10 Best Water Softener Systems for Large and Small Households

This is our top recommended all-around water softener system as it has an exceptional amount of features for even a busy home with a full family in. On top of this it is relatively simple to install, and doesnt take a huge amount of time and effort to do so if you know a little about DIY.

It is sold as a complete water softener system, meaning this doesnt need to have anything attached to it, it comes with two tanks which are constructed in America, the 12 diameter mineral tank and also a brine tank. These have an exceptional 10 year warranty so if anything happens to them in a decade of owning, you can take advantage of ABCWaters exceptional support.

The capacity of this system is one of its biggest plus points. It has a 64,000 grain capacity (other models in the range are available with less if this is overkill). It can flow at 13 gallons per minutes so even houses with a full family can make use of this system.

All-in-all, with such a strong warranty and lots of features, as well as the capacity to handle a whole family and not overly difficult installation, it is hard to look beyond the ABCwaters Water Softener as one of the very elite softener systems.

Pelican manufacture a huge amount of water softeners and they have continued to try and evolve their range to offer new and exciting products to suit everybodys needs.

With the Pelican Water NS3 NaturSoft, they have created an unbelievably clever system which could in the future revolutionize the way water softeners work. This is a totally salt-free water softener, so it doesnt need electricity and it doesnt need regeneration at any stage, unlike most of the other softeners on the market. Because of this, it also has an unlimited capacity.

The flow rate is decent, with 10 gallons per minute able to flow through the softener. This is more than enough for most homes with one, two or even three bathrooms. It doesnt require electricity and does not produce any waste water. It is also incredibly small and compact, a fraction of the size and weight of some of its competitors.

So where is the downside? The truth is, it is very hard to find one, which is why we recommend this as one of the best products on the market. One of the troubles salt-free systems have is being as effective as those which use a brine system. This is 99.6% effective which is about as great as you can hope to get at the moment, but there are softener systems which use salt which are more effective. If you have a need for extreme amounts of softening such as 99.9%, this will come up short.

Generally, this seems to be the way that most softener systems will go in the future, at the moment, this is the best salt-free option.

The Pentair 5600SXT 48k Grain Water Softener is one of the best softener systems for installing yourself. It ships with all of the installation instructions on a pen drive so that the consumer can go through the process without the need of a plumber.

This product offers an upgraded Cross linked resin which means longer between regeneration. It has an on-demand control valve and uses the traditional salt-using methods to get rid of calcium and magnesium from your water supply.

The regeneration is done on a meter, which basically entails the Pentair 5600SXT 48k Grain Water Softener measuring exactly how much water it needs to use and regenerate so that it doesnt waste any resources.

The 5600 valve is one which a lot of the Pentair products use, and they have been tested to the equivalent of an amazing 27 years worth of usage, so you should be able to expect decades from your softener system, but the five year warranty protects your purchase.

It also has a 48-hour backup system in case the power goes out, an LCD display and the actual tank itself has a 10 year warranty to offer even more protection. The brine tank has the capacity of 250 lbs but also comes with a float which can detect and prevent any overflow issues.

The On The Go OTG4-DBLSOFT-Portable is one of the only products on the market which is designed to be totally portable. It can be used in an RV or on camping trips or in a holiday home, for instance. It has been designed to be compact and not rely on being installed within a home, so you can use it anywhere. It is even relatively lightweight at just 32 lbs.

The manufacturers describe this as the largest portable softener out there. It can run at six gallons per minute which isnt huge compared to home use but it is plenty for a portable product. Likewise, 16,000 grains would not be hugely impressive for a permanent home product but for a portable system it is great. It can regenerate using standard table salt, and this can then provide 40 days of use.

Other features which have been incorporated to help the portable nature of this product include a simple to use handle, a large opening for when the time comes to add salt to regenerate, and it has 360 degrees of movement for allowing the hose to be installed quickly and easily.

For a compact, relatively affordable option which can be taken on the road with you, this is worth a second look.

This is a very intelligent whole-house system which is not only effective but also extremely lightweight at just 6.25 lbs, and compact at 3.9 x 3.9 x 23.7, so it can fit into relatively small spaces but can work for a whole home.

The incredible grain capacity of 185,000 means that this works for a long time before it needs to regenerate. When it does, this can be done simply and easily just by adding a fresh cartridge, so you dont have to do anything like salting your softener system.

The clever, salt-free system uses fruits polysaccharide and coconut activated carbon. This means there are no chemicals used and it helps to keep the minerals within the water whilst still removing bad tastes and smells and any chlorine which has worked its way in.

The GPM isnt as good as some other models at between 5 and 10 GPM, but it is still plenty for most peoples needs.

