This Water Softener Blew Me Away! SO Much Better! 

I was duped into getting one of these. It sucks - don't waste your money. The water isn't any softer, it has just as much mineral in the 'treated' water and just as much scaling too. The cartridges are like $90 each and, the icing on the cake, the housing cracked after 5 years, rendering the whole thing useless. Don't do it.

Im a builder also and most of the stuff you like or recommend is good stuff and I agree with most of your ideas.. However this one is a pig with lipstick. I took out a salt system and replaced it with this about a year ago. Six months later I was putting in a new salt system. To call it JUNK is kind. It only sort of works. And you have to change the cartridges ALL the time. I tested the water a lot and found that I got about 7500 gallons before the cartridge was used up. Other issues, if you dont tighten them enough they leak and if you over tighten they crack.. If you want the darn thing to unscrew you need to put food grade grease on the threads. Water on the floor at every change is annoying. You get air in the plumbing at every change. Not a big deal but annoying.

I know this product/endorsement is getting a lot of negative feedback in the comments (all at least arguably warranted and legitimate from what I can see), but I'd enjoy seeing a followup video in 6-12 months after you've lived with the system and rotated the filters once or twice to get a better idea how you think it performs over time 👍

I've enjoyed your videos in the past, but I think you're smart and informed enough to know that this product is a dumb scam. When you use your platform to promote stuff like this you lose a lot of credibility, and I really doubt this company paid you enough for it to be worth it.

I’ve had nuvoh2o for 4 years. We hate it. Doesn’t work. We still get so much scale and the water isn’t “soft”. Will get rid of it at some point and go to a salt water softener.

I have a salt system that I installed over twenty years ago when we did a major bathroom remodel. Now I wouldn't be without a softener. The clear glass shower doors are just left to air dry, no wiping ever, and they look like new. I also have an on demand water heater of the same vintage. The plumber installed all the back flush connections, claiming I would need to call him every year to do an over $100 service. I called once, decided to take my chances after that. It is still working like a champ, no buildup yet. Get a salt system, if you want real soft water.

Love 99.9% of your stuff but this is a gimmick and expensive one at that.

Have to agree with the other comments here - You really failed to do your homework on this one, Matt. In addition to all the points already made I have to wonder about the long term effects of this system. It works by acidifying the water to increase the solubility of the dissolved minerals. What are the long term effects on your plumbing and fixtures of more acidic water? Remember what happened in Flint Michigan? That was caused by a pH shift.

I’m a bit confused on this product. The reason the shower water feels ‘slimy’ when trying to remove the soap is because there are no minerals in the water because the ‘Resin’ in a traditional water softener has removed it. Has nothing to do with any ‘salt’ in the water. Salt is used to only backwash the resin bed to remove the collected buildup of minerals in the resin. So if the minerals are truly removed from the water by the citrus filter, wouldn’t it give you the same slippery feeling in the shower? If it doesn’t, then what is the true water hardness level at the shower with the citrus filter? I don’t see how it can be true low to zero hardness and not have same water attributes as a traditional softener. Simple matter of hardness levels in the water.

Tried the Nuvo Manor H2O back when they first came out. They were offering cashback rebates to plumbers so I installed it in my own house for extra savings. It honestly didn't work as well as I had hoped, the scale was reduced but not nearly enough.

An ion exchanger (water softener) uses cation resin saturated with sodium (Na+) ions to exchange with the cations (Mg+, Mn+, Ca+) ions in the supply water. The salt (NaCl) is just a vehicle to provide the sodium cation to remove the Mg, Mn, Ca ions from the cation resin during regeneration. The anions and the chloride ions flush to waste during regeneration. You can use potassium chloride (KCl) instead of NaCl if you're concerned about sodium. My ion exchange system (water softener) uses ~120 pounds of rock salt ($18.00) in a year. The slimy feel is simply perception, not the presence of a soap residue. Hard water and soap form a curd on your skin. The feel is the minerals in the curd, which gives it a more rough feel. That squeaky-clean feeling is actually soap residue. I bypass the ion exchanger when I water plants or top-off my pool.

