Preferred Platinum 42,000 Grain Water Softener with Wi-Fi Technology

On the positive side, the softener installation went pretty smoothly, and it appears to be softening the water as expected. On the negative side, the app that comes with it is sadly lacking. Upon trying to connect my new softener to the app using my Android based phone, it just kept crashing. A visit to the iQua website provided no help as they do not even have a link for online support. The only option is an e-mail address which proved useless. Don't bother with Rheem's website either. You can get support for HVAC, water heaters, pool heaters, generators, and even racing, but water softeners are not even an option on the support site. Looking at the app store reviews, I find that the app has a stunning 1.9 star review score. Apparently, most customers feel the same way about the app as I do and have been posting negative comments for over a year with no positive response or bug fixes from the developer. Luckily I did get some valuable info there. Based on suggestions in the app store reviews, I borrowed an iPhone from a friend and used it to connect to the water softener. After that I was able use my Android phone to control the device. One other issue and I realize I'm being a little nit picky here, but I'm a little OCD so here it is. It really irritated me that they glued the Rheem logo on the front of the unit crooked. Drives me crazy every time I look at it. In summary, I do not recommend spending the extra money for an inferior app with no support. Instead, buy the RHS42 for $100 less.

I decided to go this route after getting, several high dollar quotes from “water companies” I still had to spend money on a plumber to install, and still saved over $3000 from previous quotes. Installed over a week ago and have seen a great improvement in water quality. Plumber had no issues with installation. Wi-Fi works flawlessly with the app and can monitor water usage remotely

Instructions and installation were pretty straight forward. The manual eludes to a drop in water pressure and we did notice a significant drop. Minor point but the container does "belly-out" when it's full. (if you are designing a room around holding the unit, you'll need to allow an extra 2"-4" inches in front. The iQua software gives you the ability to shut off the water remotely (with the added shut-off valve - sold separately) and shows some informative metrics on water use and salt levels. It will also send you a text/email with alerts for excessive water use.

We have a private well and have very hard water which also contains iron. While our water tasted great, our sinks, toilets and showers told a different story. Hard water build up, iron staining in the toilet tanks, stiff clothes, dry skin. We have been using this model for a few weeks and so far it has been great! I had the water hardness measured recently and the total hardness level is 2 ppm - Fantastic! We use Diamond Crystal Iron Fighter Salt and our tap water still tastes perfect.

After spending a day on replacing my existing softener with this unit what a disappointment was to discover it does not deliver what it called to do - smart Wi-Fi functionality. What a waist of time and money.

We bought this unit specifically because we were so happy with the Rheem heat pump water heater. The WiFi smart features coupled with the the app on that unit allow you to easily see water and energy usage, as well as change settings. I wish I could say the same about this unit. For starters, rheem has outsourced the app, which is iQua for this softener. That could be ok, if the features were just as good. For the interest of brevity, this doesn't seem to show any data past the current day. So if you need to see something as early back as yesterday, you're out of luck. Notifications (low salt, continuously running water, etc) seem to be limited to a text or email, no push. While they DO work (I got a low salt text the other day), this also means that there's really only one person getting the messages. What's great about a decorated app is it COULD show an alert for all who have it installed and logged in. There's not even a way to look at when it tends to recharge, unless that haooened to be that day. As an aside, Rheem customer service is excellent. We brought this home from our local Home Depot and the kids binge was broken on one said and also had some cracks. We contacted the manufacture and they had another lid assembly sent to us in about a week, free of charge. Honestly, if I had to do it again, I wouldn't pay the extra ~$50 for the smart features. If you're a really forgetful person I guess the text reminding you to add salt might have some value. But this doesn't really give you much more data behind then are minimum, which is a stark difference from at least their water heater product line.

My first time buying one for our house. This got my attention because of the wifi technology and all that comes with it. Love the fact that not only it was simple set up, but also you can see how much water you use when using each faucet. Love the alerts.

Get's the job done and the app is insightful

Overall installation went pretty smoothly - until...... The hose clamps used in the installation are Ring Type. Not Snap Ring but Ring Clamp. These clamps are designed using a very stiff circular wire with two short tabs used to spread them and enlarge the hole diameter as they are slipped over the hose and fitting. I'm a 62 year old engineer and car guy. Even I don't have Ring Clamp Pliers! Snap Ring Pliers, yes but Ring Clamp Pliers No. During installation, I tried the technique that most of us would use. I grabbed the tabs with a slip jaw pliers and hoped for the best. With lack of support at the ring ends the clamp went flying off in a variety of directions at great velocity. Wear those safety Glasses! I'm serious. After about 10 unsuccessful tries, I went to my next common solution - A Worm Clamp. Problem with my Worm Clamp solution is that I may have overtightened the clamp and the plastic hose barb fractured. See Picture. Shame on Rheem for specing the use of a tool that virtually all consumers will not have. Shame on Me for overtightening - or was it low grade plastic? We'll see how responsive Customer Service is on sending 2 replacements. One for me to break learning how to do it and one to finish this project.

A quality water softener is more than just an enjoyable shower! It's frontline defense for your homes appliances, pipes and faucets. Keeping hard water build-up will easily save you in the long run, (both in time and money). This unit has a huge capacity that should last the five in my household several months at the current setting. Replacing a older but similar unit was easy. The app is cool, but I could live without it. I wouldn't reject a model that didn't have it. Ad says it has interior light. Don't see it, and not mentioned in the installation instructions.