Crystal Quest Whole House Salt-Free Water Conditioner, 4-Stage

This whole house salt-free water conditioner tackles hard water without salt, brine or backwash wastewater. Instead of exchanging minerals, it changes the calcium in your water into tiny, stable calcite crystals that cannot settle as limescale, and then sends incoming water through four separate treatment stages.

Four stages of whole house treatment

1. Sediment: a 20" sediment cartridge catches sand, silt, dirt and other loose particles first.
2. Anti-scale media: the water then moves through a tank filled with Crystal Quest Eagle Anti-Scale media.
3. Carbon: next, a 20" solid carbon cartridge reduces VOCs (volatile organic compounds), pesticides, insecticides and industrial solvents.*
4. Ultrafiltration: last, a 20" UF membrane rated at 0.2 micron takes out colloids, proteins, bacteria, viruses, parasites, protozoa, pyrogens such as gram-negative bacterial endotoxins, and other organic molecules over 0.2 micron, along with most other known water contaminants. Ultrafiltration is a key technology in producing high-purity water.

*When present in the water.

How a salt-free water conditioner works

The conditioner relies on a newer technology: dissolved calcium, the mineral behind hardness, is converted into nanometer-sized calcite crystals. These crystals hold up mechanically and under heat, so they no longer form lime deposits and simply flow out with the water.

Left untreated, calcium leaves scale on appliances, inside pipes and across other plumbing surfaces. That drives up heating and energy bills and leads to costly appliance repairs. Scale can also give bacteria a place to grow, which matters where the water is used for drinking.

On top of preventing new buildup (scale protection), the system also works on scale that is already in your pipes and on heat exchanger surfaces (descaling).

At hardness levels of 25 gpg (grains per gallon) or more, you may need pre-treatment or extra media. Ask a specialist for advice in that situation.

Breaking down existing limescale

Once rinsed along with the water, the calcite crystals cannot cling to surfaces. Thanks to their nanostructure they behave much like Crystal Quest Eagle Anti-Scale Media: they pull more calcium onto themselves and so disrupt the lattice that holds old deposits together.

As a result, large chunks of scale come loose within a short time. The process keeps going until no deposits remain.

A protective layer against corrosion

When the old deposits are gone, a corrosion-resistant layer 30 to 80 microns thick builds up. It results from the crystals' nano surface reacting with the metal of the pipes, comparable to the green verdigris patina that forms on copper roofing.

Once this layer has formed it stops growing, yet it gives full protection.

A salt-free alternative to a water softener

In some hard water, dosing for permanent hardness or anti-scale media may be needed as pre-treatment. With this conditioner you no longer use any salt, and there is none of the wastewater that backwashing produces, while your home still gets water that feels soft and comfortable.

As a replacement for a salt-based softener, the Eaglesorb ES3 scale control media keeps calcium and magnesium from causing trouble, without taking these minerals out of the water.

Fiberglass or stainless steel tank

Both tank materials are available. Stainless steel tanks can develop pinholes or rust in humid spaces, where salt is present, or when condensation is left on the tank instead of being wiped off regularly.

If your system will face any of these conditions, or you cannot keep up with that upkeep, a fiberglass tank is the better choice.

Optional add-ons

• 12 GPM UV Water Sterilizer: built for strict control of microorganisms, covering algae and protozoa as well as bacteria and viruses. UV disinfects water more quickly than chlorine, with no bulky retention tanks and no harsh chemicals added to what you drink.
• Leak Detector Valve: senses a leak in the filter system and shuts off incoming water so your home does not flood.
• Vacuum Breaker: installed in the line ahead of the system as a safeguard in the rare event that a vacuum (negative pressure) develops, which could damage the housings and tanks.
• Metered Valve: the standard timer valve backwashes on a fixed number of days (every 7 days, for example). A metered valve backwashes after a set volume of water instead (every 3,000 gallons, for example).
• Oxidation System: uses ozone to oxidize water efficiently and improve its quality.