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In this video, I go over the differences between the SpringWell and Aquasure water softners. Check them out here Springwell SS - https://geni.us/QVoS Aquasure Harmony - https://geni.us/MZTxkBG Want FREE Shipping With Amazon Prime? Get a 30-DAY FREE TRIAL by signing up here http://www.amazon.com/tryprimefree?tag=thechrisreview-20 DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support!
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Springwell and Aquashore are two of the biggest names in water softeners, and honestly, both are excellent salt-based systems
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But don't let that fool you into thinking you can't go wrong with either one
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Dig a little deeper, and you'll find that they're built for very different priorities
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and a random choice could leave you with regretting your decision for years
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So let's compare the two and find out which one is the best water softener for your home
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And before we get into the comparison, it helps to understand what you're dealing with
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Hard water is simply water with a high concentration of minerals like calcium and magnesium
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and the hardness of water is measured in grains per gallon or GPG. Anything above 7 GPG is
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considered hard, and a lot of households in the US are sitting anywhere between 10 to 25 GPG
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and some areas with well water can go even higher. Now the problem is that those minerals don't just
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disappear as water flows through your home. They build up. Inside your pipes, they form what's called
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a lime scale. And that's a hard chalky deposit that slowly narrows the pipe opening and restricts
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flow. Inside your water heater the scale acts as insulation which makes the heater work harder and
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use more energy to heat on the same amount of water. On your dishes and glass shower doors you
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get white spots. On your skin and hair the minerals block moisture from getting in so even hot showers
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can leave you feeling rough. And a salt-based water softener solves this by using a process called
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ion exchange. Inside the system, there's a tank filled with tiny resin beads that have a negative
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charge. When hard water passes through, the positively charged calcium and magnesium ions
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stick to the resin and are swapped for sodium ions, which don't cause the same scaling problems
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The result is genuinely soft water coming out of every tap in your home. And both Springwell
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and AquaSure use the same ion exchange method. Where they differ is how they build the system
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what kind of resin they use, how smart the regeneration is, and what kind of support you
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get afterward. So now let's start with the resin. And this is the material that grabs the hard
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minerals in your water and holds them until the system regenerates and flushes them away
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The resin is made from tiny polystyrene beads, but not all the resin is the same. One of the
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biggest differences is the cross-link percentage, which determines how durable and resistant those
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beads are to chlorine oxidation and long wear Springwell uses 10 cross resin in its softeners while Aquashure standard Harmony models come with 8 So why does this number matter There are two main reasons First
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a higher crosslink percentage makes the resin beads tougher and more resistant to physical wear
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over time. Second, it improves resistance to chlorine, which is commonly found in treated
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city water. And over the years, chlorine and other oxidants gradually break down resin beads
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causing them to shrink, crack, and lose some of their ability to remove hardness minerals
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As a result, standard 8% cross-link resin typically lasts around 8 to 15 years
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while 10% cross-link resin can often reach 10 to 20 years under similar conditions
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especially in homes with chlorinated water. That said, AquaShore does have an advantage here that's worth mentioning
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Its optional fine mesh resin is specifically designed for well water with elevated iron levels
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The standard Harmony system is rated for up to 2 ppm of iron, while the fine mesh version can handle up to 10 ppm
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Springwell's SS system, by comparison, is rated for up to 7 ppm of iron without requiring a fine mesh upgrade
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So if iron removal is a major concern, both brands are going to offer capable solutions, but Aquashure's fine mesh option provides a bit more capacity
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Next is grain capacity, and the two brands don't give you the same lineup of options here
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And grain capacity tells you how much hardness a softener can remove before it has to regenerate
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If the system is too small, it'll regenerate a lot and waste extra salt and water
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But if it's too large, you pay for capacity you don't need. And Springwell's SS Series comes in three sizes, 32,000, 48,000, and 80,000 grains
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Now the 32,000 model is designed for homes with one to three bathrooms
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the 48,000 model covers four to six bathrooms, and the 80,000 model is made for larger homes with seven or more bathrooms
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Now, Aquashure's Harmony series is available in 32, 48, 64, and 72,000 grains, so the main difference is sizing flexibility
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Aquashure offers more choices in the middle of the lineup, while Springwell's 80,000 model provides a higher maximum capacity for larger households or homes with extremely hard water
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And if you aren't sure which size to buy the general rule is to multiply your daily water usage by the number of people in your home
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Then by your water hardness in GPG and finally by seven So for a four household with about 20 GPG that gonna point straight to a 40 system by either brand next let talk about flow rate because this is something you actually notice in everyday use
