In my last post about water softener parts I wrote at length about the basic operation of a water softener, including a basic rundown of the process of trading sodium ions for hardness ions, as well as a description of the maintenance procedure. If you are new to this stuff, I highly recommend you read that article before going on with this one so that you have a basic understanding of the benefits and operation of a stationary water softener.
It stands to reason that a portable water softener would be a great boon, especially for people who are constantly on the move. The bad effects of hard water are not limited to the home environment, wreaking havoc on plumbing as well as the odor and taste of water on the road. For this reason, many portable water softeners are marketed to RV owners who take their home on the open road for long periods of time.
The Features
The basic features of a portable water softener are conceptually the same as the stationary variety, providing a method to swap hardness ions with easily dissolving sodium ions that won’t damage your plumbing or stink up your water. However, stationary units provide a unique challenge because they are often used in situations where traditional maintenance and operation are impractical.
One example of this difference lies in the different materials that are used in softening the water. A stationary water softener will generally employ a resin bed that contains little beads which are temporarily coated in sodium ions via a process called “regeneration” which requires a brine tank full of salt water which is backwashed through the system. A portable unit is going to be much smaller and thus the regeneration method will have to be much different to compensate for the size. Some of these products allow the consumer to simply refill the unit with basic table salt rather than the brine tank method. An additional benefit of this manual regeneration (as opposed to the automatic method in a home unit) is that that you don’t need access to a power source.
If you are on a low sodium diet, you may want to consider dispensing with any salt products in favor of something like potassium chloride in a salt free water softener. Potassium chloride has essentially the same properties as sodium in terms of softening water, but it obviously contains no salt content. As a bonus, the water which comes out of the softener will add some potassium to your diet, a substance which is vital to a healthy body (you can get potassium from all sorts of fresh fruits and vegetables as well! A simple internet search will no doubt turn up a list of these food items). As with any product, be sure to carefully read the instructions to make sure that it is compatible with any substance you plan to use in tandem with the product.
Another noteworthy feature is flexibility in how the portable water softener is oriented. While many stationary units require a very specific orientation and perfect balance to ensure that the resin bed is undisturbed, some of the portable products can be oriented either vertically or horizontally. This is a real boon when space is an issue (and it often is on the road). This is not going to be true of every product out there, so again a careful read of the manual should be the last word. I personally recommend you find a product that isn’t too finnicky about how it is placed so that you can conveniently hide it away in a corner of the RV, if need be.
Confused about the difference between a softener and purifier? Check out this video:
A Variety of Uses
Portable water softeners are employed in a variety of ways since they can be taken just about anywhere:
- Washing the car or RV. Hard water and vehicle washing do not mix. If you are finding that you have to wipe away loads of streaking and smears when you’re done washing the car, chances are you are fighting against hard water. With a portable softener, you will inevitably spend much less time with any washing task because the water will come off far more easily. Additionally, properly softened water will be far gentler on your car’s finish, saving you money on refinishing it down the line.
- The shower. I can tell you from unpleasant, first hand experience that hard water hates skin. Some companies product shower water softeners that will reduce or even eliminate the blemishes and over-drying effects that result from hard water bathing. This is an absolute must for me since my skin is ridiculously sensitive to water quality, but your mileage may vary.
- Cooking on the road. Many people consider quality cooking to be a luxury item on the road, but that doesn’t need to be the case. A portable softener will help keep nasty tasting and smelling minerals out of your food, allowing the true flavors of the food to come through to their fullest. On a more practical level, softened water will leave far fewer water stains on your cookware, making cleanup a much less irritating task.
- Remote Water Features. If you have decorative water features such as solar or indoor floor fountains in your home, sometimes it makes more sense to have a portable softening unit that you can bring right to that specific location rather than running another long line from your stationary softener unit.
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