I'm just wondering, is a water purification system (the one they attach to your water heater) necessary? Had a salesperson come over the other day, do the tests, and said it would be $80/month for 10 yrs. The name of the company is Lifetime Water Systems or something by Rainsoft and they use an EC4 water conditioning system (and they also offered a free reverse osmosis system). Now the system they showed made the water look cleaner.

Their water was from the same tap and they did different tests where there's was the best so it was convincing and I'm not completely sure it's a scam after some youtube vids. But if you do get a purification system then the one they offered seems too expensive for what it is. So is there a better system at removing minerals from the water or not? They also said in the $80, they would include concentrated detergent/liquid soap/shampoo etc from some brand which would last 10-13 yrs.

The tests seemed convincing compared to the marketplace videos and I did see/feel the difference but is there a cheaper solution or worth buying?

From what I can tell, it's simply filtering out the minerals and not the water itself which is treated and clean anyways. I've heard it's a bad idea to drink softened water or use it on your lawn because of sodium contents but that it does help with laundry/showers/dish washer though it doesn't keep the pipes clean like regular city water due to the minerals being removed.

This is the company's site:
http://www.rainsoftofmississauga.com...ssissauga.html

Just wondering, are these from Sears or Home Depot (priced at $1300 and $700 so far less than the company's quoted $5000-6000 price) just as or more effective? They appear to be the same thing to me.

http://www.sears.ca/product/kenmore-...00018358-75190

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/ge-s...oftener/941783