buyer’s guide section where you will get to know about the types of salt-free water softeners and the factors that you must consider before purchasing the best product.

So, let’s start with the buyer’s guide, and then we will dive into the list of best salt-free water softening systems.

Best Salt-Free Water Softeners (Comparison)

	Best Salt-Free Water Softeners
	Editor's ChoiceAquasana Whole House Filtration System with Salt-Free Descaler 7 GPM flow rate 97% efficiency Less maintenance	LATEST PRICE →
	Eddy Electronic Water Descaler Easy installation 99% efficiency Lease maintenance	LATEST PRICE →
	Magnetic Water Softener Powerful Neodymium Magnets Best for hot & cold water 99% efficient	LATEST PRICE →
	Iron/Manganese Whole House Water Filter & Salt-Free Softener 15 GPM flow rate 5 microns PP filter Coconut shell carbon filter	LATEST PRICE →
	Triple Action Poly Salt-Free Water Softener 30 GPM flow rate Treats up to 25 grains of hardness 30 microns sediment filter	LATEST PRICE →
	Nuvo H2O Home Water Softener System 15 GPM flow rate 20,000 gallons of water/filter NSF/FDA-Approved	LATEST PRICE →
	Aquios Jumbo AQFS234 Salt-Free Full House Water Softener filters up to 99.6 percent Filter life 6 months Coconut shell carbon filter	LATEST PRICE →
	Aquios AQFS220 Full House Salt-Free Water Softener 6 months filter life 20 years warranty 40,000 gallons/filter	LATEST PRICE →
	Aquasana EQ-SS20 Salt-Free Water Softener 7 GPM flow rate 50,000 gallons/filter 20-100 PSI filter	LATEST PRICE →

1. Aquasana Whole House Filtration System with Salt-Free Descaler – Comes with a Huge Water Filtration Capacity

This Aquasana Rhino is a whole house water filtration system that also works as a salt-free water conditioner. You can enjoy soft, tasty, and filtered water throughout your home with this great product.

This water softener neither needs electricity nor salt to make your water soft. It reduces the negative effects of hard water molecules by coating them without using any salt and makes the water drinkable and usable. The filter reduces and prevents scale build-up on your plumbing systems and appliances. It saves your water pipelines from scale and corrosion without introducing harsh salt or chemicals.

Other than this, the unit is capable of removing chlorine up to 97%. Also, it reduces various heavy metals, industrial solvents, VOCs, herbicides, and pesticides. The unit also protects your skin and hairs from being damaged due to hard and chlorinated water. Also, the removal of chlorine and VOCs improves the air quality to make breathing easier and healthier.

It offers maximum filtration with less requirement of maintenance. It’s unique upflow and dual tank design increases the time water spends with the contaminant removal media to prevent clogging. Also, the filters and tanks are quite easy to install or replace.

2. Eddy Electronic Water Descaler – Best Water Softener Alternative

This Eddy electronic water descaler is a water softener alternative that is quite effective in dissolving present scale deposits inside the water pipelines and also keep them away from building up again.

It is an environmentally friendly product as it doesn’t use or add salt in your water to make it perfect for a drink or use. Rather than, it uses electromagnetic waves to transform the adhesion properties of limescale. The waves prevent scale from sticking into your pipelines and the appliances you use.

This water descaler descales the complete water system. It can be easily attached to any metal or plastic pipelines having a 1.5-inch diameter. The unit uses two coils that get directly connected to the pipeline and produce electromagnetic waves to pass the water through a magnetic field. This water transformation removes the scale deposits in the pipelines and appliances.

But the descaler doesn’t decrease the TDS levels. You will gain the positive effects of the essential minerals as it softens the water without altering the water hardness.

3. Magnetic Water Softener – Protects Cold and Hot Water Lines

Magnetic Water Technology offers a magnetic water softener that is quite powerful and effective in making water soft. It changes the molecular structure of the water and keeps the scale deposits and minerals remain suspended.

It comes with a large and one duplex unit that can be attached to both the hot and cold water lines to prevent scale build-up. Also, this electro-magnetic softener prevents the minerals and scale deposits from sticking into the pipelines. They get drained instead.

Each sleeve comes with six powerful neodymium magnets that create the magnetic field within the water to treat the calcium deposits. You can easily attach the unit with the incoming water line to turn the hardness into softness.

But if the incoming water is very hard, then it is better to don’t rely only on this magnetic technology.

4. Iron/Manganese Whole House Water Filter & Salt-Free Softener – 5-Stage Water Softening System

Pelican Water Systems offers a 5-stage whole house water filter and water softener that filters various impurities from water and make it soft without using salt.

This first stage of water filtration features sediment pre-filter that can remove dirt and debris having a size of 5 microns. The second stage has a Pelican Chlorination System. The third stage is responsible for removing iron and manganese and flushing them out with the help of a backwash system.

In the fourth stage of water filtration, the carbon filter reduces chloramines, chlorine, sediment, and other remaining particles. It also improves water taste and odour. And the fifth stage is the salt-free water softening stage that stops the minerals from building up in the water lines and also remove the existing deposits to provide you soft and healthy water to drink and use for different purposes.

5. Triple Action Poly Salt-Free Water Softener – Uses Polyphosphates

This Triple Action Poly Salt-Free Water Softener is one of the best water softeners available on the market that can treat up to 25 grains of hardness. It offers a good flow rate of 30 GPM and is BPA free, and NSF certified.

First, the contaminated water reaches the 30-micron sediment filter to get rid of different sediment particles. And then the polyphosphate coating material treats the remaining smaller mineral grains. This water treatment material prevents these minerals from sticking to the plumbing systems and other surfaces.

It is also compact in size and works as an in-line unit. Moreover, its low price attracts customers.