So it costs $300/year to operate and it leaves your water feeling hard? We use about 4 bags of salt a year. That's less than $30/year. And personally I'm a big fan of the feeling of softened water. Hard water feels like it leaves a film all over me. It's not often I disagree with what you say in your videos but this product seems off the mark. If someone really needed that space, maybe. A tiny home or an off grid home/cabin might benefit from that. But otherwise I don't see the use case. Sorry man. Typically I love your videos and learn a lot from them.

I love your channel, Matt. Just a minor correction that the salt in a traditionsl water softener is only used to flush the tank that contains the resin beads, which do the actual work of softening the water. The incomming mineral ions in your water supply stick to the resin beads to soften it before continuing into your house's plumbing and a salty water solution periodically flushes (wrinses) away the minerals, which accumulate on the resin beads in your softener. The briny wrinse water then drains directly into the waste pipe. The salt never enters your fresh water supply.

Matt, I always enjoy your videos. But I think there is a lot of misinformation being tossed around about water treatment. First I want to mention the filter company has infomercials on TV from time to time selling their system for lots of money. (+/-$2000.00). (Water conditioners). The salt in a water softening system does not add salt. It uses the salt to clean the resin of minerals that give you hard water. Thank you

Matt, I love your discovery of new construction technology and products on this channel. But this one won't replace water softerners for hard surface and sub-subsurface in central texas. Water drying in showers, sinks, plumbing fixtures and dishwasher dishes will have tell tale mineral deposits from Calcium or Magnesium remaining in the water after treatment from NuvoH20 filters. Only ion exchange through a recharged softerner media will stop that.

I know this video is a bit old, but I thought I'd give some feedback from the one that I purchased and recently installed. First, I want to say that while I am NOT a drinking water professional, I AM a pool and spa professional, so water chemistry is familiar territory for me, but I'm by no means an expert in drinking water. Secondly, I did research for a while before I decided to use one of these. Where I live (NE Kansas) we get our water from the Kansas river, so it's essentially surface water. While we have some hardness in our water, it's not THAT high, usually around 200ppm as calcium. The other minerals that cause harness in my area aren't high enough to worry about dealing with. I would NOT say I had sever scale issues. The main scale we see is needing to clean the heavily used hot water fixtures once a year or so by soaking in vinegar. Mainly the kitchen faucet and the master bath shower head. None of the other faucets (I have 3 bathrooms) have any issues in the 3 years we've lived here. Being familiar with water chemistry, I did before and after testing when I installed the system. For the things that I'm able to test for with "pool guy" testing equipment, what I was able to see was a significant drop in pH (it went from 8.2 -7.0), removal of all chloramines (that's what our local treatment plant uses for residual sanitation in the water), a slight increase in TDS (190-210), and a significant change in taste. I haven't had the system long enough to say if it removes scale, but based purely on the change in pH, and the chelating nature of citric acid, IN MY PARTICULAR SITUATION, I could see it at least preventing the creation of more scale. My home is older, but I JUST replaced all of the pluming with PEX less than a year ago. There's 4 pieces of copper pipe left going to the hall bath and master shower. I also removed the tanked water heater and replaced it with a tankless at the same time. I did my first cleaning on the tankless yesterday. I had VERY little scale in the heater. So. I'm saying all of this because, in my particular situation, so far, this seems like it will work well. I did NOT want to deal with a water softener if I didn't have to. My mechanical/laundry room is cramped already and making room for a softener was going to require moving the softener tanks every time the HVAC filter needed changed. I think, that like many things in life, there's not a one-size-fits-all solution to things. For me, and my particular incoming water conditions, and my installation limitations, this system was a good fit for me. The improvement in taste alone was enough for me. If it prevents me from having to soak the shower head and kitchen faucet once a year, then I've gotten everything I wanted from it... But that being said, if I had TRUELY hard water, I don't see this unit doing much to help.

