We've had one of these water softeners at our house for 10 years. We've recommended them to family and friends, and installed them in other peoples' houses, and everyone has been amazed that they not only work, but work SO WELL!
We bought one for our son for his brand-new house, which had very hard water, and iron pipes. When the water-softener salesman came around the neighborhood and tested everyone's water (planning on big sales), he couldn't figure out why the results were so bizarre at this house. He was finally clued in, and said maybe he should start selling Clear Wave softeners!
Things we noticed right away: a significant reduction in the amount of detergent we used for launday; showerheads didn't get clogged as fast; water-spotting on tiles was easier to clean off; skin was less irritated.
"Installing" this unit consists of wrapping wire around the pipe that comes into the house, and plugging it into an electrical outlet. Ours has been chugging along for 10 years with no issues. It doesn't make any noise, it doesn't need to be "fed" or fixed. It just quietly does what it was designed to do 24/7. No chemicals or salts have to be added to the water, and this unit costs about as much as a light bulb to operate.
I was delighted to find this on Amazon, because I want to buy another one for someone who just moved into a home with old pipes and hard water. I KNOW it will help!
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I had earlier posted a review on this saying it doesnt seem to do anything. I am changing that review now, but for some reason amazon wont let me change the number of starts I rated this at ... I now give this 4 STARS
I had earlier posted the review that this doesnt seem to be doing anything, but I left it on. Interestingly while it took its time this thing does seem to be doing exactlt what it says it will do namely making the hardness in water "non-sticky". My shower heads look quite a bit cleaner, and yes we are noticing small while precipitate in the water, showing that the long deposited white 'scaling' on boiler and pipes is actually coming off.
This seems to also have had a very positive effect on the dish washer. I dont get the whole scaling on glass anymore.
So if you have tested your water and its hardness is in the range for this device (mine qualifies) I will now very strongly recommend this to you. Its a peach to install and setup, and provided you have the patience to wait for its effects which can take a few months to show up this is great.
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The Background
If you want to know how this works technically, please read elsewhere, you can download the manual on the internet and there are plenty of resources about the technology. Same goes for Soft Water, read about it elsewhere for details. If you are interested in my experience with the Clearwave, read on!
So I had a Culligan water softener in my old house and although we paid way too much for it, I loved the soft water, no more hard water to deal with.
Then we moved and decided not to take the softener with us so I got a water boss from Lowes and installed it myself. Again a happy camper for 4 years, then the water pressure started dropping due to gunk coming through the system and blocking all the aerators in the taps and showers. A quick checked proved that it was the softener by bypassing the unit, and a call to water boss confirmed I would need to either replace the unit or have it repaired. This was just before Christmas and funds were low so we did without soft water for a while. Now I shave my head which is actually my benchmark. Hard water makes it very difficult, I nick my skin and it takes me a lot longer to do. Soft water by comparison makes it quick and easy. After a month of hard water showers I was getting itchy to replace the softener, but still had no money.
Then we went to visit my parents in Spain.... They live in a small village and last time I visited they had hard water. But imagine my surprise when I jumped in the shower and noticed right away that the water was soft. I mentioned it to my Dad and he immediately confirmed that a friend had recommended an electronic softener, it was relatively inexpensive and although skeptical he gave it a go. He has had it for quite some time and all the hard water deposits that had built up had gone away so he was happy. Now I have seen these before but must have drunk too much Culligan cool-Aid when I was sold my original unit, I mean how can something like this work? So I had ignored it, but here was evidence! Dad's unit was not a clearwave, but hey the US was bound to have something.
The Clearwave
On getting home to California I checked on the internet and there is a huge variety out there with big price differences. Then up popped the Clearwave that was similar in price to Dad's unit and seemed to have the same function, and given the price it seemed worth the risk. Ordering was easy as it always is at Amazon and it arrived promptly and I was excited to get it going.
Unfortunately the builder for our home piped the water in to the opposite side of the house from the boiler, so if I was going to mount it in the boiler room area out of the elements I would only get soft hot water. I had already done some custom plumbing to put my salt based softener outside the house where the mains entered and now this caused me a problem because ideally you need room on the pipes to mount the device and my pipe work was full of valves and bends I was doubly challenged because I had to protect it from the elements. To cut a long story short I ended up doing some re piping to remove the bypass valves for the old unit and add in some straigh piping. Also until I can build a wooden box to cover the pipes I went to Lowes and got myself a small plastic storage box which with a few cuts slipped over the pipe work easily enough and allowed me to mount the Clearwave inside it and close the lid. Interestingly enough I ended up wrapping the coils around a bend in the pipe and although I was worried this would affect the performance, it does not seem to.
End result, I can see the red led's pulsing inside my plastic box and sure enough it has become much easier to shave my head again. So all in all this does what it says it will, does not add salt to the wate, and at just over $100 it costs way less that a traditional softener right out of the gate. The Clearwave is easy to install, though it will depend on your house plumbing and may need some prep work, once I had everything in place it took me about 30 mins, and that was only because of the plastic box getting the the way. If it was inside my boiler room it would have taken no more than 10 mins. My plastic box solution has already stood up to heavy rains and while it is not exactly pretty it gets the job done. The unit itself appears well built, it feels a little but lightweight but then its just an electronic gizmo so that's to be expected.
This solution to me is a minor miracle, go buy one!
In Summary
1. Cheap to purchase
2. No maintenance required
3. Keeps your piping healthy from the inside
4. Melts away existing hard water deposits and keeps them gone
5. Reduces household costs because soft water uses less soap
6. Makes shaving in the shower very easy
One final note, my parents did in fact see an increase in water pressure once the existing hard water deposits went away, as verified by a slight increase in the water bill!
