Buying Guide for Portable Water Softeners
Hard water consists of mineral ions, such as calcium, potassium and magnesium. As a result, hard water has many disadvantages. For instance, soap does not lather easily in this kind of water, leading to wastage. Moreover, hard water shortens the lifetime of plumbing systems in addition to damaging them. With portable water softener, mineral ions are eliminated from hard water in order to soften it.
Water softener units are developed to ensure that users do not just purchase them at more affordable prices than their ordinary counterparts, but to ensure they last more than four weeks. The portability of the softeners makes them ideal for people on the move for long durations, or those who are constantly travelling.
Check Out This Top Rated Portable Water Softener
An ordinary water softener that is portable makes use of two table salt packets to soften large volumes of hard water, up to 1000 gallons. Usually, the softeners are compact and light in weight to allow them to be carried around. They feature outlet caps, water inlets for storage, a handle, test strips to determine the hardness levels of water, hose adapters with inlets and outlets, as well as valves that allow regeneration through switching between the outlet and inlet hoses automatically.
5 Best Portable Water Softening Systems Reviews
1
Watts RV PRO-1000 OR M7002
Watts PRO-1000 is the best rated water softener for RVs and its perfect for campers and travelers. The benefits of this unit include the ease of installation and ease of using it. It’s relatively compact with 8 x 22 inches, so it will take up some space but it’s not too bulky. This water softener works on standard table salt, so you don’t need to buy the water softener salt. The capacity of the unit is 10,000 grains.
This highly rated softener received many positive reviews. Many have commented that over time they saw the hard water buildup reducing on their applicable appliances, as well as making their shower water much softer.
2
DI-120 CR Spotless Water System
DI-120 CR Spotless system is designed specifically for washing vehicles to protect its finish. It uses a de-ionizing system that removes all the minerals to provide spot-free washing of your RV, car, motorcycle, boat or your house windows.
This system is compact, portable and affordable. Depending on the hardness of the water in your area, the water system can produce 75-1000 gallons of water from just one resin cartridge. DI-120 also comes with a TDS meter that operates on batteries. Using it, you can measure the water quality the system is producing. The time between the replacement of the resin also depends on the hardness of your water.
3
ABC Water Portable Water Softener with 12,8000 Grains
This portable water softener for RV is better for those who are looking for more capacity of the unit but still in the affordable price range. With 12,800 grain capacity this unit is also heavier than the previous and larger in size.
4
On The Go OTG4-DBLSOFT Portable RV Softener
One of the best portable water softener from On The Go brand is the OTG4-DBLSOFT Portable RV Softener which is of 16000 grains capacity. The capacity is quite good for travels.It also provides 40% more filtering capacity than any other portable units. This unit is also capable of doing the filtering at 30 minutes only. The unit is specially build to cater the need of RV and marines usage.
5
Mobile Soft Water 16,000-grain Portable Water Softener
This 16,000 grains capacity portable water softening unit is best suitable for your recreational vehicles.It effectively works to remove harmful metals like radium, lead, iron, calcium which are often found in municipal supplied water. It has the capacity of softening 5 gallons water per minutes which is a big advantage of this unit.
Types of Water Treatments
There are two types of water treatment processes utilized by portable systems of water softening, such as ion exchange water softeners and reverse osmosis water filters.
The Ion Exchange Water Softeners
Ion exchange water softeners utilize sodium to stabilize the free electrons or molecules of magnesium and calcium that bond with those of other free molecules. This is due to the fact that the water softeners comprise of resin beads that are negatively charged. Therefore, when the hard water flows through the strongly charged sodium ions, they bond and thus stabilize.
The Reverse Osmosis Filters of Water
Water filters designed to use reverse osmosis have a semi permeable membrane, which differentiates minerals and foreign materials from the water flowing via the membrane. With soft water produced by the softeners, the lifetime of plumbing systems and elements for heating water is enhanced and mineral ions responsible for corrosion of appliances and systems completely eliminated. Moreover, soft water is also safe for drinking.
Portable Water Softeners - Ultimate Buying Tips
Portable water softening systems usually come in compact sizes, travel sized versions of home water softening systems. They’re designed to make the water soften in small quantities. They also used as filtration devices for water from local sources.
