Kinetico Quality Water Systems of San Antonio, owned and operated by Chris and Shay Knippa of Boerne, TX, has been servicing San Antonio and the Hill Country for nearly 50 years. The Knippas feel it’s important to give back to the community in which they live and do so by donating water treatment systems to local, non-profit organizations in need. They also work closely with Uganda Tree of Life Ministries, a local 501(c) organization.mChris travels regularly to Uganda to dig water wells in small villages with no access to clean drinking water.
Since 1970, Kinetico Quality Water Systems has been designing and manufacturing innovative water treatment systems that solve a variety of water problems. The systems are environmentally engineered and manufactured in the U.S. and run much more efficiently than the standard systems that operate on an electronic timer. Kinetico has the only twin tank, non-electric system on the market. What does this mean for you? “Efficiency, plain and simple,” says Knippa. “Because the water is metered through the Kinetico system, it will not regenerate until it reaches its full capacity. This eliminates the needless regeneration cycles that waste our precious Hill Country water that the other electric brands experience.” The Water Quality Association has certified Kinetico as having the world’s most efficient water softener.
Hard water is softened by removing the calcium and magnesium. When hard water passes through the softening system’s resin bed, the calcium and magnesium (hardness) ions are removed through an ionic exchange process, so only soft water passes through to your home. Once the resin bed fills up with hardness ions, it must be regenerated (cleaned). Salt or potassium are used in the regeneration process to restore the resin to a “clean” state so the ion exchange process can begin again.
Water quality has become a great concern in today’s environment, especially in the wake of the water crisis experienced in Flint, MI that received national attention. Although our municipal water is sanitized with chlorine to provide safe drinking water, the levels of chlorine can vary greatly with some areas having very high levels of chlorine which not only tastes bad but can be harmful to your health. Water quality is further degraded by the presence of pharmaceuticals in our water supplies, industrial and biological contamination and an aging water distribution infrastructure. Once thought pristine, well water is also a source of concern since much of the groundwater has been polluted by a variety of contaminants. Bottled water has become a popular alternative, but it’s expensive and creates a huge amount of waste that’s hard on our environment. Knippa’s solution to poor quality, drinking water, “The Kinetico K5 Reverse Osmosis reduces more contaminants than any other drinking water system on the market. Our reverse osmosis can be customized with additional filters to tackle the concerns in your specific area.”
Water is becoming a scarce resource in the Hill Country. There is always room for improvement when it comes to water conservation. Perhaps a more efficient water softener is one way to help us all do our part to conserve and protect this invaluable resource.