Honest reviews on Clearwave Electronic Water Softener System
Ok, first off...I am the biggest skeptic ever. I never purchase things unless there are enough reviews on the item for me to make an educated guess on if it's worth my time and money. The Clearwave has mixed reviews, but there was enough positive reviews that I thought was worth finding out for myself. Plus, it's really cheap for a water softener alternative that if it didn't work it wouldn't really hurt the bank. So I decided to give it a shot.
I have had it installed for only a month. What people need to understand is this is a water conditioner, NOT a water softener. Technically, it will not soften your water at all! So many of the negative reviews I read, they are exactly right. However, as a water conditioner this device does exactly what it says it does! I did not notice any change in anything until maybe around 2 weeks. An easy way to find out if it's working is to clean your chrome areas in your tub and shower. Remember, before the chrome would not shine and sparkle after showers or baths. After the water dried it would always look filmy and dingy looking. Since I've had the Clearwave installed, all chrome looks spit shined and amazing...I almost couldn't believe it. And, even when it starts to grime up again which isn't hardly at all...it's so easy to wipe off and have shine again. Before, I'd literally have to scrape at it and use CLR to get it to look remotely close to a chrome shine. I've also noticed an improvement in the toilets. Before, it would only take a week maybe 2 to begin to see the hard water stain forming around the water's edge in the toilet...so far, there is no ring at all since I've had the Clearwave...I think that is amazing. I'm also seeing improvement in the dishwasher. The dishes have less hard water stains if any. It's pretty crazy when you actually start to notice this.
People need to realize this device isn't suppose to make hard water soft. It's purpose is to stop scaling of calcium and lime. That is why you see shinier chrome and clearer dishes because there is no more scale buildup. The same with the toilets. This is all I was wanting when I bought this thing...I knew it wasn't technically going to soften the water, I'm not an idiot. I don't even notice it in my hair like some people claim. I seem to have to use the same amount of soap and shampoo as always, so I know it's not doing everything that a water softener should be doing. But, that's ok! My goal was to lessen the scale buildup in the toilets, shower, and dishwasher. And, if I am seeing improvement in those areas I also know the washer and the water heater are in better hands as well!
I believe some of the negative reviews are because of unrealistic expectations or poor installation. You have to install this correctly or it's crap. The wires need to be coiled tight and snug, and with a minimum of 7 coils. I coiled each end to its max. I went and bought extra plastic ties to insure each end of the coils were super tight. The coils need to be as tight as possible around the actual pipe and against one another. And, the final but likely most important thing is the two wires need to be wrapped in OPPOSITE directions! Take one and begin wrapping over the pipe, while you start the other wire and begin under the pipe. If the wires are not coiled in opposite directions the device will not work well if at all. Make sure you install this on the main cold water pipe BEFORE the water heater. The manual says to try and install it before any of the cold water branches out to other pipes, so that you treat all water and not just the hot water. Due to my setup I only had enough long pipe after all the branches and just before my hot water heater. So I assumed it would only treat the hot water, which i was ok with since I was mainly concerned about my showers and dishwasher. But, I told you about the improvement in my toilets...and as far as I know toilets don't use hot water! LOL
This is an honest review after only 1 month of use. They say it only gets better the longer it's installed. If it wasn't to do anything else, that would be fine by me. For $130 to have cleaner dishes, cleaner showers, and cleaner toilets...I'll take it.
Remember, this is not a water softener! If you are expecting results to be exactly like a salt based water softener than sure, you will give this negative reviews. But, if you know it's a water conditioner only...and, you take the time to install it properly...you will be pleased with the results you get for $130. Be patient...it took me 2 weeks to see anything. I had my doubts, and I thought it was garbage at first...stick with it, and you will see.
On a side note...supposedly if your water is high in iron, this device will not work at all. Basically the iron counteracts with the electronic signals and makes the device useless. So if you did everything right, and you see nothing at all...maybe have your water tested for iron.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Clearwave Electronic Water Softener System
I was enticed by the decent reviews of this product. After a few weeks of my own research, I decided to buy one myself and keep my fingers crossed that it would work. My main concern regarding the water in my house is the calcium buildup, which this product claims to treat/prevent. The product manual also claims that if you are unsatisfied with this product for any reason that you can return it to the place of purchase within 90 days. I will address this problem later...
A little background. This water conditioner claims that it will not only prevent buildup, but actually reverse the effects of existing calcuim buildup. This product was installed in a brand new house with a brand new electric water heater. I had my water tested and the grains of calcium were 23 (this product claims to work by itself up to 25). I gave the product 2 months before I attempted to return it. Over those two months, I determined the product to be a scam. Calcium built up on my shower heads, clogging them, around the sink drains, in my new dishwasher, and in my toilets. My old house is located in the same water district as my new house, so I went into this knowing the effects the untreated water has on fixtures. With this knowledge, I though the Clearwave water conditioner would, at the very least, slow down the buildup of calcium...but it didn't.
So, still well within my 90 return window guaranteed by the manufacturer, I contacted amazon and requested a return. They stated I needed to contact the company that fulfilled my order (Smarthome.com) and request a refund through them. I contacted Smarthome.com and they stated the order was actually fulfilled through Amazon. So back to Amazon I went. Amazon then stated their return policy was 30 days and they would only offer me 50% of my money back for this product. Arguing with them got me nowhere, so now I am stuck with this worthless piece of junk.
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