Untreated hard water will result in lousy laundry, spotted dishware and no soap results in the shower. In addition, calcium build up will ruin the fixtures, shorten appliance life and ultimately ruin the plumbing in the home. Everyone with hard water knows these issues, few understand there are non-salt options.

A debate has raged for more than fifty years as to who invented water softening. In one camp, Bill Culligan, in the other a fellow Minnesota-based company, Lindsey Miracle water, the predecessor to ECO Water. Water softening is the ion exchange of sodium for calcium resulting in no calcium in the water and some level of sodium Regardless of where the credit is placed, the proliferation of water softening as a treatment option, has fueled a new debate: Is the process environmentally sound. Brine, a byproduct discharged as part of the water softening process, has come under increased scrutiny over the last twenty years. Large county municipal districts such as Los Angeles County and Livingston County in Michigan, in addition to many smaller municipalities, have issued discharge regulations with respect to chloride. These efforts have been supported by studies at the Mayo Clinic and the decision to remove calcium hardness itself by the Finnish government. Other have concluded that sodium, and even un-softened water, can pose health risks for circulatory systems in the areas of blood pressure and stroke.

Spurred by the relative ease of the internet as a research tool and a general increase in health awareness in general, the push has been intensified to find non-salt water treatment alternatives. One emerging option has been the combination of oxygenation and copper ionization in a single system. Ionic copper and natural copper systems revert calcium carbonate (CACO3) to calcium bicarbonate (CA2H(CO3)). Additionally, the process provides for a filter to remove the iron that has been oxidized without the use of salt or other chemicals. According to Mike Dewar, a regional manager in the water treatment industry, “Yahoo science and Stanford University legitimized these systems by defining calcium bicarbonate in 2001.” Dewar concedes that the acceptance of the technology has faced some resistance. “We still fight some chemical engineers and professors, typically those who earned PHDs prior to 1980, who refuse to believe bicarbonate calcium exists.”

To combat this, he suggests a protocol required in Canada and available in the US. Bicarbonate calcium tests are required in Canada and available and EPA approved in the US. They conclude whether hardness is temporary or permanent in water. Watercheck in Cleveland, OH, and Culligan Los Angeles are two leading sources for the bicarbonate test. While testing is conclusive, consumer experience is also fairly accurate. Instead of hard scale, bicarbonate calcium will leave a dry powder residue, easily wiped away without chemicals. According to Dewar, it should come as no surprise that the technology works. NASA developed the electrolysis incorporated into these for its Apollo moon missions starting in the 1960s. While the copper ionization was proven healthy for humans and effective in preventing mold, it was used for scale control in their cooling towers.

Dewar cites residual bacterial control as additional benefit of the core technology. “This feature is important if you filter out the chlorine of city water or recognize a high percentage of wells develop Coliform through the natural ecosystem.”

Larry Couture is the Founder and CEO of ECOsmarte. ECOsmarte is the World leader in Salt and Chemical Free Water Technology. ECOsmarte’s Salt and Chemical Free systems with Ionization and Oxygenation have roots in NASA.