Mostly a water softener that’s portable, like the traditional water softeners, uses an ion resin where the hard minerals are replaced with sodium ions. Sodium is contained in normal salt, and it’s the main active ingredient of the softening process.
Portable water softening systems are often used by campers travelling in recreational vehicles. They use it to soften the water for shower and washing dishes. Using soft dishwashing water prevents the creation and buildup of film on dishes, and reduces the adverse effects to hair and skin from showering in hard water mixed with soap. Some of the softening systems work by pumping the clean water into the RV’s water tank, while others come with their own reservoir.
Many of the portable systems for water softening require no electricity and directly connect to fresh water supply. Then the addition of salt provides the necessary ions for softening. Repeated use will dissolve the salt, so the salt wells should be from time to time refilled.
Benefits of Portable Water Softeners
Just like any other type of water softener, those that are portable come with a range of benefits worth noting.
- They produce safe, clean and healthy water that can be used for drinking. Therefore, you do not have to worry about drinking unsafe water that can be infectious.
- Soft water produced by these products can be used for washing because they lather easily with all kinds of detergents and soaps, hence preventing wastages.
- Apart from lathering easily, soft water does not affect the strength and durability of clothes, in addition to using less detergent, hence resulting in great savings.
- They have compact designs, light weights and can be easily used, making them easy to carry around when traveling.
- Since soft water has no effect on the equipment, appliances and pipes that get in contact with the water, their lifespan is maintained as stipulated by the manufacturer.
- Last but not least, the water softeners are portable because they are very light.
Pros of Portable Water Softeners
Compact and easy to use anywhere you go.
They increase the lifespan of appliances and facilities on an RV, boat, and other.
Using a water softener for washing vehicles or boats leaves them spot-free.
Using softened water stops dry skin, as well as increases soap lathering.
Prevents buildup of scale.
Usage of Portable Water Softeners
Due to the fact that these water softeners are portable, they are designed for personal use and not commercial purposes. For residential or commercial softening of hard water, the conventional systems of softening water will come in handy.
Portable water softener can be used by the marines and car enthusiasts who need to soften their hard water while on the go. In order to find the specific unit and a brand that will suit your individual needs, it is important to look out for the many water softener reviews online written by happy clients.
Another use for portable water softeners is for washing cars. Washing your vehicle with softened water prevents the mineral buildup. Residual mineral buildup on the surface of your car’s finish can dull or damage it. Generally, the water softeners designed for this specific purpose are meant for fitting between a spray nozzle and a garden hose.
Some portable softeners are equipped with purification capabilities, serving two purposes of softening and filtering the water for drinking.
Amazon is a perfect platform for water softener reviews. One of the highly reviewed and rated water softeners on Amazon is the Watts RV PRO-1000. This softener is not just easy to install, but makes use of table salt, just like any other portable softener, making it light in weight. It comes with strips for testing the water before softening and afterwards to monitor results.
Points to See for a Portable Water Softeners
Portable Water Softeners - FAQ
In a typical water softener, hard water with excess calcium and magnesium ions are made to pass through softener with charged resin beads. As result of that removal of calcium and magnesium ions produces soft water.
We found On The Go OTG4-DBLSOFT to be the best RV water softener. You may check other RV water softeners although as individual system has its own pros and cons.
Water softener regeneration is the process of recharging your softener after a certain interval of time. The duration depends upon the capacity and usage of the system. It is simply replacing the system with fresh salt.
Normally a portable water softener last for 7 to 10 years. The actual working duration largely depends upon the quality of water and frequency of usage. You need to replace the resins then.
Water softener maintenance cost for salt based water softener varies as per the usage. The more you use the more sediments are collected inside the tank. You need to buy water softener resin cleaner from the market to clean the tank from inside. Alternative you can go for salt free water softeners which is maintenance free.
The Bottom Line
The portable SoftSpot Nomad Portable 400-Blue is also highly reviewed on Amazon. Unlike the RV Pro 1000 model, the 400 Blue water softener utilizes ordinary salt. Proper regeneration that only lasts 15 minutes has been designed to use the latest technology to truly softening water. Moreover, this specific kind of water softener does not channel, foul, backwash improperly or even flush the media when regeneration is underway. Although the unit is light like all portable water softeners, they can produce a maximum of 2,400 gallons of water.
