Comments on: Do NOT Buy! Here is Why Hydrotech Might NOT Be Worth It

By: Kanni

Kanni — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 17:00:59 +0000

Hello Luke,

My Pentair Fleck 5810 SXT water softener, which I had installed about 5 years ago, stopped working as it got stuck in a drain cycle. Upon doing some research and opening the valve to inspect the piston, I figured that I have to buy a piston, seal, and spacer kit and replace those parts. I called around a bunch of local and online dealers and found prices ranging from $55 to $200.

I also contacted my original dealer who I purchased my 5810 softener from and he got back to me with some alternate offers. The 5810 is now discontinued, my warranty is up anyway, but he wants to help. He no longer carries Pentair and deals with Hydrotech (Canature?) now.

I have 3 options:

1) Replace my 5810 softener’s piston, seal, and spacer by myself for $55+tax.

2) Original dealer replaces my 5810 with a Pentair Fleck 5800 with a new 5-year warranty. He’ll be getting 60% of the value of my 5810 back from Pentair. My total cost = $100 cash all-in.

3) Original dealer replaces my 5810 with a Hydrotech 165 with a new 5-year warranty. My total cost = $100 cash all-in.

It is very hard to find reviews of these different softener companies and models. If you guys have any advice on which I should go with, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

By: Luke George (Mr Water Geek)

Luke George (Mr Water Geek) — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 11:54:24 +0000

In reply to Becky. Hi Becky I would say Culligan is just the better known of the two but to be honest I haven’t heard good things about Culligan (especially re: customer service and rip off prices) and there are generally very little online genuine customer reviews for Hydrotech. Also, their products are not that different from what you can get at Lowes, Home Depot or from other ‘online only’ retailers. It seems like you just need something that will treat well water issues (i.e. manganese, iron etc.) with a pre-filter that will catch sediments and filters that will treat other standard contaminants in your water. This one comes to mind but there are other options out there. Stay hydrated, Luke

By: Becky

Becky — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 04:49:26 +0000

I live in Kentucky and have very hard well water with iron too. Did lab tests recently and learned we also have bacteria, even after 2 chlorine shock treatments. Looking into a point of entry pre- filter to catch some sediment to take some load off of our water softener and UV light after the softener. (We already have a Puronics/Ionics water softener.) Have talked with Culligan and 2 independent water treatment services. One installs Kinetico, the other Hydrotech/PURA. Is Culligan best or just better known? Or should I purchase something at Lowes or Home Depot and have a plumber install? Culligan name is well known, but I can’t find any comparison of quality of these brands, nor customer reviews. Please help!

By: Luke George (Mr Water Geek)

Luke George (Mr Water Geek) — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 14:50:34 +0000

In reply to Mina. Hi Mina A standard whole house softener + filter combo should be able to take care of most of those water issues for you. Also, if you want something that can treat higher levels of chlorine, TDS along with the hard water consider upgrading to the reverse osmosis + UV filter before you checkout. Stay hydrated, Luke

By: Mina

Mina — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 14:08:59 +0000

Hi,
I live in New Jersey and hate the water over here. I had a Rainsoft and Hydrotech representative come to my house and do a water analysis and recommended solutions. Both Rainsoft and Hydrotech determined i have hard water (about 24 grains), high TDS (rainsoft said i was in the 800 range, hydrotech said in the high 400 range), both confirmed I have high chlorine (i think around 3 or 4).
The Rainsoft rep recommended to use their EC5 system along with their Reverse Osmosis and quoted me $7k including labor, where the Hydrotech rep recommended Hydrotech model 89 Catalytic carbon 1.5 cu ft, Water softener 1.5 cu ft and Aqua Flo QCRO with Designer Faucet for $3k including labor.
I’m leaning towards the Hydrotech, having a hard time justifying the extra $4k on Rainsoft. Looking for recommendations please.