I bought these hose end filters to help when topping off my pool in southern Utah, where the water is extremely hard. While they do not actually soften the water by removing dissolved hardness minerals, they effectively filter out sediments and particulates. Since using them, the water entering the pool looks cleaner, and I have noticed slightly less visible scale buildup around the edges, particularly on the waterline tiles. They are easy to attach, well made, and a worthwhile addition if you want to keep dirt and some scale forming particles out of your pool water.