Letter

We have dedicated ourselves to creating the most sustainable water treatment company in the industry.  The water treatment industry as a whole has been been subject to criticism throughout the years from the high pressure sales tactics to the harfull use of salt based ion exchange devices.  My earliest memories of the water industry was when I was a kid and  a new station created an “undercover” sting operation on a local southern california water dealer selling a water treatment system to a pretend homeowner in on the sting.  The dealer inside the home of the customer tested the water in the kitchen of the assumed customer.  

The dealer like many others in the industry at the time tested for water hardness.  Water hardness is the level of calcium and magnesium (healthy minerals) in the water.  As with about 95% of all Americans the test showed a level of hardness.  Of course all water, even the most pure spring water is loaded with calcium and magnesium.  These healthy minerals are vital to our health which has been supported by numerous studies.   The water dealer began to pressure the homeowner on why they needed to buy a water softener and the “alarming” levels of hardness.   For decades multi million dollar companies marketed the harmful effects of hard water, convincing the american public it was harmful to people's health.  

Of course the water dealer in the TV sting followed suite selling a basic ion exchange water softener for 4-5 thousand dollars.  As the pressure came to a peak as the TV crew came from the room behind to catch and surprise the unsuspecting water dealer.  As they questioned the ethics of the water dealer and the device and tactics used he grabbed his sales brochures and stormed out of the home.  The segment went on to paint the industry in a terrible light, highlighting the most hard nosed sales industry that would put a used car salesman back to pre school.  

The investigation then touched on all the terrible effects water softeners have done to the environment for the last 6 decades when the first ion exchange devices were first developed in1936 by Emmett Culligan, the eventual founder of Culligan International water company.  The device removes calcium and magnesium and replaces it with an equal amount of sodium.  Sodium that is then put back into the environment and the water supply causing grave effects to farmers and their crops.   Ion exchange water softeners also need to regenerate with a brine tank in which salt is added to.   Electricity is also used to backflush and wash out the water to a nearby drain.  This not only wastes electricity but also thousands of gallons of fresh water a year.  

In the last decade things are slowing changing. Counties across the US are starting greatly restrict or flat out ban the use of salt based ion exchange devices.  Consumers today are more worried about levels of chlorine and less so about hardness.  The environmental shift today has led the way to an increase desire for salt free water solutions and activated carbon for filtering of chlorine.  Salt free or TAC media seems to be the saving grace for our water supply and for homeowners still wanting to get rid of the scale associated with hard water.  The idea for us at Filter Smart is that we can filter the water and reduce the only real negative for those living in areas of hard water wichs the deposits or scale, left behind from hard water on pipes and appliances.  

The results and studies have shown it can be just as effective at treating hard water without the use of salt.  

We do not believe in the out dated technology of salt based ion exchange and believe soon most all counties in the US will eventually ban the use as water levels have dropped to such levels to create a water crisis.  

Filter Smart is the leader in salt free water system and whole house water filters and are happy to see the industry is starting to finally catch up..   

Colin Barker 

Co Founder FilterSmart