I have a water softener. I do not have the slimy feeling when showering. You should also not be getting a whole lot of sodium in your water. The salt is only to flush the resin beads in the softener tanks. The captured minerals transfer from the resin beads to the salt. If you have a lot of sodium in your water with a softener, the backwash is probably running for too long. Some salt is unavoidable, but it shouldn't be terribly noticable.

Hawking the freebies without having testing them for a reasonable amount of time. Nice. Household water treatment universe is rife with nonsense.

It's kind of crazy the plastic housing and bracket cost $1500 (!!!). Those pieces seem like they would cost at most $50 to manufacture. Compared to that craziness, the $150 filter pack seems super reasonable. I can't fathom how they get to $1500 for the plastic header and container for the filters, it's insane.

Size wise these look to be 4.5"x20" filter cartridges. Too bad they claim it won't fit into regular Big Blue filter housings. They want $1649 for the two filter unit. That's absolutly ridiculous when you consider that the cartridges themselves are only $150 for the pair. In other words they are charging you $1500 for a $200 filter housing.

Here's an idea: that bottom loop that drops under your filters, install a T there with a shut off, only 1/2" with a small bit of line. Then when you go to service the filters you can shut off the supply, place a bowl and open the drain valve, crack open the filter housing and not make a huge mess. i have 2 of these 4x20 filter housings in my pump house and they do make a mess when changing filters if you don't drain some water out.

yeah this system is about $1700 to buy. plus $300 a year for filters. So $2,000 for the first year of costs. I have a 64,000 grain fine mesh water softener from Aquasure (Home Depot) with a high flow whole house pre filter for sediment for $650 black Friday sale. the pre filter is $16 from GE every 3 months, so $45 a year for pre filter. Salt is $4-6 a bag. i have a family of 5 people in a 5 bed 5 bath house. i get 2 bags every 3 months or so. so about 8 bags a year? so $32 - $48 dollars in salt. so for the first year the costs are $743. doesn't use much energy, maybe as much as a 40 watt bulb. but it does water to back flush the brine tank. so their is the cost of the water if your on city water. I rather use a real softener than this system. But the way Matt builds houses is amazing and i love this channel. just not this product.

The slimy feeling is the lack of Calcium and magnesium ions binding with the surfactants (soap) There is NO salt in your water with a softener it is exchanging the calcium magnesium and iron ions with sodium (or potassium) Those of us on a private well also have issues with particulates, typically iron precipitates and I wonder how this would work in areas with high amounts of hardness minerals The citrate only chelates the hardness ions and if there is not enough citrate soap scum and hard water stains will still occure

Let’s get this straight now. The system you installed is not a softener, it’s strictly a de-scaler. In no way shape or form do you have “soft water”. The system you installed works by binding to magnesium & calcium. It does not remove iron at all & technically it does not break down or remove magnesium or calcium at all. Clear water iron, even low concentrations is very damaging to appliances such as hot water heaters and dishwashers. Iron is what causes staining. Iron also causes that brown buildup in hot water heaters. As you well know, that brown buildup damages appliances. That “slimy feeling” your wife is talking about is actually the soap working to remove dirt and excess oil from her skin. It’s the soap doing it’s job. That “slimy feeling” is actually CLEAN skin. Magnesium & calcium actually clog our pores and damage our hair follicles. If anyone in your house has acne, dry skin or frizzy hair adding a water softener will improve those conditions. Water softeners work using ion exchange. The resin in the cylinder actually attracts magnesium, calcium and iron then exchange those ions for sodium ions. The unwanted minerals then accumulate on the resin. The salt (or Potassium Chloride) backwash then rinses clean the media and allows the media to work like-new. Water softeners actually remove the unwanted minerals. Yes, drinking traditionally softened water tastes funny. You built a brand new house and didn’t run a dedicated water filtering system for the drinking water 🤦‍♂️. I’m not even talking an RO system, just a nice sediment and carbon filter is nice for drinking water.

