Water Softener Advice

[Les Mahon]

Hi All,

Long time since I posted on here. Been mad busy for most of the last year, but hopefully ther should be some posts of my new workshop soon.

In the mean time, the new house is in need of a wtare softener. Does anyone have any do's dont's or other sugestions?

I have found a company doing a ggod deal on a EM Midi system - so that is currently front runner, but would be happy if anyone has some knowledge in the area before I commit the Credit Card.

Thanks
Les

 

[Woody Alan]

Hi

I am in the market for a softener too at some point. I have just had scan of the installation usage instructions and it looks to cover just about everything. I will be using mine with a megaflow so a 22mm kit will be required. I would like to know what you decide to do and where you get yours from, if you don't mind, as that could save me a lot of trawling the net. The only thing that would concern me is how do you know what the quality of this kit is compared to another make?
There seem to be so many available.
Cheers Alan

 

[woodbloke]

We've had a Kinetico since 1991....the same machine and what a fabulous bit of kit. Expensive to start of with but worth it's weight. The trick with these machines is to fit a pressure regulator at the rising main. This limits the water pressure in the house to 4 bar (approx 64psi) which is more than adequate for all domestic applications (I run a electric shower and never have the 'low pressure' warning light come on). If the incoming pressure is too high I found that the internal seals on the Kinetico were being damaged about every 2 years which got expensive to repair. Since fitting the pressure reduction valve in 2001 I've not had to touch the unit apart from filling it up with salt about once every six weeks. If the Kinetico ever broke permanently the credit card would take an instant hammering - Rob

 

[Mr_Sparkle]

Hi Guys!

Wow Rob you certainly love your softner, but why do you have them? I know it doftens the water, etc, but I live in Derby thats meant to have hard water and we have never had a problem, and Im origionlly from Oxford, which I thought was hard, but again never a problem.

I stayed with a friend last year and he had one fitted, and I HATED the shower! it was like I couldnt wash the soap off!! LoL Im used to being squeaky clean in our shower, literally you can make your hair squeak after washing it! So I diddnt like it at all.

Is it cos you like the feel of the water?

 

[Woody Alan]

Wel I can't speak for Rob, but whenever I go away in this country and experience slippery soapy showers with one squirt of gel I always remind myself to press on with fitting my softener. Pity it can't help the way the tea tastes better in other parts of the country too!
If you like scummy water that's fine but I prefer to have things look clean instead of having a film on them. My mum has one fitted and her sanitary ware looks totally different to mine in the shine stakes. Oh and I've been to Derbyshire a few times and it's only playing at hardwater in comparison to Norfolk

Alan

 

[Bainzy]

Personally I can't stand the scummy bits in hard water, whenever I'm in Nottingham (for Uni) I always take about 20 seconds to scoop all the bits out of my tea with a spoon, and the water is one of the first things I look forward to when I'm coming back to Yorkshire. :lol:

 

[Mr_Sparkle]

I have never noticed scum on me tea, but im prolly used to it!

However, a warter softner will not stop this as you cannot drink softened water.

In fact hard water is actually very good for you!

 

[Woody Alan]

However, a warter softner will not stop this as you cannot drink softened water

Well I did make the point in an earlier post in this thread that it's a shame it doesn't improve the taste of the tea It is incorrect to say you cannot drink it, otherwise we wouldn't be allowed to fit a softener to taps that we have access to on a regular basis, although a non softened tap is advised/preffered for regular use.
I suggest you try drinking tea unadulterated with milk and see what residue you get in your cup. If you want to improve your tea then a drinking water filter is required and is a completely different system which will prevent get scum and residue in tea. I get the impression though that you would prefer your tea with particles the same as you like to exfoliate squeakily clean apart from the residue .

