Clearwave Electronic Water Softener System

Ok, first off...I am the biggest skeptic ever. I never purchase things unless there are enough reviews on the item for me to make an educated guess on if it's worth my time and money. The Clearwave has mixed reviews, but there was enough positive reviews that I thought was worth finding out for myself. Plus, it's really cheap for a water softener alternative that if it didn't work it wouldn't really hurt the bank. So I decided to give it a shot.I have had it installed for only a month. What people need to understand is this is a water conditioner, NOT a water softener. Technically, it will not soften your water at all! So many of the negative reviews I read, they are exactly right. However, as a water conditioner this device does exactly what it says it does! I did not notice any change in anything until maybe around 2 weeks. An easy way to find out if it's working is to clean your chrome areas in your tub and shower. Remember, before the chrome would not shine and sparkle after showers or baths. After the water dried it would always look filmy and dingy looking. Since I've had the Clearwave installed, all chrome looks spit shined and amazing...I almost couldn't believe it. And, even when it starts to grime up again which isn't hardly at all...it's so easy to wipe off and have shine again. Before, I'd literally have to scrape at it and use CLR to get it to look remotely close to a chrome shine. I've also noticed an improvement in the toilets. Before, it would only take a week maybe 2 to begin to see the hard water stain forming around the water's edge in the toilet...so far, there is no ring at all since I've had the Clearwave...I think that is amazing. I'm also seeing improvement in the dishwasher. The dishes have less hard water stains if any. It's pretty crazy when you actually start to notice this.People need to realize this device isn't suppose to make hard water soft. It's purpose is to stop scaling of calcium and lime. That is why you see shinier chrome and clearer dishes because there is no more scale buildup. The same with the toilets. This is all I was wanting when I bought this thing...I knew it wasn't technically going to soften the water, I'm not an idiot. I don't even notice it in my hair like some people claim. I seem to have to use the same amount of soap and shampoo as always, so I know it's not doing everything that a water softener should be doing. But, that's ok! My goal was to lessen the scale buildup in the toilets, shower, and dishwasher. And, if I am seeing improvement in those areas I also know the washer and the water heater are in better hands as well!I believe some of the negative reviews are because of unrealistic expectations or poor installation. You have to install this correctly or it's crap. The wires need to be coiled tight and snug, and with a minimum of 7 coils. I coiled each end to its max. I went and bought extra plastic ties to insure each end of the coils were super tight. The coils need to be as tight as possible around the actual pipe and against one another. And, the final but likely most important thing is the two wires need to be wrapped in OPPOSITE directions! Take one and begin wrapping over the pipe, while you start the other wire and begin under the pipe. If the wires are not coiled in opposite directions the device will not work well if at all. Make sure you install this on the main cold water pipe BEFORE the water heater. The manual says to try and install it before any of the cold water branches out to other pipes, so that you treat all water and not just the hot water. Due to my setup I only had enough long pipe after all the branches and just before my hot water heater. So I assumed it would only treat the hot water, which i was ok with since I was mainly concerned about my showers and dishwasher. But, I told you about the improvement in my toilets...and as far as I know toilets don't use hot water! LOLThis is an honest review after only 1 month of use. They say it only gets better the longer it's installed. If it wasn't to do anything else, that would be fine by me. For $130 to have cleaner dishes, cleaner showers, and cleaner toilets...I'll take it.Remember, this is not a water softener! If you are expecting results to be exactly like a salt based water softener than sure, you will give this negative reviews. But, if you know it's a water conditioner only...and, you take the time to install it properly...you will be pleased with the results you get for $130. Be patient...it took me 2 weeks to see anything. I had my doubts, and I thought it was garbage at first...stick with it, and you will see.On a side note...supposedly if your water is high in iron, this device will not work at all. Basically the iron counteracts with the electronic signals and makes the device useless. So if you did everything right, and you see nothing at all...maybe have your water tested for iron.

I was quite reluctant to try this product with the reviews ranging from "Great" to "Magic beans", but since we have Septic my other options were WAY too expensive so I gave it a shot.Have had the unit for several months now (installed Feb 20, 2012), and here's my review.(Background info. Water was tested at 15 grains per gallon prior to install. New HWH was installed 2 weeks prior to Clearwave install.)PROS:=====This does seem to be working. At least the scale build-up I used to see around the bathroom/kitchen sinks, electric toothbrush holder is gone. The toilet in our Master bath (just myself and my wife in the house so that's the bath we use 99% of the time) had a scale ring in the bowl. This seems to be slowly disolving away. At this rate, I would say it could potentially be gone within 6 months from now.CONS:=====None really. I would say the Manual, in my opinion, seems to be a bit aggressive in their timeline as to when you can start seeing results - at least in my case. I guess if my water hardness was at the lower end of the scale, it would be accurate. In my case I really didn't start seeing results until 30 days into it. I can't say I see any difference in water pressure or soaping-action. I've been draining about 2 gallons of water each week from the HWH. I have seen about a nickel-size amount of white flakes drain out (they look like white paint chips) at times, but this could just be due to the initial install of the HWH and flakes that broke way from all the pipe cutting/soldering during the HWH install. Hard to tell - some weeks I see them, some weeks I don't. Dishwasher - unknown. Wife has continued to use cleaners, although she claims she's been using them a lot less since we installed the Clearwave. Glasses don't seem to be building up a cloudy scale anymore in her opinion.Summary:=========I bought this just for the de-scaling ability, and in that area it does seem to be keeping things under control. Whether it will (eventually) remove/reduce the CURRENT amount of scale is still up for debate, but I remain hopeful. Perhaps adding on a 2nd unit (as suggested in the manual for very hard water) might work better for me - don't know. I'll think about it. But compared to paying $600+ for some of the other descalers out there, I think this is a good first choice. If you don't mind the wait...UPDATE - 03/14/2013:====================Well, I'm still getting those white flakes every week out of my Hot Water Heater so I'm ruling out installation debris - it's gotta be breaking up the scale. Dishwasher, glasses and sink faucets continue to remain scale free. Scale ring in MasterBath toilet still there but not as noticable and not growing. Still hard to tell if overall household flow is any better than a year ago, but it's CERTAINLY not worse. Two units in series might speed things up for me in that department but for now it's fine.UPDATE - 05/19/2014:====================I'm certain now that those white flakes from my Hot Water Heater is scale build-up that's flaking off the HW elements when they heat up and expand ever so slightly. If it was due to the ClearWave, I would be seeing these flakes caught in the diffusers of my faucets also - which I don't. I suspect the reason I'm getting scale build-up in the HW heater is because the Charge put on the water wears off and thus the scale comes out of solution and starts to build-up on the Heater Core Elements (in researching, I understand the charge on the water only lasts <5 hours.)I've read that ClearWave Support suggests to some customers to purchase some 14-gauge wire and extend the length of the antenna coils (both sides must be the same length) on your pipes to keep the water in the charged-field longer. I might give that a try - not sure if this will keep a charge on the water any longer, but at best it might help to decrease the overall house scale build-up even more, and at worst - do nothing at all.I still recommend this product - but not for reducing scale build-up in the case of water STORAGE appliances. For Daily Running Water (pipes and appliances) it does work.

I have had one of these for about 6 months. When I first installed it, i noticed that the water felt immediately softer and seemed to bead better, but maybe it was just in my head. After using it for 6 months, I think I can say that my skin is a bit less scratchy, but it doesn't do anything for my hard water deposits. When you think about it, it makes sense since the minerals are still in the water. They've gotta go somewhere when they dry on surfaces...So is it worth it. Maybe... If you really don't want to pay for a real water conditioner.