It is also made out of only the best and safest materials which are resistant to both acids and to alkalis, and stainless steel which is designed not to corrode over time.

A solid five-year warranty also confirms the build quality of the Hansing Whole House Water Softener System

Whirlpool WHES30 water softener is a very big and bulky product, but it is built with a focus on appliances as you might expect from this brand, as Whirlpool manufacture a wide range of kitchen products and appliances and are known for giving a huge amount of support and info on their website.

This is an NSF certified product which is designed to prevent limescale such as calcium depositing on your dishes, faucets or even worse, in your appliances.

The clever design of these water softeners allows it to automatically work out how much salt is needed to regenerate, and this saves a lot of both water and salt in the long run by making the regeneration process far more efficient. This is an alternative to using a timer, which can sometimes result in wastage of salt and water.

Make no mistake, this is a huge product, and if you are looking for a compact water softener system this isnt for you. However, if you want something to make your appliances run for longer and with more efficiency, the Whirlpool brand can offer plenty of experience.

One downside is that this only offers one year of warranty, though this can be extended if you buy the cleaning solution and use this for the time you have the softener system. This can lead to having up to 5 years of warranty, which is more in line with what you might expect. The tank itself is protected by a ten year warranty.

This is a very hefty water softener, and is another which uses the Fleck 5600SXT valve which is popular among water softener systems. In spite of weighing a lot it is actually relatively compact and doesnt need the hugest of spaces to be fitted due to its cylinder design.

This is a high flow product with up to 16 GPM making it one of the best high flow water softeners on the market, and as an all-in-one product it ships with everything you need to get it up and running. The grain capacity is 80,000, but there are problems within this range that are available with lower capacity if 80k is likely to be overkill.

In terms of the installation this shouldnt be too difficult to do as an individual, even if you dont know too much about DIY. The manufacturers email out DIY instructions to help both install and start to program your system.

The Fleck valve removes a huge amount of hardness if needed and is very effective, making it very popular among these sorts of products. It is also very well made in the USA, and the filter is even made of iron, which means it is built to last. The softener backs up their claims here by offering an impressive five-year warranty on the whole unit. If you dont mind a slightly heavier softener and have room for it, this can be one of the best options to consider.

Tier 1 have made an excellent water softener here which has embraced the high tech abilities available. For instance, there is an LCD display which can allow you to control the cycle times and other factors with a touch pad. You can even tell it how many people are in your family and the softener will adjust accordingly.

It has everything you need including a brine tank, valve, mineral tank and even the adapter, so you dont need to purchase anything separately for installation.

Perhaps the best feature this has to offer is the fact that it uses such an incredibly low floor space, so if you want a hefty product which can soften the water for a whole household, but dont have a lot of floor space to work with, you can tuck this away in a corner with no issues. It is a heavy product at well over 100 lb, but this isnt too unusual for larger softener systems. It manages to include a 10 x 54 mineral tank and 15 x 34 brine tank.

In tier 1s own words, this brand stands by its products. This softener system has a 5 year warranty on the head, and 10 years on the tank itself.

This is a product sold as a filtration system, meaning there are two different softeners within the system. This gives the incredibly high capacity of 300,000 gallons.

The system is designed not just to impact the water your appliances are using and you are consuming, but also to make the air cleaner by getting rid of any chemicals which may have otherwise got into the air through steam from your shower. This not only softens but it clearly filters the whole water supply of even large homes due to its huge capacity.

It is not a salt-based system, so you dont have to take out any of the minerals you may actually want for the water. On top of that you dont have to hook it up to electricity or even replace any salt within the system.

This softener system certainly has plenty to offer, the dual tank design means that water can be very quickly processed so the flow rate is exceptional, and the added filtration is a real bonus.

This is an expensive softener system, however, and another drawback is that some have reported charcoal leaks from the filter. It is also pretty bulky due to the dual tank design, so wont fit in tiny spaces.

The idea of a water softener which is salt free can be quite appealing for many of us, and with good reason. It makes it a lot simpler and means you dont have to periodically replace salt. The AquiosFS-220 is not only salt-free and good for softening water, it also has an inbuilt filtration system which gives the added benefit of getting rid of more of the unpleasant stuff that can work its way into the water supply.

It is in our list as a budget pick and it is one of the more affordable options out there. It has no need for regeneration or creating extra waste when it comes to softening as it doesnt regenerate, this would require salt and water to be wasted.

It is a very small, compact system which can fit in almost anyones home, designed to operate anywhere between 40 and 115 degrees F. Installation is relatively simple and fits with the standard pipe size in most homes. It also comes with the bracket and the materials needed to install it in your home.

This softener has received a little bit of criticism from some sources due to the fact that the filter doesnt always last very long, and that some users have reported clogging.