Review on Fleck 48,000 Water Softener System With 5600SXT Digital Metered Valve 1" Yoke By AFWFilters by Ryan Marx

How I rate: 1 star-don't like at all, 2 stars-it's ok (meh), 3 stars-impressed (I like it), 4 stars-pretty darn good (I love this), 5 stars-wow (indispensable in my life)Had this water softener system installed for 3 months now. Wanted to give it time to see how well it performed-if it would become a 5 star rated item or stay at 4 star. First off, my old water softener (a GE model from Home Depot) stopped working within 2 months and after trying to fix various things with it for almost a year-I gave up; and so it sat outside for 4 years. Fast forward, installation of the Fleck 5600SXT and 48,000 grain water softener tank was easy, setup was very easy, and regeneration was quick. How quick? Got it installed late afternoon before the sun went down, and was able to take a shower with conditioned/soft water that evening. Since it had been a few years dealing with hard water, we had to get used to soft water on our skin again. We all know that feeling-just too slippery at first, but you get used to it. Immediately I did notice a difference in how clean the clothes where when pre-rinsing by hand and definitely when the laundry comes out of the wash. For anyone who has had to pre-rinse baby poop or food out of clothes, you will appreciate how good this water softener works. I've read and heard over and over that it doesn't matter how good your washer may be if you have hard water-your clothes just won't be all that clean. It's true. Having purchased top of the line Samsung washer/dryer set last October and seeing how those darn food and baby poop stains just won't come out, this water softener system has made all the difference.Photos are attached to show a poop explosion on my baby's onesie, how it looks with just water rinsing, and how it looks with a bit of baby soap used as a prewash. Anyone who has hard water and has tried to wash out baby poop knows-that baby poop leaves a bright yellow stain and you're just thinking "it's ruined. just toss it. not worth trying to clean it out. didn't work last time. just toss it. wait, how much is all this costing me?" Again, this water softener has made a world of difference in our household water-no more white lime scale by the frig water dispenser, no more hard water spots by the faucets/mirror, cleaner laundry/clothes, and of course feeling cleaner after a shower or brushing your teeth!