Hard water is the biggest problem that we are facing either in the United States (USA), United Kingdom (UK), or Canada. The limescale deposits on showerheads or faucets, reduction in the leather of soap or detergents, all these headaches are due to hard water. How can you beat that? Buying a water softener is the perfect solution for the removal of hard water. And the best part is to add salt and resin to the water softener to work efficiently and speed up the process. However, if you have a city water supply or well water, you need the best water softener to improve the quality of water. Therefore, you need to buy the best quality water softener resin available in the market as well. So, sit back! Relax and read ahead to find the best resin for your water softeners.
Take a look at our top 5 best resin reviews for your water softener system in 2024. We selected these products after reviewing consumer reports. Check out our recommended products:
Purolite C 100E SST-60 is a top-notch resin beads brand that removes hardness-causing metals by up to 50% and limits wastewater production by up to 50%. Premium quality industrial-grade gel resin that is highly efficient in removing water hardness and works well with water that has a high iron level. The resin is in the form of polystyrene gel cross-linked with DVB. It has excellent physical and chemical stability, leading to a longer lifespan. However, it’s only 8% crosslinked instead of the more robust 10%.
What makes the Purolite C 100E one of the best water softener resins is that you’ll be able to save money on salt. That’s because this water-softening ion exchange resin helps to ensure a more efficient system operation, prolonging running time from one automatic regeneration to the next. This, in turn, will help you to save water waste as less regeneration will be needed on a weekly basis.
Purolite brand has exceeded the pertinent EEC requirements and is strictly in compliance with the US Food & Drug Administration Code of Federal Regulations. The life expectancy of this water-softening resin depends on the quality of water, normally it is 10-15 years.
Pros
Works efficiently with all brands of water softeners.
Works well with water having a high iron content.
Reduces the likelihood of leaking.
FDA approved.
Cons
Longevity depends on your water source.
Purolite helps you to save between 700 and 1,400 pounds of salt per cubic feet per year although this is dependent on your water usage. Therefore, Purolite C100E resin is one of the best ion exchange resins for water softeners.
AFWFilters SORES1 high-quality resin offers conventional gel polystyrene sulfonate cation exchange resin in bead form. This resin increases the process of ion exchange by removing hard water ions and replacing them with sodium ions hence, you get soft water as a result. Apart from its efficient working, the resin is also approved by the USDA, FDA, and NSF which gives you one more reason to get this for your water softener system. However, it is very easy to replace.
AFWFilter SOFRES1 is an 8% Polystyrene cross-linked resin with DVB. The bag contains one cubic foot of high-quality common-grade resin. This resin has sulfonate cations that exchange with the hardness, causing metal ions like magnesium and calcium. When the resin bed gets exhausted, its capacity is restored by the process of regeneration using salts. So, it is better to use the best water softener salt for better results. However, you can buy the AFWFilters resin in a number of quantities depending on the size of your water softener resin tank.
The expected lifespan of this resin is around 10 to 15 years. Although, if you have a high content of chlorine or iron then its life expectancy will be about 6 to 8, which is overall a good number.
Pros
Easy to use, Long life & replaceable.
USDA, FDA & NSF certified.
Safe for household and residential use.
Affordable price.
Cons
Not suitable for high levels of iron or chlorine – only crosslink 8%
The only drawback for the AFWFilters is the funnel for filling the resin tank for water softeners needs to be purchased separately. In addition, this high-capacity resin works well with all types of salt-based water softeners. Also, its replaceable feature makes it highly recommended by many.
ResinTech is a high-quality nuclear-grade resin that is a fantastic product for removing not the only hardness of water but also efficiently removing iron and chlorine content in water. The resin works perfectly well for water softeners/filters either in the UK, USA, or Canada.
ResinTech MBD-30 combines both anions and cations in one 5-pound bag. The resin has an 8% standard cross-link. Moreover, the resin is a mixture of nuclear-grade hydroxide and hydrogen. The anion in the resin is a type I gel that is highly basic in nature, whereas the cation is a sulfonated polystyrene gel that is highly acidic in nature. Besides, the resin also has an indicator bye that changes its color when the resin is exhausted.
