water softener

Yes I read some of the water softener thread repiy posts.

I have hard water coming into my house. I also have an electric storage hot water heater.

My softener just up and quit have I am thinking I should do without it.

Can someone out there help tell if the softener would help the electric hot water heat elements
last longer?

Thanks

What was the life on the elements with the softener when the softener was working?

There is a study that was done awhile back on the use of a softener with things like a water heater..
Here is the link to that study

http://www.wqa.org/pdf/external_uploads/Battelle_Final_Report.pdf?CFID=3959711&CFTOKEN=13404151

Soft water does minimize the calcium buildup on elements and may prolong their life. As for the heater tank itself, the softener just changes the character of the deposits so the heater would still accumulate deposits, which might not have any effect on the longevity of the tank.

A softener removes hardness which prevents hard water scale build up in the water heater and on electrical elements etc.. Sediment in a water heater using softened water is usually caused by other things in the water other than hardness that a softener does not remove.