Gear We Love: US Water Systems Traxx Smart Mini Water Softener

Hard Water Is Inevitable. Fighting With It Doesn’t Have to Be.

By: Caly J. Behymer

I’ve had a water softener since our travel trailer days, so we’re going way back—about 14 years. Of all the things we’ve added, upgraded and changed throughout our years of RVing, softened water has remained a constant.

For me, it’s personal. I have psoriasis and baby-fine hair, and hard water wreaks havoc on both. My skin knows almost immediately when we’re somewhere with really hard water, and my hair isn’t far behind. So even before we became full-time RVers, dealing with hard water was something I’d already learned was worth the effort.

I started with one of those small, skinny portable RV water softeners that you manually regenerate, and honestly, that little thing served me well for years. As our RVs got bigger, though, so did our water usage. We added a washing machine, occasionally had guests staying with us and were simply using a lot more water. Eventually, we upgraded to a larger, double-capacity portable softener.

More capacity definitely helped, but there was still one problem: manual regeneration.

The Dreaded Manual Regeneration

If you’ve owned one of these portable water softeners, you already know the process. When it was time to regenerate, I’d go outside, disconnect everything, unscrew the top, dump in table salt and slowly run water through the system while it regenerated. By the time everything was flushed, reconnected and ready to go again, the whole process could take upwards of 45 minutes.

It wasn’t difficult. It was just one more RV chore, and how often you have to do it depends heavily on how hard the water is where you’re staying.

Then we went full-time, and that’s when I learned something about the water at our home base in Northern Kentucky: it is insanely hard.

We already knew we had hard water. When we owned our house here, we had a whole-house water softener. But that system quietly took care of everything in the background. I never really thought about it other than occasionally dumping another bag of salt pellets into it.

Once we sold the house and went full-time, suddenly I became the whole-house water softener. 😂 I was manually regenerating our portable RV softener every two days. Yes, you read that correctly. Every two days.

I’d spend up to 45 minutes going through the entire process knowing full well that in another couple of days, I’d be right back outside doing it again. After a while, that gets old.

Randy Found a Better Solution

Fortunately, Randy found the US Water Systems Traxx Smart Mini Water Softener, and this thing has genuinely changed my RV life.

Instead of a portable softener that has to be manually regenerated, the Traxx works much more like the whole-house system we had when we owned our home. I fill it with regular water-softener salt pellets, set up the regeneration schedule and let the system take care of the rest.

It’s also app-controlled, which means I can monitor the system and set when I want it to regenerate right from my phone. While we’re here in Kentucky, mine is programmed to regenerate every two days because apparently our water is determined to win this battle.

The difference is that now I’m not standing outside every two days with a container of table salt and 45 minutes of my life to sacrifice. I make sure it has salt pellets and the Traxx handles the rest for me.

Why Soft Water Matters So Much to Me

For some RVers, a water softener might seem like a luxury. After using one for roughly 14 years, I definitely don’t see it that way.

Because of my psoriasis, I notice what hard water does to my skin. And if you have baby-fine hair like mine, you probably already know how quickly mineral buildup can make it feel dull, dry and just generally unhappy. Softened water makes a noticeable difference for both.

But there’s another reason we’ve continued using a water softener all these years: our RV.

Think about everywhere that campground water travels once you connect your hose. It’s going through faucets, showerheads, toilets, the water heater, our washing machine and all kinds of plumbing components hidden behind the walls.

You can see hard-water buildup on a showerhead, faucet or glass shower door. What you can’t easily see is what’s happening inside the plumbing and appliances. Considering how much these coaches cost—and what RV repairs cost—I’m perfectly happy doing what I can to minimize mineral buildup.

There are also the little everyday differences. Soap lathers better, fixtures stay cleaner and I’m not constantly battling hard-water spots. Once you get used to traveling with softened water, it’s really hard to go back.

How We Use the Traxx in Our RV

One of the things I really like about the Traxx Smart Mini is that it can be hard-plumbed directly into an RV. We considered doing that with ours, but basement storage space is precious and we simply didn’t have a good place to permanently install it.

Instead, ours lives outside.

When we arrive at a campground, I hook it up as part of our normal water setup and keep it protected underneath a waterproof cover. When it’s time to travel, we disconnect it and put it away. It may not be quite as slick as having it permanently installed in the basement, but it works beautifully for us.

Once it’s set up, I really don’t have to think much about it. I check the salt pellets from time to time, add more when needed and let the system handle the regeneration process automatically.

From a 45-Minute Chore to Something I Barely Think About

That’s really what makes the Traxx so different for me from the portable softeners I used for all those years.

Those systems worked. They did exactly what they were supposed to do, and I’d still recommend a traditional portable water softener to an RVer who wants a simple way to deal with hard water. Mine served us well through multiple RVs and thousands of miles of travel.

But when you’re a full-time RVer using your water system every single day, convenience starts to matter. I don’t want to remember whether it’s been three days or five days since I last regenerated the softener. And I definitely don’t want to spend another 45 minutes outside watching water slowly run through a tank while I wait for the process to finish.

The Traxx gives me essentially the same experience I had with the water softener in our house: fill it with salt pellets when needed and let the system do its job.

Would We Buy It Again?

Absolutely. I’ve owned some form of RV water softener for approximately 14 years, so the Traxx didn’t convince me that I needed soft water. I’d figured that part out a long time ago. What it did was finally eliminate the one thing I hated about having it: manual regeneration.

No more unscrewing lids, dumping in table salt and slowly flushing the system for what feels like forever, only to repeat the entire process a couple of days later because Kentucky has apparently decided to send liquid limestone through the campground faucet. 😂

Now I fill the Traxx with salt pellets, tell it when I want it to regenerate and let it handle the rest. For my skin, my hair, our RV and my sanity, that’s a pretty darn good upgrade.

And that’s exactly why the US Water Systems Traxx Smart Mini Water Softener has earned its place on our list of Gear We Love.

Learn more here US Water Systems Traxx.