How Much Does a Water Softener Cost?

Two national cost guides measure slightly different things, which is why their numbers differ.

For a professionally installed, whole-home salt-based softener, the HomeGuide range is the closer match. Angi puts installation labor alone at $150 to $1,000.

• The size of your home and how much water it uses. A bigger household needs a system with more capacity.
• How hard your water is. Harder water puts more work on the system.
• Single tank or twin tank. Angi lists single-tank ion exchange systems at $500 to $1,700 and double-tank systems at $1,000 to $5,000.
• Your plumbing and where the system goes. HomeGuide notes labor depends on local rates, how complex the job is, and how much the plumbing has to change. If the location needs a new electrical outlet, HomeGuide puts that at $250 to $900.

The purchase is most of the cost. Running it is modest:

• Salt: $50 to $150 a year for salt or potassium, according to HomeGuide. Angi puts a 40-pound bag of softener salt at $5 to $10.
• Maintenance: $100 to $300 or more a year, according to HomeGuide.
• Lifespan: HomeGuide says quality softeners last 15 to 20 years with proper maintenance.

Spread over that lifespan, the system costs far less per year than the upfront price suggests.

It depends on how hard your water is, and what you want to protect.

Hard water is not a safety issue. The US Geological Survey calls hardness "not a health concern, but it can be a nuisance." The nuisance is real, though. The EPA says homes with significant hardness "may see mineral/scale formation on plumbing fixtures and appliances and find it difficult to get sufficient lather from soaps and detergents," and that water softeners can be used to remove excessive hardness.

The biggest cost of hard water is the one you cannot see. In a 2009 study by Battelle, funded by the Water Quality Research Foundation, a gas storage water heater lost a projected 4.3 percent of its life-cycle efficiency at 5 grains per gallon and 8.5 percent at 10 grains. In the same testing, low-flow showerheads and faucets on unsoftened water clogged in less than seven days of accelerated testing, while the units on softened water got through without problems.

So a softener pays off in what it protects: your water heater, fixtures, and appliances, plus less soap and fewer spots. The harder your water, the more it matters.

Hardness is measured in grains per gallon (gpg). The Water Quality Association calls 7 to 10.5 gpg hard and anything above 10.5 very hard. Here is what local utilities report:

Fort Worth says its water "is usually hard enough to create a coating on the inside of any metal pipes or fixtures." The North Texas Municipal Water District notes that hardness "may be higher or lower at different times of the year."

What we measure at the tap can run higher than the utility reports. In homes we have tested in Frisco, McKinney, Prosper, Celina, and Forney, we have measured 11 to 16 grains per gallon or more, which is hard to very hard.

Hardness itself is not a health concern, as the USGS puts it. A softener is about scale, spots, and the appliances that heat your water. Because hardness varies by city and even by season, the only way to know your number is to test the water at your tap.

National averages are a starting point, not a quote. The size of system you need depends on your water and your household, and installation depends on your plumbing.

TAC offers a free in-home water test across Dallas-Fort Worth. We test your water, tell you how hard it is, and give you a recommendation for your home before you decide anything.