Water softeners...Guidance needed

[miljee]

We are seriously considering installing one to aid a child's eczema and to keep new bathroom fittings non limescaled!

1) Can you drink softened water or do you normally have a mains water fed tap in the kitchen and/or bathroom?

2) How much do they cost? The costs I've heard have varied from 'a couple of hundred pound' to nigh on a thousand!

3) If they're fitted between the mains and the house, does that affect water pressure to feed say a Megaflo boiler?

4) Are they a hassle to run and maintain?

Can you tell I'm confused?

 

[Achy]

I'm no expert, just a user...

1. You can drink softened water with no problem, there have been reports of it being high in sodium, but nothing significant.. probably less than some bottled waters. I suppose it comes down to taste.

2. Depends on which one you get, some work on an electric timer to recycle, some work on water flow rate. So yes between a couple of hundred to nigh on a thousand I think you'd probably want to look at about £700 for a reasonable use one.. I'd look at Kinetico and TwinTec.

3. No first hand experience of this, sorry, as my softener is between the mains and cold water storage tank. But quoting from a Kinetico website...
Suitable for HF - Direct Fed Systems, Combination & MegaFlow Systems, Multiple Power Showers, Homes with 22 mm Plumbing.
So I guess it depends on which softener you go for.

4. Mine is no hassle, I fill up the container with Salt tablets once a week, doesn't need any maintenance.
I can use block salt as well which I just unwrap and slot in. (Block salt is more expensive than Tablets though).

Mine is cycled by water usage rather than a timer etc, plus it has two tanks so there is no delay in cycles. Probably costs me £7.50 in salt a month.

But we live in a hard water area, and it does make a difference to our skin, hair and clothes.

 

[miljee]

Thanks- anyone else out there with any more water softener experience? Work on the assumption that I know nothing so anything you can tell me will be of interest!

 

[JohnD]

yes

I wouldn't be without mine. I am not on a low-sodium diet so I drink mine. I have soft glossy hair and soft towels. The taps, sink and WC are clean (no scale). I use less soap powder. The mirrors and windows wash and wipe clean (no watermarks). Tea and coffee are translucent and taste better. Washing up is easy and glasses sparkle.

my kettle is five years old. look inside

View media item 4336

 

[crockett]

Quite literally, it's a question of taste

As long as the softened waters sodium content is below the maximum allowable (200mg/l),then it should be ok.

 

[miljee]

I look in awe inside your kettle!

What brand do you have?

And an important Q:

IS your softener a box thing under your sink? For the whole house? Which you stick a salt block in once a month?

We have just been given an on-line 'tick the boxes' quote of £1300 to install a Twin Tec which strikes me as quite a lot!!

Enlighten me, oh Enlightened Ones!

 

[miljee]

crokett, thanks.

Thing is I can get the kitchen tap water straight off the mains (I think!) before the softener, with a bit of extra plumbing so I may not be drinking the stuff at all.

It's more what the costs would be and the hassle value of a water softener that will serve the whole house, our bathing needs in particular.

 

[njk]

If you can afford it, go for Kinetico.
If you can't afford it, save a bit longer, and then go for kinetico.
Just make sure you order the high flow kit with it, then you won't have a problem with the flow to the megaflow.

Drinking it is fine, a matter of taste. We normally install a hard water connection to the kitchen for drinking/cooking and to the outside taps.

If you can, install it on the ground floor and where you can store the extra salt blocks close by, then order the salt blocks from the internet and get it delivered.

Lolli

 

[JohnD]

mine is large, usage-meter driven, Permutit. They used to be the best, but my supplier tells me they went bust and the brand-name was bought up by an inferior manufacturer. It holds about two sacks of salt (I have six 20-kg bags delivered, about twice a year). It is too big to fit under the sink, I have it in the garage by the rising watermain. I have a pipe heater there, on a frost stat. It is fairly easy to carry the sacks into the garage.

It's my second. In over 20 years, the old one went wrong twice (valves seized) and the second time I swapped it for a reconditioned one.

 

[lloyda]

We have a Kinetico, which we have no complaints about. Twin cylinders so one is recharging whilst the other is in use. Just don't do what the previous owners of our house did, and install it the loft!

 

[miljee]

OK, bit the bullet and ordered a Kinetico 2020c, plus in line mains drinking water filtration tap in the kitchen.

£1500 ish all up including installation.