The resin indicates its expiration by changing its color. Hence, It is a convenient way that suggest the perfect time to replace the resin. The color of the resin is green, and when it is exhausted, it changes color to violet. The 5-pound resin can quickly fill up to 4 refillable filters. It is specially intended for use in cartridge applications. Such systems are typically designed without purity meters and rely on the color-changing feature to know when the resin is exhausted.
Pros
Easy to Use.
High Capacity Treatment.
Suitable for residential water softeners.
Cons
Some customers complained that it works less efficiently with commercial water softeners.
The unique color-changing feature of Resintech MBD-30 makes it very convenient to use. Therefore, because it is easy to use, reliable, and robust, this is a reasonably good choice for a water filter resin.
Aquatrol provides a premium-quality resin made from polystyrene and DVB beads. The FDA approves the resin for use in treating food for human consumption. That means it won’t affect your drinking water after it’s been through the softening process. The Aquatrol water softener resin media is ideal because it effectively removes calcium, magnesium, iron, Sulphur, and other harmful elements from your water. Auqtrol resin’s hydraulic characteristics ensure that your water softener will work at the peak flow rate, including backwash flow rates.
This 8% cross-link helps in regulating the pH of hard water. Hence, the result is water-free from hard metal ions and iron. As soon as you use this resin, its 100% ion exchanging feature provides a great deal of positive difference in the quality of your water. Its primary function is to make hard water into soft, so it can also be used in the pharmaceutical industry.
The most popular offering size is 1 Cu. ft (cubic foot) bag, which is ideal for 9″ X 48″ sized water softener mineral tanks. Moreover, the bag’s easy-pour spout prevents you from accidentally adding too much. The lifespan of this resin is between 10 to 15 years depending upon the water source.
Pros
Easy pour spout.
Long Life & Efficient Results.
NFC & FDA Certified.
Good physical, thermal, and chemical stability
Cons
High efficiency with residential water softeners that have a medium water hardness level.
Finally, high life expectancy makes Aquatrol Resin a winning product among the lot. The resin is explicitly developed to remove hardness-causing metals and is perfect for all standard salt-based softening units.
This ion exchange resin from LiquaGen is a long-lasting, high-grade water softener media that provides excellent-quality water for an affordable price. The LiquaGen Resin is a 10% cross-linked product that is perfect for water and has a high level of hardness. It works perfectly in removing metal ions like magnesium, calcium, and even iron. The ingredients contained in this product are safe to use to treat water. Because these beads are more strongly bound together, they should last for a longer period of time, reducing the frequency of resin changes required.
LiquaGen Ion Exchange Resin comes in two bags of a total of 1.5 cubic feet quantity. The packaging also includes a resin loading funnel that you can place in the water softener for convenient resin loading. The resin is a high-capacity, polystyrene sulfonate gel with cations. It has a 10% cross-link DVB and is also in the form of beads.
Moreover, LiquaGen resin is chlorine resistant. The LiquaGen has thermotolerant characteristics, as well as excellent physical and chemical stability when softening hard water, and can be used for residential and commercial applications.
Pros
Higher Cross-Link 10%.
Long Life & Funnel Included.
Works with water having a high iron content and chlorine.
Cons
Some consumers felt the price is a bit high as compared to others.
If you are facing a high level of water hardness, then LiquaGen Resin is the perfect choice for you. This resin ensures that your water is tasteful and free from limescale deposits.
What to Consider When Buying a Water Softener Resin?
In case you might be asking yourself, how to pick the top resin for your water softener system and where to buy water softener resin. Let me tell you, there are some key things you need to keep in mind when buying resin for your water-softening unit.
Fine Mesh vs Standard Ion-Exchange: The Fine mesh resin has very fine beads that make it an ideal choice if you have high iron content in your water supply. If you have a water softener/filter system, you should go for fine mesh resin.
Whereas, the standard ion exchange resin is what most of the standard water softeners use. It is perfect for salt-based water softeners since the sodium Ion on them makes ion exchange accessible.
