SOFTENED WATER BENEFITS STUDIES

Summaries and educational materials (toolkits, handouts, infographics, etc.) are publicly available resources, and the full scientific reports are free for Water Quality Association (WQA) members.

 ​If you are not a WQA member, please contact [email protected] to inquire about access to the full report(s) of interest. 

Combined Executive Summary  l  Two-page Summary of the studies

Energy Saving Study
Conducted by ​Battelle Memorial Institute

Focused on efficiency improvements in household water heaters from the use of softened water, and the subsequent effect on performance of fixtures.
​ 
Executive Summary
​Full Report

Dishwasher Study
Conducted by ​Scientific Services S/D, Inc. 

Quantified the relative effects of hardness and detergent dosage to show savings possible by softening hard water.
​
Executive Summary
Full Report

Laundry Study
Conducted by Scientific Services S/D, Inc. 

Compared the effects of detergent dose, water hardness and wash temperature on the stain removal performance of five household laundry detergents. 
​
​​Executive Summary
​​Full Report

---

CALCULATE POTENTIAL SAVINGS

RELATED PROJECTS

Study compared the chloride discharge to controls for neighborhoods that optimized existing water softeners and neighborhoods that replaced equipment with high-efficiency rated systems.

Learn More

This study was undertaken to investigate the effect home ion-exchange water softeners may have on the performance of
​onsite septic tanks.

Learn More