Nuvo water softening system

[Dick in Wisconsin]

I saw this system on This Old House a few weeks ago. It intrigued me.

Essentially uses activated charcoal to clean the water (I think) and then granules of citric acid to encapsulate the magnesium and calcium in the water to "soften it".

This Old House video:
https://www.thisoldhouse.com/watch/ask-toh-water-softener-app-shadow-box

Nuvo web site:
https://www.nuvoh2o.com/nuvo-systems.html

There are some reviews on the Nuvo web site. But they are old and not very many of them.

Anyone have experience with the Nuvo system? Are there other systems that rely on citric acid out there? Is the science behind using activated charcoal and citric acid valid?

 

[Balor]

I'm following this. rngr1

 

[03ranger]

Yes, we do have a NUVO water filter at our house. First, we’re on a shared well with two other houses using two Big Blue, Aqua Pure 801 sediment filters in parallel that is change out every three months. Approximately 70,000 gallons usage in three months for three houses. Of the three houses, I’m the only one that has a NUVO water filter/softener installed.

Does the NUVO water filer/softener work? Yes, but is doesn’t eliminate the calcium problem completely, but does reduce the problem. Our neighbor has a house built six months prior to ours and they have a calcium build up on their faucets and shower and have had the plumber out twice to fix dripping faucets.

It been three years since we built and moved in, in the past several months we have had the faucets in the master bath and shower start to drip. Replaced the springs and seats in the faucet and shower and we’re good to go, no more dripping faucets or shower.

So in my opinion, yes the NUVO water filter/softener works well, it’s not a cure all to the calcium build up. A standard water softener would probably do a better job, however with a regular water softener you replace the ions of minerals in the water (mainly, calcium and magnesium) that cause hardness in the water with sodium or potassium ions.

 

[Showkey]

The topic came up in this recent thread on whole house filters:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=375294

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

Yes, we do have a NUVO water filter at our house.

Does the NUVO water filer/softener work? Yes, but is doesn’t eliminate the calcium problem completely, but does reduce the problem.

So in my opinion, yes the NUVO water filter/softener works well, it’s not a cure all to the calcium build up.

So ... if you had it to do all over again would you go with NUVO or a more conventional water softener using salt? Thanks!

 

[kbs2244]

I just hope everyone realizes that This Old House gets a kick back from everything they use on the show?

I still remember one episode, many years ago, before Tyvek had serious completion, that showed a pre-sided wall with all the Tyvek applied so the name was upside down.

I guess DuPont decided they didn't need the advertising.

I have noticed they still do not use Tyvek.