I wouldn't say almost no maintenance—the water softener is the single highest maintenance appliance I own. I can never manage to stay on top of the salt input that's required.

I fill mine twice a year, with about 5-6 bags each fill. Maybe there are different sizes, but when I was shopping around, most seemed to have about the same capacity.

So for me, I'd say something that takes me about 30 minutes to do (including the trip to get the salt) twice a year is fairly low maintenance.

Not an option for renters, who also don't have the luxury of the option of fixing or replacing bad dishwashers.

Also, when I lived in the Midwest I could barely tell the water softener was there. I would descale my kettle and the first pot already had a thick layer on it. I now use a countertop RO system.

> when I lived in the Midwest I could barely tell the water softener was there

I guess it depends on how hard the water is, I suppose, but could also be the type of softener. I'm not sure, I haven't done a lot of research on it, as it seems to just work.

But in my experience, I can tell a huge difference (vs. the house we moved from that didn't have a softener). I never see any scale on our appliances, faucets, shower doors, etc.

When showering, I can tell when I've forgotten to refill the salt just from the feel of the water.

When I was setting up our Bosch dishwasher, there was a water hardness option. The machine has a built-in salt tank and is fully capable of regulating water hardness on it's own. You just have to top it up every now and then.