Also, there are 3 people in my family. House has 2.5 bathrooms. We have a dishwasher, but rarely use it and are pretty water conscience, so we don't use a ton of water. Also, all appliances that use water are supposed to be models that use less than "industry standards".

With your water conditions, both will work fine. The 2040 is much more efficient and will use less water (important on city water billing).

I can give you more details if you'd like. Of course $200 is a lot of salt but with a life-span of 20-25 years, the water and salt savings would be noticed.

On city water, dechlorination is strongly recommended to preserve resins (among other reasons). Did they mention that? Did they mention the 4040s OD?

Thank you for your help. I appreciate it. He did mention a choloramine filter to help out and we are more than likely going to add that in. My concern with the 2040 is that the resin seems different then other water softeners in that it is a fine mesh resin and I am not sure about how it will last compared to the resin in the 2030 as it sounds like it is more standard technology. I am probably over analyzing things, but I just want to make sure that I get a product that will allow for long, worry free operation.

The fine mesh resin is a higher quality and more efficient at hardness removal. Imagine filling a bathtub with golf balls and one with tennis balls. The golf balls will have more surface area making it more efficient in hardness removal.

The beds are packed which makes them more efficient in salt savings. There are other advantages as well. I would not recommend a 2040 on water with iron more than 1 ppm.

If you send me your email, I can forward some more data on both units.

Thank you for your help. We decided to go with the 2040 after your advice and seeing this study that was done by the Region of Waterloo in Canada. It was very helpful to see how the Kinetico did against 8 other water softeners. Here is the link if you are interested in checking it out...very convincing evidence in showing the Kinetico is the best product on the market.

Here is a link that might be useful: water softener comparison study