Alan

 

[woodbloke]

Water softeners....here's what they do:
No scale or scum on any surface where water is in contact, which includes the inside of washing machines, kettles (if you have soft water the element will turn black) and more importantly the inside of all your hot water pipes. Hard water will eventually constrict the flow of water in pipes and your hot water tank, and if you fit a softener this soft water will dissolve limescale deposits in pipework in about 6 weeks.
No scrubbing of kitchen worktops, sinks, toilets or shower nozzles to clear limescale (apart from normal cleaning, I've never had to remove limescale off a loo or anywhere else for that matter)
Washed clothes are soft, no need for treatments of any sort and you use half the recommended dosage of powder or detergent.
SWIMBO has a skin complaint which isn't serious but is helped enormously by soft water, hard water would make it a lot worse than it is......as it is it's managable.
Personal washing is a dream. In our old place we didn't have a shower so had to bath. When you get used to it, having a bath in really soft, hot water is like stepping into a tub of silk.....fabulous. By far the best thing for me tho' is having a really hot, wet shave in the mornnig (......do your blades on your razor last for about 6 weeks?.....mine do :lol When I wash my hair, the amount of shampoo I need will cover one of my small finger nails, any more and I end up with a head full of lather
No surprise then that all the top hotels have water softeners fitted as standard and most are Kinetico's as I understand. Our one will supply all the soft water needs for a family up to 6 people continuously as it has two elements, not one as is usual, so that when one 'side' is in use supplying the water, the other one is re-charging and there is an automatic switch over when one is depleted and then it starts to recharge.
If you havn't got one......get one, asap
Oh.....and tea tastes great too, we float on the stuff in this house

Mr Sparkle wrote:

you cannot drink softened water.

Rubbish...I and all my family have been drinking softened water straight out of the tap for almost 20 years with no side effects of any sort - Rob

 

[MixedHerbs]

Hello,

We used to live in Bath and the water there is very hard. We bought a gadget called Scale Watcher. http://www.scalewatcher.co.uk/

A wire comes out of a box, wraps around the incoming water pipe a number of times then goes back into the box. It conditions the water in such a way that the chemicals that constitute "hardness" stay in solution longer and are thus less prone to clog up your pipes.

It worked.

My understanding is that you should not drink chemically softened water because the increased sodium levels in the water is bad for your heart.

Regards, Peter.

 

[Benchwayze]

Hard water or soft water...
It all stinks of chloride. So if the water companies need to put that stuff in it, then I am glad I bought a water filter. When I can no longer afford the filters, I'll just boil the stuff before I drink it.

I suppose if there are some employees of water companies on the forum, they will tell me tap-water is drinkable.
Yes... if you are a dog.

John

 

[Woody Alan]

My understanding is that you should not drink chemically softened water because the increased sodium levels in the water is bad for your heart

Peter that was my understanding too, but after Robs reply I did a little more research and unless you "have " a sodium medical problem or are a baby whose food is at a maximum sodium intake, the amount from a softener is negligible. Thanks for that Rob because I was considering a separate cold feed to the bathroom for brushing teeth and nighttime water drinks. I knew it wasn't particularly harmful just thought it undesirable.

Alan

 

[Les Mahon]

Thanks for the replies.

I've decided on a model from East Midlands Water Company http://www.aquaeuo.com based on the following criteria:
1 - it fit's the space I have which means not having to dig across the drive to the garage/workshop to install it
2 - they deliver to ireland!

AT €550 it is probably worth the gamble - baring in mind I spent the weekend tearing out the old hot water cylinder because the imersion was gone and removing it was almost certainly going to damage the cylinder beyond repair. I replaced it with a solar DHW system, which I wanted to do anyway, but now I don't want to have to replace bits of that after a few years.

The water in my place is hard - 30 german degrees or over 500ppm - put in real terms I have to clean out the head of the electric shower every 10 days to keep water coming out of it.

I'll post my experience when I get the unit, and if I get a chance I'll cut open the old cylinder for photographic evidence of what hard water does :shock:

on the drinking / not drinking hard water debate, I was told that softened water should be avoided for babies or elderly people - I have a baby in the house so will be fitting a driking water fountain tap in the kitchen straight of the mains.

Les

 

[Woody Alan]

Les your link doesn't seem to be working

Alan

 

[Con Owen]

Hi Les
You won't regret installing a water softener. I rate them highly. Our first, a Permutit Spacesaver lasted for over 18 years (until we were unable to get spares), this we replaced about 6 years ago with a Monarch Midi Meter which has to date been excellent. Still on our first boiler (over 29 years old). I did install a hard water drinking supply as we had young children at the time and the current thinking was that softened water was not good for health reasons. From personal experience I found that they can help people who suffer from Eczema.
Regards
Con