Cross-Link: Resins come in two types of cross-links, i.e. 8% and 10%. Resin has a high amount of either DVB or polystyrene. These two are essential in defining the quality of the resin and the softness of the water. High DVB or high cross-linked resin comes with small beads of resin and tends to be less vulnerable to factors like resin strength and oxidative stress.
Whereas low cross-linked resin has the capacity to hold more water thus making it more efficient in removing hardness.
Life Expectancy: When considering buying a resin, its life expectancy matters a lot. Standard resin is said to have a life expectancy of an average of 13 years. The life expectancy of water resin depends highly on the level of hardness of the water. If you have a high level of hardness in your water supply, the life of the resin will be slightly low because it will have to work up with more metal ions. Similarly, if the hardness level in water is medium, then water softener resin replacement can live up to 15 years.
Best Water Resins typically last 10 to 15 years, but mechanical failure or excessive mineral buildup in the water supply can shorten the lifespan of the resin considerably. So you have to keep checking your water softener to stay up to date regarding the replacement of resin.
2. What is the difference between 8% and 10% cross-linked resin?
Hard water concentration is different everywhere. In some city water, the 8% cross-link resin works best. The “cross-link” refers to the bonds inside the resin bead. The 10% resin has more bonds that hold the beads together so that they will last longer. Over time, resin beads will fracture and break down into a mush-like paste. 10% one is premium grade resin and is used in very hard water areas.
3. How do I choose a water softener resin?
Make sure that a water softener resin has got at least 10% cross-linking. Other than that, it must remove harmful contaminants from water and should increase the value of the water at the same time. Moreover, it should be chlorine resistant, iron, and manganese resistant. Lastly, it should contain a resin loading funnel as well.
4. How much resin does a water softener need?
Resin amount depends on the size of softening unit, usually, it is between 0.64 to 2.00 cubic feet. So, you have to add some amount of resin until the water softening system works efficiently. Some softeners need a fixed amount of resin mentioned in the manual.
5. Is water softener resin toxic?
A lot of people are want to know,” is water softener resin toxic?” Well, you’ll be happy to know that they are not. However, they do eventually clog up small appliances and fixture passages. Moreover, each resin is sodium charged, calcium and magnesium ions are attracted to the resin, sodium ions jump off the resin. This is ion exchange.
Resin is an integral part of any water softener. On one hand, it ensures that the water softener works perfectly while on the other hand, it aids in removing hard metal ions by replacing them with Na or K ions. After reviewing consumer reports, we picked the two best resins for water softeners in 2024 i.e. Purolite C100E and AFWFilters SOFRES1 Water Resin. Both these products have impressive results as they smoothly remove magnesium, calcium, and even iron from the water, making it soft. However, both are extremely simple to replace.
Moreover, the resins have a fantastic life expectancy and work perfectly for home and well water that have medium to high hardness levels of water. In short, both Purolite C100E and AFWFilters SOFRES1 have made every user extremely happy, and that is why they are top in our best water softener resin cleaner list.
Steve Smith is a United State Licensed Plumber with over 18 years of plumbing experience. Steve has conducted residential and commercial plumbing jobs throughout the state and currently works for one of California’s largest plumbing companies. When he’s not working, Steve enjoys spending time with his daughter and son.
Hard water is the biggest problem that we are facing either in the United States (USA), United Kingdom (UK), or Canada. The limescale deposits on showerheads or faucets, reduction in the leather of soap or detergents, all these headaches are due to hard water. How can you beat that? Buying a water softener is the perfect solution for the removal of hard water. And the best part is to add salt and resin to the water softener to work efficiently and speed up the process. However, if you have a city water supply or well water, you need the best water softener to improve the quality of water. Therefore, you need to buy the best quality water softener resin available in the market as well. So, sit back! Relax and read ahead to find the best resin for your water softeners.
Fine Mesh vs Standard Ion-Exchange: The Fine mesh resin has very fine beads that make it an ideal choice if you have high iron content in your water supply. If you have a water softener/filter system, you should go for fine mesh resin.
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