The slimy feeling is what clean actually feels like! Under a blue light there is more soap off your body with softened water, vs the citric acid.

I’m disappointed. You recommend some great products and I generally appreciate your take. But some of the things you said in this video are somewhere between misinformed and flat untrue. There should be no more salt in your water after a resin softener than you might find in any other natural water source. Softened water IS easier on your appliances long term and drastically increases the effectiveness of detergents that you use on a daily basis. A resin system is a savings to the homeowner from installation, to maintenance, to soap usage, and as a byproduct, it’s more environmentally sound. I get you gotta rep your sponsors but come on man…my wife didn’t like the “slippery” feeling at first but now she’s the first to let me know if the soap “isn’t working right.”

this is definitely the first time I've heard of this system, but I have a Whirlpool water softener, and I use salt pellets as the crystals are known to making a clumpy mess of the salt in the water softener, and I can set the level of hardness for my water, and it has helped me a lot. I installed a filter as it enters my trailer, and goes into the water softener before going to my water heater and the rest of the house, and the problem with water softeners that leave you feeling like you can't rinse the soap off is because the water is too soft. I've been using mine for 4 going on 5 years now. I run the primer drain to my washing machine drain; I installed a fitting that sweeps up and pokes out the sheet rock a little below my regular drain, and every time it charges the system it pumps that water in with no problems, but I've never had any negative effects from my whirlpool system. every 3 months I put a cleanser in to help keep it up to health, and I love my water softener; I have nothing negative to say about it, and I have been in places where the water is too soft to rinse the soap off, so I know exactly what you mean by that. I paid around 800.00 dollars for my Whirlpool system, and I'm glad I went with it! It's a great system. I don't know what the cost of this system is, but it sounds like a great system. I could tell the water was very clear in your glass. Technology is really expanding. I'm sure it will turn out great for your family!

#2…are you taking their word as “gospel”…. Has their claims been tested by an independent, non-bias laboratory?

Sounds like a sales pitch. Making the salt system sound like a monster. I own a resin style softener. It DOES NOT flush nightly. A family of me wife and two girls, 3 bathrooms. One bag of salt cost 4.00 Cdn. and lasts a bit longer than four months before it is empty. I keep track of when and how long it lasts. I never add more than two bags of salt at a time. Why? Because the reservoir water can only dissolve so much before it is saturated. So what’s the point to add more. And less likely that the salt will bridge over the water. My style is the cheaper version which uses a flow meter that turns on the recharge cycle after so many gallons of use. No computer. Separate salt container. Not the built in salt container style. Cost was $700. I own it. Our town has the ugliest hardest water. I have this softener working since 1997. Only replaced the timer motor once. If I remember my science correctly, the resin swaps out the magnesium ion with a chloride ion. Sodium is left behind. The recharge flush is to “repack” the resin beads with chloride ions and wash away the magnesium ion. The final rinse in the recharge cycle flushes out the salty water so you have clean fresh water in the system. This all happens at 2:00 am. So the most a person needs to do is set the time dial to correct the time after a power failure or two. Not withstanding a refill of 2 salt bags every 4 months. Honestly no bs.

Granted, $300 a year isn’t the end of the world. But in comparison, I spend about $80 a year for my softener salt. Granted they take up more space but they make REAL soft water, not just adding citric acid to dissolve hard water crusts on faucets and water appliances.

I have never heard of someone liking hard water. How crazy (to me). I can't stand showering with water that hasn't had minerals removed. And it's so much harder to clean with hard water (currently in an apartment with hard water), dishes, dish washer, and laundry take more soap/detergent cause the hard water. If I am in the shower here in my apartment my hand feels sticky on my body, especially the hair on my head. I much prefer the smooth experience of a soft shower. Interesting product, but super weird 'problem' it's solving. Glad it works for y'all...

