Out on a limb - Salt free water treatment

I am always curious about new technology in water treatment. My latest trial of a new product has lasted a year and a half. I have installed a dozen non salt water conditioners, and all but one lived up to expectations, and the one that did not dazzle with results has been tweaked (by adding extra media) and I am waiting to see if it works now.

This is a media tank shaped much like a softener or filter tank. The media, made in Germany, actually treats the hardness by making it stick to itself (hardness) instead of to the wet surfaces of your home. The first one I installed only because a customer begged me to. After a decade in water treatment, I thought I knew everything, and the one thing I "know" is that you can't get anything for nothing, and I felt that if you didn't use some kind of salt or chemical, you could never remove or sequester hardness in the water.

When I first saw all the hard water deposits these systems cleaned out of hot water coils, I didn't believe. When my third customer for this product called and said that the 35 years of crud that was built up on his shower heads was actually falling off, I said, well there might be something. When I decided to replace my own water softener with one of these salt free systems, just so I could really see what was going on, I was convinced.

What these systems don't do: They don't treat iron, manganese, odor, chlorine, pH, or anything except calcium and magnesium hardness. They don't give you that slippery (some call it slimy) feeling that soft water does. They don't use salt or waste backwash rinse water.

What these systems do: The prevent calcium and magnesium from building up. There will still be a residue similar to soft water residue, but like soft water, the residue just wipes away.

Some old timers may scoff (like I first did) but for argument's sake, one of the most trusted brands in the plumbing and water field, WATTS, is now selling their version of this product. If they are convinced, it's a lock for me.