Hi folks an Illinois bass fisherman here with a son living just outside Austin in Buda,TX. I’m trying to help him out from far away on getting a water softener bought or rented. From experience up here in Illinois I’d rather he rent one but he says he can’t find a place to do that ? That seems odd but whatever. I thought I’d reach out here for suggestions or help since I’ve gotten good things from this forum in the past. Thanks Glenn

Did he buy a house?
Is he renting a house?
Why does he want/need a water softener?

A few more details on his situation would be helpful.

Screw the water softener. The question is why have you not followed your son and escaped the most corrupt state in the union? I left the Land of Lincoln nearly 40 years ago and it has only gotten worse since then for you folks. Run away!

I was stationed in Rantoul once. Dreadful place.

What year again? I think maybe we have discussed this but I grew up on Chanute when I was a wee chap

First of all the house must be plumbed for a softener. This can be the hard part. Water connections must be made to insure that soft water goes to the house, and NOT to outside faucets. Soft water has a small amount of salt in it and will kill grass and cause concrete to deteriorate. The house water line must be tapped before it goes to the softener for all outside faucets. I had a bad experience renting from Culligan and had them come get their stuff after 2 weeks. I have a Whirlpool softener that I bought from Lowe's and it has been great. This is the 2nd one I have had. The first lasted 7-8 yrs and when it went out I bought another one just like it.

I have never heard of a rental water softener. Not saying it doesn't exist, but I just haven't heard of it. What you need to avoid is the door-to-door sales companies for water softeners. They get in by offering you a free water test. You could provide them with pure distilled H2O and they would show you all kinds of sediment in there which they call "hardness." Then they set you up with a monthly payment where you end up paying around $6000 for a $500 water softener. They justify this monthly expense by using some ridiculous math which assumes you spend a couple thousand dollars a year on dishwasher detergent and shampoo.

Also, does he really need a water softener? Can he get by with just a good filtration unit for drinking water? I don't know how the water supply in Austin is, but outside of west Texas, most places are pretty decent and don't really need the full softener unit.

Feb-mar 83.

Aaaaaahhhh, my dad was there from 83-92 from what I remember. I was born 81 but had a blast running my bike all over the base.

Apparently it is actually a thing. Never would have thought it.
Culligan rents them.

The water up there is what is considered hard. I lived in Plugerville and having one was a must as I think aquifer or well water contained a lot of deposits like lime. The plumbing was just part of the installation and didn’t seem that complicated. I would avoid high pressure salesmen and deal with a big box like Lowes or Home Depot. The salt is a PIA but just part of it. He should talk to his neighbors and see what/who they have dealt with.

The guy asks a sincere question, and he gets this response. Welcome to the modern Texas which some no longer recognize.

It’s ok fishslime no harm done we like a lot of other Land of Lincoln people would like to leave but things like a good job and family keep us here for now. But we love coming to Texas to see our son !! Got a fishing trip planned in March !

Rick S - yes renting softeners is a common thing here in Illinois I grew up on the farm and we had to have a softener for sure or all the whites had orange in them. It seems the water in the Buda area is real hard with a lot of lime in it. At least it seems that way to me from smelling and tasting it.

Hi PondFish they have bought a house in Buda just east of Cabela’s and the water water there is very hard and has a lot of lime in it. Thanks Glenn

go to lowes and buy softener, call a plumbing co. to come install it so it is done right. I would not use the lowes installers for something like this.

he might want to look into osmosis softening, no salt used so it can go to all faucets.

look at the salt free, pricey but never have to mess with filling or forgetting to fill.

https://www.lowes.com/pl/Water-softeners-Water-filtration-water-softeners-Plumbing/4294822072