I have one of these and I love it. It was super simple to install. I’m waiting on my auto ship to show up for my first filter and cartridge change. I’m on city water and after six months the filter is completely black. This will help everything in your house that uses water last longer.

Would like to see an update on this in about eight months thank you to see what you’re thinking what you were feeling

Lack of specs on their website is a big red flag to me. $1,000+ for a glorified filter housing doesn’t pass the sniff test

So glad you are few months ahead of my build. I am on a well. Based on what you said, I could put this in my well house and have this run to all my water needs. (internal and irrigation) Does it remove sulfur smell/taste too? I will check their website but thought I would ask.

I want to start off by saying I love this channel and I appreciate the knowledge I gain here. With that being said I feel this video is a bit misleading. The system you are displaying is a water conditioner, not a water softener. A water softener removes the calcium from the water. The system you are displaying cannot do that. It can probably remove chlorine, sediment, maybe some iron and can bind the calcium to make it less harmful to the plumbing, but that's it. If it can actually remove calcium I dare you to get a chemical water hardness test and prove how many grains of harness your water has. Softened water will have 0 to 1 grain, maybe 1 or 2 drops to turn the test solution blue. Your system will take 15, 20, maybe 30 drops depending on the hardness of the water that is in the municipal system in your area, because there are zero systems on the market, I repeat zero that can remove calcium without media that needs to be cleaned by salt solution. Your system will bind the calcium so that it doesn't affect your plumbing as much, but that's it. Your soap will be no more effective and your skin won't be any softer. You'll probably have more spotting on glasses than water without calcium would have. The slimy feeling you are referring to is how all water without hardening contaminants feels. If you're not feeling that you don't have soft water. If you bought distilled water (pure H2O) from a store and bathed in it you would feel that slimy feeling and your skin would be arguably softer and you would use less soap and get cleaner. I'm not sure if you're prasing this system so much because they are sponsoring you or because you don't have a full understanding of water softening systems and how they work, but it's a bit disappointing. I'm sorry to be so negative. Overall I love what you do so thank you, but I think you may have dropped the ball a bit on this one and it could affect people's trust in your information. Sorry for the tough love and thank you again. Once again if I'm wrong please prove it by using a chemical harness test to show the hardness of your water, but I'm sure it's going to be hard.

Does this system make the water slightly acidic due to the citric acid? Would be interested in seeing a PH test.

I am shocked. I generally give a lot of weight to Matt’s recommendations but he is dead wrong on this one. I’ve never heard of anyone wanting hard water.

Back in 1972 I bought a new house and installed my own water softener system. It was great. I knew about the requirement that garden faucets not be softened but I had a house with a concrete slab floor. What to do? Easy. I got the idea to simply connect the softener equipment to the hot water side. The water heater was in the garage. I mounted the unit next to it using copper piping and a cut off valve. My system came from the Montgomery Ward catalog sales. No electrical connection required. It was the manual type. The end result was that hot and cold mixed at the point of usage. Baths, showers, dish washer, sinks and so on all were perfectly softened. Outside faucets remained as they should have been. I got the idea myself. What a money saver it was. Now I'm in my middle eighties and live in a house with terrible hard water. I'm going to do the same thing as soon as I find the right system to buy. The only down side to soft water is the possibility of slipping in the bath or shower. Surfaces do get slick sometimes. Putting the little anti slip pads in strategic places prevents this. I'm not a plumber. I'm an electrician by trade but I took a semester of metal shop in junior high school back in 1956 where I learned all I needed to know about DIY.

My house is in NW corner of Michigan's lower peninsula with lots of dissolved iron and high hardness. Installed both an air-injection system to remove iron and a salt-based softener. Took care while programming to NOT over-condition the water and am very, very pleased with the system performance. Surprised with others in Matt's endorsement, especially since it's really in the trial phase. Like to hear from him after a year with some cost analysis thrown in.