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flow rate is measured in gallons per minute or gpm and it tells you how much softened water
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the system can deliver without causing a drop in pressure springwell's ss series ranges from 11 gpm
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on the 32 000 grain model to 20 000 gpm on the 80 000 grain model and aquashurners harmony lineup
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delivers between 10 and 20 GPM depending on the size you choose. So both systems provide more than
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enough flow for most households. Whether you're running a shower, dishwasher, or washing machine
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at the same time, neither brand is likely to become a bottleneck. So when it comes to flow rate
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this category is essentially a tie. And now we get to regeneration, which is how a water softener
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cleans itself and restores the resin ability to remove hardness minerals. Because regeneration
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uses both salt and water, the way a system decides when to regenerate has a direct impact on operating
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costs. And there's two main approaches here, time-based regeneration and demand-based regeneration
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A time-based system regenerates on a fixed schedule, such as every three or four days
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regardless of how much water you actually use. That means the system may clean itself even when
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the resin still has plenty of capacity left, and that can waste water and salt in the process
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Now, a demand-based system works differently. It tracks your household's water usage and only regenerates when the resident is getting
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close to full. So if you use less water one week, the system waits longer
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And if you have guests staying over and water usage spikes, it regenerates sooner
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And since it responds to actual water consumption, demand-based regeneration is the more efficient
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option for most homes. And here's the good news. Both Springwell and AquaShore support demand-based regeneration so you aren't giving up efficiency
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with either option. The main difference is how you manage those settings
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Because Springwell uses a Bluetooth enabled control head that connects to an app on your phone, you can see when the next regeneration is scheduled, how much capacity is left, and
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change the regeneration time or settings without walking over to the unit
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That makes it much easier to keep the regeneration cycle turned to how your household actually
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uses water. And Springwell also includes what they call vortex technology in the backwash stage of
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regeneration cycle. And the basic idea is that instead of just flushing water straight through the resin bed
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The design creates a more aggressive stirring action that lifts and moves the resin beads more effectively A more thorough backwash means the resin gets cleaned more completely each cycle which helps it stay in good working condition for longer Now Aquashore on the digital hand relies on a digital display and a few buttons on the valve You can use the built screen to
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program things like hardness, capacity, and regeneration time. And anytime you want to check
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or fine-tune the schedule, you need to walk back to the unit and step through the menu again
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In fact, that's how most water softeners have worked for decades, and for a lot of people
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that's perfectly fine. But if your softener is in a crawlspace, a garage, or a utility room that you
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rarely visit, having to go there for every small adjustment feels pretty annoying
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Next up, installation. And if you were hoping one of them was significantly easier to set up than
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the other, the answer is not really. Both Springwell and Aquashore are friendly to homeowners with
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basic plumbing experience, and the main parts come in the box, but your setup may still require extra
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fittings, hoses, or adapters. And if you're comfortable working with pipes, the installation
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can take a few hours. But if cutting into your main water line sounds stressful, then hiring a
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plumber is going to be money well spent. It's going to cost more upfront, but it's a lot cheaper than
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dealing with water leaks a week later. Finally, we come to the price, and the gap here is big enough
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to change how we weigh everything else. Springwell is the more expensive option, and its SS series
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starts around $1,600 for the 32,000 grain model, and can climb to roughly $2,700 for the 80,000
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version. And for that money, you're getting premium features like Bluetooth controls
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app connectivity, and a lifetime warranty on the tanks and control valve. Springwell also backs
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the system up with a six-month money-back guarantee, which is usually generous in this category
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and Aquashore's Harmony series is far more affordable. Even the largest 72,000 grain model
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is typically priced around $800. And this one comes with a five-year warranty with the option
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to extend coverage by another two years. So yeah, Aquashore is the clear winner on price
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And if maximizing value is your top priority, it's hard to ignore how much capacity you get
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for the money. But price alone shouldn't make the decision for you. Water hardness, iron levels
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household size, and long-term durability all matter too. That's really the takeaway here
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Neither system is usually better. They just work for different buyers. And once you know which group you're in, the answer is going to come easier
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And that's all for today. I hope this video helped you find the right water softener
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And links to all softeners mentioned are going to be in the description below. Thanks for watching
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