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(More customer reviews)One of Amazon's review guidelines is to "write about anything that the prospective buyer would like to know before making their buying decision."I'm writing this review to share the results of my extensive investigation regarding salt-free water softeners, how I ended up looking at the NuvoH2O WH2100, and why I decided not to buy it.
I was looking for a non-salt means to eliminate water spotting on dishes, shower doors, my car, etc.I decided to apply a good deal of buyer beware diligence in selecting a product, because my on-line research revealed that:
1. There are substantiated reports that favorable product reviews on the Internet are being submitted by friends, family members and employees of the company selling the product.
2. Some money back warranties (company lingo: "wait until your old pipes clear, to see if the system is working for you") don't kick in until after the drop dead date when your credit card company will tell you "you're out of luck at ever seeing your money again."
3. You can never initially trust who is at the other end of the Internet wire, and if something does go awry - you don't have much recourse.Example: there are many blogs with no-salt water conditioning complaints by purchasers that were given canned excuses of why the company's money back warranty didn't apply to them. I first looked at and ruled out those electron/magnetron water zapping devices that clamp or wrap around your water pipe.Every manufacturer I looked at appeared to have a gaping hole in their theory of operation, installation requirements, or money back warranty.
I then looked at several of those large tank "media" systems and noted that a growing number of those manufacturers have stopped calling their systems salt-free water softeners and are now calling them water conditioners; presumably because of threat of litigation. As rationalized by water treatment experts, the media technology appears to be nothing more than an overly large and expensive water filter (a bigger version of the Brita that attaches to the end of your faucet).The water supply throughout your house has the potential for "tastes great", but hard water deposits and spotting are still a concern.
So, this had me believe that my best choice was the "chelation" process of the NuvoH2O WH2100.
I found several Internet references that the chelation process touted by Nuvo may be the addition of citric acid to the water supply.Some detergents are chelated with citric acid to make them work better in the presence of calcium.So, this may be why Nuvo claims "you'll use less soap" and why the non-filtering cartridge needs to be replaced every 6 months - it's being flushed clean of the acid.However, my quest was mitigating water spots - not less soap usage.
I called Nuvo and cross-questioned them about water spots.Their response: "Well no; our device won't eliminate water spots, but it will make it easier to wipe them off."While I do applaud them for being candid, here's how I think they were expecting this claim to be tested.Allow a drinking glass to air dry for an hour.Wipe off the spots.Easy, right?!Well yes, but this would also be easy prior to installing the so-called Water Softener System.The problem with water spots is when they're allowed to dry and accumulate over days and weeks.
Because of all of my findings above and my decision to apply purchasing diligence, I proposed the following scenario to NuvoH2O:
1. Sell me the WH2100 at their cost (thus no financial investment on their part).
2. Allow me to test if the WH2100 Salt-Free Water Softener System met my minimal expectations (which was to perform something akin to a traditional water softener system).
3. If it did, I'd then send them the full retail funds for the WH2100 (the investigative seed money from #1 above would be extra profit for them). I included rationale as to why they could trust me.
4. I'd also give them a very cogent and credible review on Amazon (without mentioning my unique purchasing exception).I have a long trail of "real life experience" reviews on Amazon which would strongly suggest that my review wasn't a fake (note: except for a guy that also reviewed a book, all the other reviewers for NuvoH2O are one-time reviewers, as of 12/20/09).
5. But if the WH2100 didn't meet my minimal expectations, then I'd return the device to them and pay the shipping.They could keep the "seed" money that I had already paid.
Because of the "creativeness" of my proposal, I was ready to accept responses such as "sorry, but our accounting system won't allow us to do that" or "thanks, but we think our reviews on Amazon are already convincing enough." However, the response I got surprised me!
Nuvo's company owner rejected my proposal on the grounds that "he needed to make a profit."This particular response left me questioning the WH2100's place as a true water softener, as the only scenario path where he wouldn't be making a handsome profit was if my issue with hard, accumulated water spots wasn't addressed.I would return the product, but unlike all their other customers, Nuvo wouldn't be in control of my $600.
Conclusions:
1. All my research indicates that if you're looking for the "less soap" aspects of a traditional water softener, then the NuvoH2O products are a good choice.
2. If your primary desire is to have a solution for hard water deposits and/or spotting, devise and conduct a "meets my expectations" test soon after you receive the unit, and take all steps necessary to ensure that you can collect on the money back warranty.
Note: This review has been based on verifiable facts, except where I've used equivocal terms such as "may"; which are speculations on my part.If proven wrong, I'll update this review.
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nuvoH2O Home Salt-Free Water Softener System (Standard)Product Description: Some call it evolution. We call it innovation! The days of giant, salt-based water softeners roaming the earth are over. Welcome to a new era, the nuvoH2O era. So remarkable you need to see it to believe it.The nuvoH2O system uses patent pending technology to soften hard water based on the basic scientific process of chelation in which the metal ions causing hard water, principally calcium and magnesium, are bound to the chelating agent in nuvoH2O's FDA-approved, proprietary formulation, which keeps the minerals soluble and unable to cause hard water problems. The resulting water is soft and healthy for all of your household uses, including drinking, bathing, washing, and lawn and plant watering.Developed from nearly 30 years of commercial experience, this amazing, compact system uses an eco-friendly process to condition all the water throughout your entire home.# Designed for homes between 1,100 square feet and 2,500 square feet# Water flow: 12-15 gpm with 1" ports (no change to existing flow)# Capacity: about 50,000 gallons (average annual water usage of household of 4 every 6 months).
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