I installed a similar water conditioner system from AO Smith ($329 at Lowes). It is rated for 6 years / 600,000 gallons and has greatly reduced the scale buildup on our glass shower doors in our Phoenix, AZ home.

Going with a traditional Kinetico water softener in my new build. No electricity required and it uses the lowest amount of salt of any system on the market.

How well does it work on well water? Do you have to use more soap when showering? Because that's the main difference to me between hard and soft water.

Hard water with all its minerals may be bad for appliances and water lines but it’s better for human consumption than soft water with minerals removed. All natural spring water on the planet is hard water. What you do want is a filter that reduces levels of chlorine, fluoride and other harmful chemicals.

C’mon Matt, you’ve used this for two weeks and pronounce it works since you and your spouse report that your water still feels hard? There are literally 10’s of 100’s of products that claim the same sort of thing; that their product “binds” to, or “changes” the minerals and keeps them from “sticking” to your piping, and all of these products, including Nuvo, get very poor or highly inconsistent reviews. I feel like you generally review good products and promote good products, but this seems….premature.

I'm just fine with a resin softener...

whats up matt love it so far......but let me ask you is it a filter that is B>P>A free ..and no forever chemicals ...found in the filters and end result drinking water...i would like to see a water test done after water is filtered..great coverage as usual thanks

Love your videos. How does your system compare against a whole house reverse osmosis system (both in functionality and long term and upfront costs)?

Check out the Watts One Flow Plus system. The anti-scale cartridge only needs to be replaced every three years. Like the system being showcased, no electricity or drain is needed. We use the commercial version in the facilities at the company I work for and it works great.

Hi Matt, been watching your videos for years. Looking at on-line reviews for NuVo systems there seems to be a LOT of negative comments when this system is used with COPPER pipes, as in people getting "blue-green water". On one hand, "maybe" this is the "de-scaling action" of EXISTING pipes that you mention.........but many of the reviewers indicated this was not a "temporary" situation. Another line of complaints seemed to be from people living in HOT climates (like Texas/Arizona) where the filters had to be installed in "unconditioned space". Seems the blue plastic header starts to deform in the heat, and the company replied that the header is "not warrantied" for temps above 90, and no "metal header option" was offered. Just thought I'd point these out, since you were demonstrating it on a "PEX" system, and "brand new plumbing".

Matt, I used one of the Manor size units in my last house. The system was basically useless. At least once a year it was necessary to soak faucet ends in vinegar to remove the mineral buildup. I replaced the unit with a salt type system when I sold the house so the new owners wouldn't continue to have the same issues.

Hi, just bought house with water softener (very new to me). I believe it goes through cycle every 14 days. I was wondering what the gallons remaining refers to and where all that water ends up (all that water running at 2am for almost 2 hrs)? How much water does a water softener use and how it will affect my water utility bill? I'm contemplating either turning it off or using the bypass valve

The new salt softeners use so little salt that I only fill the tank every 16 months. The water is soft and there is no salt taste to the water.

Tell your wife that feeling of not getting the soap off is actually the feeling of your own skin when it doesn’t have soap residue on it thanks to soft water!

@3:15, but it's the oil on your skin that makes it "slimy" And the soap has nothing to bind to because it's softened water. Once you get used to it - granted, it does take a week or two - you can't go back.

Interesting concept. Would definitely like to see a follow up (unbiased if possible) at the filter change.

Tried this on a farm/ well water. Doesn’t do anything really there. Just isn’t designed for that type of water. If you were on city water or in a different location than southwest kansas. Then mabey it would work.

As a plumber, I HATE where you put that heater....what were you thinking.... you can have a whole show on stupid places and the cost involved with removing and replacing it....ugh

Would this be something you would install in a high iron content well in a rural area?