6. Nuvo H2O Home Water Softener System – Uses Chelation Process

It is NSF, and FDA approved a product that you can trust without any hesitation. It is ideal for homes where only two persons live. The Nuvo H20 not only prevents limescale build-up in pipes and appliances but also helps to remove the existing deposits. It is responsible for increasing the life of your appliances and plumbing systems.

But according to some users, its water softening ability is not great. It means if your incoming water is slightly hard, then you can rely on this softener. Otherwise, it is recommended to go with a different product.

7. Aquios Jumbo AQFS234 Salt-Free Full House Water Softener – Best Whole House Salt-Free Water Softener

This AQFS234 Jumbo is a whole house water filtration unit that also softens water. It is a water conditioner, filters out various harmful impurities, and removes scale deposits to make your water soft and ready to use.

It has a compact design and operates without salt and electricity. It also doesn’t need any sort of maintenance. The filter cartridge can last up to 6 months, and after that, you have to replace it.

The unit removes various organic compounds from water along with eliminating chlorine. It also improves the water taste and smell and removes scale deposits to keep your water pipelines clean and clear.

If we look at the drawback of this product, then it gets leaked over time.

8. Aquios AQFS220 Full House Salt-Free Water Softener – Comes with a 20-Year Warranty

Another product from Aquios is on the list that works as a whole house water filter and water softener. It is different from AQFS234 in terms of product dimensions, quality, and filtration capacity.

It is responsible for removing chlorine, sediment, and other unwanted impurities from the tap water. It either dissolves or keeps the mineral ions suspended to provide you water free from hardness. It uses Siliphos (Polyphosphate additive) to turn the water hardness into softness.

This unit combines the commercial-grade water conditioning with carbon black filtration to filter various harmful pollutants and make the water free from minerals that cause hardness and scale buildup.

But various users have complained that the filtration capacity is not great. It doesn’t filter 40,000 gallons of water. Also, it reduces some pressure.

9. Aquasana EQ-SS20 Salt-Free Water Softener – Ideal for Small Homes

The last but not the least salt-free water softener on the list is from Aquasana. It is a decent quality product that can filter up to 50,000 gallons of water. You can either use it alone as a water softener or can add it to your existing whole house water filter.

It doesn’t use salt to make your water soft. It reduces scale build-up by conditioning the water naturally.

The water softener features a SLOW PHOS technology that changes the ionic charge of the hard minerals. And due to this change in the ionic charge, these minerals get less attracted towards each other. Thus, scale build-up prevention becomes possible.

It has an operating pressure range of 20 psi to 100 psi.

But if we talk about its drawbacks, then it also doesn’t give the mentioned 50,000 gallons per filter cartridge. Also, it is not for big homes, and its installation is not stress-free.

Buyer’s Guide

It is not easy to select the best salt-free water softener without knowing anything about it. Some people just rely on the reviews and the description of the seller, but it is not the right practice. You must have to consider various things before purchasing your ideal product. So, what are those things, take a look.

Type of Salt-Free Water Softeners

First, of all, it is necessary for every buyer to know about different types of salt-free water softeners.

Whole House Water Filters with Salt-free Softener

These type of filters called full filters as they not only make the water soft but also filter out various harmful contaminants from the tap water. They coat and crystallize the calcium and magnesium grains to prevent them from sticking to other surfaces and pipelines.

These filters + water softeners also remove chlorine, chloramine, bacteria, viruses, sediment, rust, herbicides, and pesticides. They also eliminate the bad smell and make the water look good in taste.

Water Softener with Polyphosphates

Those water softening systems that filter water with the help of polyphosphates are quite simple. They are only designed to make water soft. They neither remove chlorine from water nor treat iron, sulfur, bacteria, herbicides, and pesticides.

These polyphosphates are very safe to use. They travel with water and coat the mineral grains so that they won’t stick to the plumbing systems. First, the filter removes larger particles from the water and passes the calcium and magnesium ions to the polyphosphate coating material.

Electro-Magnetic Water Softeners

These electromagnetic water softeners or descaling systems make the water soft with the help of electromagnetic waves. These units feature two coils that are responsible for generating electromagnetic waves within your water pipes. These coils get directly attached to the metal or plastic pipelines to create an electromagnetic field. And when the water passes through that field, the present mineral grains get magnetized and suspended.

They require a constant power source to prevent scale build-up. They don’t reduce the TDS levels. Also, they are quite easy to install.

Magnetic Water Softening Units/Sleeves

Magnetic units are different from the electromagnetic water softeners as they don’t require electricity to make the water free from mineral grains. Instead, strong magnets get directly attached to the pipes to suspend the water minerals. These magnetic units are not quite useful in making the water soft, and therefore, it is suggested to use them as the final stage of water filtration. They don’t require any maintenance as last for long.

Grain Rating/GPG

Grain rating is another thing that you must look at before purchasing a salt-free water softener. Grain rating determines how useful the water softener is to filter out the minerals or how long it will last.

So, first, it is necessary to know the GPG rating of your water and then find the right product according to that rating.

Filter Life

The filtering systems that also feature water softeners use filters that need cartridge replacement after filtering the mentioned amount of water. So, it is necessary to look at the filter life of your water softener to purchase the best product that can filter more gallons of water with a single cartridge.

Aquasana whole house water filter that comes with a salt-free descaler can filter up to 1,000,000 gallons of water whereas some filters can filter from 20,000 gallons to 50,000 gallons of water with a single cartridge.

Flow Rate

Flow rate is also very much important when looking for a salt-free water softener. Some water softeners limit the water flow, such as in-line water softeners. Therefore, it is necessary to go for a unit that offers a good flow rate.

Installation Process

Everyone wants to have a water softener that can be installed easily. So, you should also prefer those units that offer hassle-free installation.