Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Water Softeners
Hi,
Does anyone have any experience with water softeners?
I am wondering if the cost of descaling tablets for kettles and washing machines, cleaning products, BRITA filters and periodically having to reseal the bath / shower area (mould attaches much more easily to rough surfaces) could be offset with one of these machines.
I didnt find anything on hol, but googled and found a couple of sites selling domestic water softeners.
Tags for Forum Posts: hard water, water softener
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by tulips on
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We used Capital Softeners, they are excellent, ask for Alan. We got a Minimax Water Softener from them, it makes such a difference, plus a drinking water filter tap as well.
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Permalink Reply by Dominik on
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We've been using the Harvey Water softener for 2 years now. No problems. Great customer service
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and running costs are about £5 per month for the salt blocks. Harvey offers a 3 month trial incl installation and blocks of salt. if you dont like it they'll remove it after 3 months and that's it. after the trial period you can decide to either buy the softener for about £1500 or so or rent it for £40/month.
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Permalink Reply by Yan White on
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Great info from everyone, thanks :)
It's good to hear the reviews are still positive after some time, and running costs don't seem too bad.
I'm about to dig out the shower mixer myself so it would be great to avoid doing that again.
So is drinking water at the tap normally not part of the installation, or was that because of positioning of the pipes? What is a spur?
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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on
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I was going to go for a water softening system as part of some work we have recently done and future work we are about to commence.
However, I was put off by the need to do a lot of costly plumbing work (some of it in tricky spots) and have both the space taken up and the ongoing cost of the salt that will be required. I was talking to a very close friend of mine (my old chemistry lab partner from a long time back) who runs a water treatment company. He basically deals with this issue on on industrial scale, dealing with heat exchangers and issues with limescale in power stations, the Houses of Parliament and the V&A among others. interestingly he is about to remove his water softener and replace it with a piece of kit that catalytically precipitates out the scale into micro sized particles. The scale is still there, but not in soluble form. The way he described it the scale simply gets washed away rather than precipitating onto what ever surface you are trying to avoid it scaling up. You simply avoid the salty water/ fresh water issue too.
I can find out a bit more, and I should admit I know not much about the solution he is proposing than what I have described other than you simply insert it into your mains feed as it enters the house (i.e., you cut a bit of pipe out and insert the catalyst). However, given the cost and upheaval related to a water softener I thought I would try this first. Apparently it is used a lot in the US…
Again, I can find out a bit more if you are interested, but it sounds worth a try.
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I'm interested Justin, let me know when you have further information.
Thanks, Nick
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Permalink Reply by Alison M on
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Is this the sort of thing you mean Justin? http://www.scaleguard.co.uk/
Recommended by Thames Water apparently.
I've thought of having a Scaleguard installed. Does anyone have any experience of using one?
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As I say I do not know what it is until I get it Alison, but I will come back to you once it is in. It is not one of these though, it physically sits in the pipe (you cut some pipe out and insert it into the water flow) and it catalyses the precipitation of the scale into micro particles, so not sure how this affects the shower scale Billy mentions may still happen.
The guy I am getting it from is an industrial specialist, and a mate (in fact he is buying it for me, so it is not like he has an incentive to be wrong).
He described it to me as an experiment to see if they actually work, so lets see.
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Nick Sorry. I just remembered I did not respond to this. I did get it installed, and as I thought it has not done much to improve the situation as I see it (the shower glass still gets smeared and there is still scale in the kettle). It was meant to precipitate the scale out into small particles, possibly so as to stop them precipitating out onto the inside of pipes, if this has happened then I am not 100% sure if has been successful. I will check with my friend who is more of an expert than I am and see what he thinks. If I have anything of value I will let you know.
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Permalink Reply by bellajeri on
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At one point there was a water softener in my basement, but for an unknown reason it was taken out. I am on a well and septic; water is fairly hard, measured at 250 ppm (15(gpg).
I would like to add a water softener again, but the choices and info at local stores such as Lowes, Menards, Sears, etc leaves something to be desired.
The house has a kitchen and three bathrooms, but at present only me living in it. Gas water heater. No dishwashers or whirlpools, though I do shower daily, sometimes more in summer.
Any comments from knowledgeable people about brands known for quality, features or other issues to look for are greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Bella
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