Whole House Water Softener

PerryGunn

PerryGunn

Elite
 By the seaside...
Site Supporter
No, I'm not offering to sell you a super-duper, whizz-band best-thing-since-sliced-bread, whole-house water softener :wink:

I'm looking to buy a super-duper, whizz-band best-thing-since-sliced-bread, whole-house water softener and wondered if anyone has one and can offer any tips on selection/must-have features or can recommend any particular brands?

Thanks

Perry
 
We've had a kinetico one for about 20 years and it's only needed repair once. Awesome thing and saved us a fortune in boiler repairs. The reason we bought it was the boiler at the time kept breaking down due to hard water.

When we got it we had young kids and the washing machine was on all the time so we chose a high capacity model that's about the size of an oil drum. They're physically smaller now but a decent supplier will be able to advise.

One thing to watch out for, get one that takes standard salt tablets.
 
we had to go to a lot of trouble during the last war to eliminate heavy water in germany,as it would have caused us a lot of problems later too. :wink: ... :tumbleweed:
 
When I moved into the house down in Poole 12 years ago I realised straight away it was a very hard water area.

The kitchen was being replaced so I got a water softener from Wickes and put in under the sink. I am not sure I believed all the hype at the time but they do work very well. Decreases the amount of cleaning required everywhere enormously. Good for all water appliances and nice to wash in softwater. Not that expensive to run and easy. Only the kitchen cold tap and dishwasher is not put on it.

The model was very similar to this

http://www.wickes.co.uk/water-softener-e10t/invt/421700/

Plumbing for it is pretty simple. It needs power too. A model that auto regenerates is good.

Shortly after I moved in there was a leak in the hall caused by the copper hot tank above leaking due to corrosion. After draining the tank, it was so heavy it took two of us to remove it because it was so full of scale so think what is happening to your pipes!

I buy the salt from local DIY shops mainly.
 
Does the salt affect car washing at all? Hard water is a complete PITA for washing the car (major water spots issue) but I've always been wary of water softeners because of the salt addition - how do you guys get around that?
 
The water doesn't taste salty at all but it isn't recommended to drink it. Not noticed any particular rusting on all cars I have washed with it. They are easier to wipe dry.
 
Why does yours need power? Mine is an auto recycling type and has two cylinders in so it's always working. It uses water power to drive the recycling action.
 
It has a clock and electronics to work out how much water has gone through at a set "hardness" so it knows when it should regenerate.

A model without power needs sounds good.
 
Mine has mechanical clocks, turned by the water. No electricity needed. Last year we had to have all the supporting structures that hold the cylinders up replaced as they are plastic and the salt had finally made them brittle. One of the best investments in the house we've made.
 
No idea about best brands, but here's a tip - make sure the thing you fill with salt doesn't look like a bin, just in case you are tidying up the next day after a house party and find that it's full of pizza crusts and cocktail sticks.

:?
 
To resurrect and update this thread, as we're having the new bathroom installed and wanted to avoid it becoming rapidly coated with limescale, last week we had a water softener installed and we've noticed the benefits immediately. After reading lots of reviews we went for a Harvey's twin-tank softener, installed outside in a frost-free enclosure and also had an additional outside tap installed so that we have one hard water tap for watering plants and a soft water tap for washing the cars.

I even 'detailed' the sink this weekend, starting with a chemical washdown with diluted brick acid to dissolve the old limescale stains, followed by a good buff-up using my DA polisher with Britemax metal polish and a sacrificial white Chemical Guys Hex Logic pad - it was an opportunity to prove to Cindy that all my car-cleaning kit could come in useful for household chores :D
 
I fitted a kitchen recently for a customer and they had a kinetica softener. They swear by it even though it cost in excess of a grand to have installed. Theirs uses large blocks of salt similar to house bricks that slowly drop into the machine. When the salt block gets to a certain level you just drop another one in. Theirs doesn't have any power to it either
 
Leesfarm07 said:
I fitted a kitchen recently for a customer and they had a kinetica softener. They swear by it even though it cost in excess of a grand to have installed. Theirs uses large blocks of salt similar to house bricks that slowly drop into the machine. When the salt block gets to a certain level you just drop another one in. Theirs doesn't have any power to it either
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Exactly the same as ours - takes 2x 4kg blocks of salt - all water powered. Apparantly Harveys manufacture versions for other companies such as Kinetico
 
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
 
Do you still need a straight feed to a least one tap for drinking water?

All the data I've read states the amount of salt is far less than you get in food and bottled drinks anyway.
 
dhobbs said:
Do you still need a straight feed to a least one tap for drinking water?

All the data I've read states the amount of salt is far less than you get in food and bottled drinks anyway.
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We didn't bother with an untreated tap - the amount of salt in the water is minuscule and can't be tasted
 
We went for a three way tap, of which one lever is untreated and the other two (hot / cold) are treated. Use the untreated for watering plants and the water for the dog.

Just to give you an idea of running cost - family of 4 just cost me £195 for a year's worth of salt supplies.
 
Our 3 way tap has a filter on the drinking one, sort of like the inline Britta ones.

We've realised recently the same filter is still in place from new (many years ago) so the auto shut off when spent 'might' not be working properly, or we don't drink much water :lol: its on my list to change.

We've got a kinetico one & if it broke tmrw I'd replace it instantly. I'd heard Harvey's came up,with the design etc & it was then backwards engineered by kinetico to make their one with enough changes to prevent lawsuits.
 
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