The Water Softener Facts website is a great resource on water softeners. Learn how water softeners work, research the right water softener for you and find the water hardness in your area.
Most drinking water in Waterloo Region comes from groundwater wells. Groundwater is typically considered "hard" water due to the minerals the water picks up while it travels underground. Although it is safe for drinking, the minerals contribute to scale build-up in pipes and appliances. Many residences use water softeners that replace the minerals with salt, resulting in softened water.
Water Softener Plumbing Rebate Program
The Region of Waterloo has launched a pilot rebate program in July 2020 for households to change their water softener plumbing to treat hot water only. We’ll offer a one-time rebate of $50 per household for the plumbing change. The program aims to help to reduce salt from entering local rivers and conserve drinking water.
Visit page 115 of the December 3, 2019 Planning and Works Committee agenda to learn more about the program.
| October rain barrel giveaway |
| It’s back! We are giving away another 25 rain barrels to promote the Region’s new Water Softener Plumbing Rebate Program. To be entered in the random draw for a barrel, simply check your hot and cold water hardness at home and submit your results by Oct. 31. Here’s how:
1. Register for the program here (this does not commit you to completing the program). Please note, if you entered in our earlier rain barrel draw, you cannot enter again. 2. The Region will mail you a simple test kit to check your home’s water hardness. Run water over the test strips to check if you’re softening both hot and cold water in your home (this only takes one to two minutes) 3. Send us your hardness test results and answer a few questions about your interest in the program. Check the box on the linked form to be entered into a draw for one of 25 rain barrels. You are now entered to win a rain barrel! The contest closes Oct. 31, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. We will randomly draw winners from the list of people who submit their water hardness results in November, 2020. You do not need to switch to softening only your hot water to win the rain barrel – but we hope you will consider making this change to conserve water, shrink your carbon footprint and reduce the salt in our community’s waterways. Please read the contest’s full rules and conditions. |
Step 1: Resident registers for program
- Option A: Resident can register online. After you register, the Region's Water Efficiency staff will mail you a simple test kit to test your home's water hardness. The test takes only a few minutes and is done by holding a test strip under running water. Residents will submit their water hardness results to complete registration for the program. You can also use the online registration form to request a free WET Home Audit, during which the auditor will test your water hardness for you
- Option B: Resident can register in person during a free WET Home Audit with Reep Green Solutions. During the audit, Reep Green Solutions can provide information about the program and test the home’s water hardness to complete the resident's program registration
Step 2: Region confirms rebate requirements are met
- Option A: Resident can email, submit online or mail plumbing receipts to the Region's Water Efficiency Team to confirm rebate requirements have been met. Images, hardness results and receipts can be uploaded to the online form
- Option B: To check that hot water only is now being softened, your water hardness can be tested as part of a WET Home Audit. If you have not had a WET Home Audit before, residents can schedule an audit to complete the water softener program, and also receive a free review of their home's water use
Step 3: Region issues rebate to resident
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Resident can email, submit online or mail a void cheque or direct vendor deposit form to the Region's Water Efficiency Team. We will forward payment information to the Finance department
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Region's Finance department issues $50 rebate via direct deposit to resident
Why soften hot water only?
Switching to soften only your home’s hot water will save you money on water and salt. It protects the environment too! Softeners use salt and extra water to remove the minerals that make our water “hard.” The more water that’s softened in your house, the more salty discharge water your softener sends down the drain. Softeners add 16,000 tonnes of salt to the Region of Waterloo’s waterways each year. This harms plants and animals and can even affect the taste of our drinking water when salt levels get high enough.
We estimate softening hot water only saves a household of three 108 kilograms of salt and 8,800 litres of water per year. That’s worth $84 back in your pocket, plus six heavy bags of salt you don’t need to haul around.
It shrinks your carbon footprint too! Softening hot water only reduces a household of three’s greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 48 kilograms per year.
Benefits to the home owner:
• Healthier drinking and irrigation
• Reduced backwash water and salt savings
• Fewer heavy bags of salt to carry!
• Increased life expectancy of water softeners
• Reduced chloride impacts on rivers
• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions through salt/water savings
Did You Know?
- There are an estimated 142,000 water softeners in Waterloo Region homes. They consume an estimated 1.5 billion litres of backwash water each year
- Commercial facilities, institutions and high-rise apartments do not typically soften cold water
- Water softener backwashing accounts for about 7% of a household’s water use in Waterloo Region
- Water softeners in Waterloo Region contribute an estimated 4,860 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year from water, salt and electricity use
Salt-free water conditioning study results
Between 2017 and 2018, Region of Waterloo and City of Guelph hired Metroline Research Group to complete a market research study that involved installing salt-free water conditioning units in 18 volunteer households. To see how well they performed in real world conditions and how people felt about the units after a year of use, read the study results.
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