How well would this work on well water

Oops. hope that H2o heater can come out past the softener if it ever fails...

This is a commercial.

Damn y’all going in on this and I’m glad bc I was questioning the traditional salt tablet systems. I need a water softener badly bc my 2y/o baby girl has eczema and she’s suffering. What should I look into? My system would have to be outside unless I re route my main water line into my garage first.

Great Review Matt, just purchased one under your link. I'm building a new custom home and this video came just in time.

I used to hate that, "can't rinse the soap off feeling", associated with traditional softening systems, when I first encountered them. That was until I had the occasion to stay in a house that had a "resin" style softener to remove Iron from the water. It didn't take long to realize that my clothes got cleaner when I washed them with softened water, they smelled better and retained the fragrance of the detergent longer. And as for showers, it's more difficult to spot, going from a house with hard water to softened but move from a home with softened water to a home with untreated tap water and you begin to realize that slimy feeling is what it feels like to be clean.

Quick question, did you have a bypass that goes outside. So you aren’t watering the yard with this filter water.

How is it for septic systems?

You do need a drain but you don't need electricity. When I built my last home I had a Culligan system but when I built this one I did the double tank kinetico and it flushes each tank when it's required not on a schedule because it only does one tank at a time and there is no electricity involved at all. Very happy.

Curious on your feedback after 6 months and a year. If it works it’s a game changer for sure. Nice work and you have a new subscriber. 👍🏼

My wife travels all over the country several times a year. Anytime she mentions how she can hardly wait to get back home, it's not for missing me, it's because she misses the soft water from our water softener. Easy lather with a fraction of the soap, shampoo and conditioner. Skin after the shower feels smoother and any amount of lotion goes a long way. Clothes from the washer are noticeably softer and glassware from the dishwasher is crystal clear. The electricity used is less than a 10 watt light bulb and the salt at $5 per bag is dirt cheap. With all of these pros at $50 annual cost to run, how does that compare to this $900 system using 20" cartridges that must be replaced every 90 days at a staggering $170 expense? Last but not least, copper does not fare well when on the acidic/corrosive side. I read horror stories of copper toxicity after installing this system. Scary shit, but you're pushing it like it's easy, inexpensive and safe. This can't compete with a salt system by any stretch of marketing imagination.

I have been looking for a house filter system. Would this system be good with well water? And now our well is about the medium high side of the hardness. Thanks for this video

I actually was thinking about this type of system, but I contact Matt's website to see if they ever did follow ups on what they're showing (recommending). Never got an answer. Also did they ever do a before and after water test ? 1:30 into the video you're saying a traditional system has to do a brine flush nightly. That would imply that you're system was under sized for your water use or water hardness. Regeneration of the media should be based on actual water hardness (grains per gallon), the volume of water being used and the volume of the media in the tank to deal with it.

Anybody who gets used to a water softener, won’t have a house without it. That “slime“ you feel, like you can’t get the soap off, it’s just the soap working extremely well. You need 1/10 amount of soap to do the same amount of work. That slippery feeling, is actually the natural feeling of your skin, when it’s void of all the hard minerals. Unfortunately, water softeners have a negative environmental impact. For THAT Reason, I hope no more people use them. But as far as the slipperiness. Once you get used to it, having your skin, extremely soft after taking a shower, and for the rest of the day, you’ll never go back to anything else

You installed a bypass system. You forgot to mention that a bypass is very handy to use when you are changing the filters. It shuts off water from running through the filters.

How do these work if you are on septic like up at my cabin?

I just installed an ispring 3 stage filter. Huge difference. Well worth the investment

That "slippery" feeling is because you're not taking the natural moisture out of your skin and hair with the excess minerals. You'll get the same feeling from RO water. It's also why you need less soap, coffee, etc because there is less already in suspension

Snake oil

will this work and safe for Septic System?

