[Palmnuts]

I'm fed up of the hard water in our area causing the limescale build-up and stains on anything it touches. I'm also going through my Aqua Gleam car wash water filters very quickly due to how bad the water is so I've been considering a water filter that you apparently attach to the main inlet into the house.

I'm hoping theres someone here who owns or knows about such systems and therefore can advise me on what I may need and what, if any, disadvantages there are to doing this (yes, I know I could just ring some of the retailers that sell these things but I'd rather have some feedback from people who use or know about these things before I ask those trying to sell me something!). Therefore, can anyone confirm:

• What type of filtration I need to rid my house of what I have described above - there appears to be water softeners, de-scalers, reverse osmosis, three-six stage systems and I'm not really that sure what I need!
  
• Does any of this make the water different to the taste or indeed unsafe to drink?
  
• Is the flow around the house compromised in any way - i.e. is there any pressure loss?
  
• Is there anything else I should consider?
  
• Finally, is this kind of thing what I should be looking at? http://www.uk-water-filters.co.uk/sa...softeners.html

TiA!

[225_AB]

I live in a very hard water area and have a water softener. It is a traditional water softener which uses a resin to soften the water. The resin needs to be regenerated with salt. Softened water MUST NOT be used for drinking because of the risks of high sodium and so at least one tap must remain which delivers unsoftened water. There is no drop in pressure. An alternative which I might consider if I were buying a new system is Kinetico. The lime scale filters are ok but not convinced about their overall efficacy.

[willhollin]

All your questions answered here -


http://www.harveywatersofteners.co.uk/

[gavp]

Had one for about 10 years now (resin type). Even removed and refitted it when moving house.

No complaints except when you forget to get bags of salt tablets.

It's an Ecowater, not sure if they are still made/available.

[M3-FAST]

I fitted a Monarch one about 4 years ago, and like gavp, also removed and refitted it when I moved house last year.

We also live in a very hard water area and in the first 2 years of owning my last house had to replace iron, kettle, washer, thermostatic shower, etc.... all used to get clogged up with limescale. Along with the constant cleaning required of shower screens and chrome taps to keep them scale free, I decided to do some research on softeners.

I opted for a resin type one, a Monarch Midi - http://www.monarchwater.co.uk/htm/ho...te/default.htm

It uses salt tablets which are available from plumbcentre quite cheaply - myself and an old neighbour buy a pallet at a time (10 bags for about £90 I think delivered) and then have 5 each. A 25kg bag of tablets lasts about a month so factor that running cost in, but also outweigh the cost of using less detergent when washing and not buying umpteen bottles of cillit bang every shop lol

You will see the difference very quickly, as the softened water actually starts working to descale your pipes. You will see the limescale after you have emptied the bath!

This all disappears very quickly though, and you will notice that you need less shampoo, washing up liquid, etc.. to produce the same amount of lather.

It also helps when washing the car as it leaves less water spots, etc

The system regen's every night by using the sale to create a brine solution that makes the resin work again (something to do with ion swapping I think!)

Mine is fitted in the garage where the cold water supply comes into the house so is out of the way. In my old house it was in the utility room mounted inside a single kitchen cupboard base unit to give you an idea on it's physical size.

The water doesn't look or taste any different at all, although you should have a seperate 'hard water' tap, ideally plumbed and mounted at the kitchen sink, although we use the softened water for filling the kettle, coffe machine, etc.. otherwise you won't see the benefits. I am sure that I read that in the US these are widely used apparantly and they don't have any legislation to say you need a seperate hard water supply. We always used the hard water to make babies milk up with though, etc..

If you don't want a seperate tap then these are ideal to replace a normal mixer and what we have fitted now...http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Deva-Chrom...item45e8c7eff9 - just plumb in the hard water supply instead of using the 'filtered' supply.

Hope that is of some help!

[JLR1969]

My last house had a Culligan softener and you knew when the tablets ran out as the water did not feel a smooth when in the shower.

A bag of tablets can cost as low as £8 when on promotion so it's not vital to buy in bulk, a bag lasted us about 6-8 weeks as there are only two people living in the house.

I would say a twin core machine is a bit unnecessary as the machines tend to recharge in the early hours so chances are you won't be using any water anyway. Then again with your OCD you could be washing the car at 2am.

The rental house does not have one and I can tell the difference, the new house does otherwise I would buy one as soon as we moved in. Worth every penny if you have hard water.

The only downside is that you won't be able to buy a new one every 3 months

[mobileadam]

we have a resin one two. Very old but still does the business. We have a separate tap on the side of the sink that is also filtered and the water tastes lovely - in comparison normal tap water now tastes horrible to me.

The softened water is excellent for my appliances and skin (I have psoriasis) although I find too much Fairy liquid can make the plates jump out of the wife's hands when she is washing them up.

[RichJ]

How much does a system cost for a 2-3 bed house do you think?

[doughboy]

AFAIK you really should have a mains tap (i.e. a drinking tap) in the house, best in the kitchen.

The softened water tastes like shite! Hard water is nice to drink (mineral water is hard water remember)

We would never use it for cooking / drinks / kettle etc as its tastes odd, leaves a scum on your brew and is a bit bad for you, OK technically its just under the maximum W.H.O. guidelines for sodium intake, but its too high for anyone on a low sodium diet or young children, so we never use it.

My sister in law was terribly ill until she was 5, vomiting all the time, in and out of hospital, weight loss etc, it turned out to be softened water as no mains tap had been provided with their installation. Within a week of stopping using it for drinks etc she was fine!

You just have to chuck the kettle out every year or so if you live in a hard water area!

PS +1 for the Kinetico units, we'll be getting one of those when the kitchen gets done and we ditch the current one.

[225_AB]

Agree with not drinking softened water but you can drink and fill the kettle with filtered water either via a tap with built in filter, an American style fridge with water dispenser and built in filter or a simply filter jug eg Brita. You can even get a kettle with a built in Brita filter which won't eliminate all li escape but certainly reduce it and the water tastes better.