I have this system as well. I used this in my previous home and now have it in my current home. The only thing I don't like is that it the blue tint and this last for a few weeks. It is to me a conditional because the hardness is still there although it is a lot less.

Good luck - this is no way close to a water softener. Please stop with the “feels like” nonsense. Anyone who knows anything about softening water would reference a hardness test before and compare what it is after. I wouldn’t take one of these if you gave it to me.

Does it also keep your skin from drying out like a salt water softener? Less soap/shampoo needed etc?

I agree that "some" salt based softeners feel slimy but modern demand based resin softeners, properly adjusted for your water hardness, do not feel slimy and do eliminate scale. We have been satisfied with ours in central Texas with the same alkaline surface water for the last 15 years. We use potassium because we have an orchid greenhouse fed by it in addition to the house.

Matt, you pointed out your Phyn Plus in passing during this video and I recall from another that you installed a hot water recirculation loop in your home. Do you know how those two will interact? I am considering adding a Phyn Plus myself but I was thinking that a recirculation loop might introduce too much 'noise' into the pipes and result in false positives. Phyn does address booster pumps on their website and says that Phyn should be installed downstream of those, but they don't appear to address recirc loops. I would appreciate you sharing your real-world experience with the Phyn Plus and recirculation pumps. Thanks!

Hello, this is my system, would it work with well water? Thanks

Why not just use a reverse osmosis system without the salt? Seems to work for us. Whole house with a tank, so you can have a smaller ro system (cheaper). How does that Nouvo remove bacteria?

Does it work for well water

Well timed Matt. I've been considering a system for Mom's house. I'm a truck driver, it seems like no matter where I go the city water is only good enough to not ruin the pipes. It's terrible for showering our laundry.

What can you suggest to deal with soft water from a well?

theres a lot of hard water conditioners on the market. many of them do not cut it for very hard water (such as those of us on a well system). I can't find the flow rating of the nuvo h2o filters on their website. That is a another thing to keep an eye on. Also looks like you can save a ton of money by just buying their filter and a generic 4.5x20 housing. I'm a big fan of see through housings. Much easier to visually inspect things on a regular basis. You might also want to consider installing a pressure gauge before and after the filters. If you start to see a big pressure drop across the filters, its an indicator that they are clogging up.

Great info ….thanks

I had a Nuvo manor and it didn’t work one bit . It’s wasn’t until after I ordered it and installed it that I read more careful and it said in fine print not for water wells

Seems like a decent product but the cost is just too high. $300 a year for the cartridges is just way too much compared to a traditional system's cost

Hello Matt. I am looking for a scale filter that remove calsium and magnesium for my water heater. Can you recommend a good brand for me? TY

Matt, do you have an update on the Nuvo H2O system, since it has been a year now? My house is on a raised slab in S.E. Alabama, but we still get a hard freeze every winter. Every water softener or water conditioner company/installer I have found around here wants to put the system outside, but I am concerned it will freeze and crack it. I'm wondering if you have any ideas on how to mount this system inside the house, like in the hot water heater closet?

Will this work with well water?

The salt in a softener is used to clean the filter, in most is a beads that attach to the mineral in the water. The flush of brine is used to clean those beads. Salt content is minimal and safe for human consumption.

Thanks again this was great 👍 Advice Especially now moving to Texas as a new homeowner and contractor

I would strongly recommend a backflow preventer with the pressure regulator. Many jurisdictions require them when installing pressure regulators, and the pressure regulator manufacturer usually recommends one, as backflow can destroy the regulators. Installing a backflow preventer also requires installing an expansion tank to absorb volume changes in the water as it is heated and cooled from use and the water heater heating the incoming cold water. While pex can handle the pressure changes better, it is not worth having leaks in the wall. The copper pipes and the pressure regulator were destroyed in my house because of the lack of a check valve and an expansion tank.

Matt, could we get an update on the system, please (i.e. things you've discovered, wife's current opinion, and replacement schedule)? Thanks again for all your vids!!