Water softeners

[TerrysNo2]

Has anyone got one?

I want one when we next move house but I need to sell the idea to DH.

dreams of no more gunky tea and not having to clean the shower screen

[PigletJohn]

yes and I wouldn't be without it. Better tea, soft towels, no limescale, cleaning far easier

said it all before

[CuddyMum]

Wow piglet you really have said it all before.

I might look into this myself :)

[TerrysNo2]

PigletJohn I was hoping you'd pop up, I saw you mention this on another thread! I can see you've made a lot of comments and am reading some of them but so I don't have to trawl through all those threads can you tell me:

• how much do they cost?
  
• what do you think the payback is?
  

I would have to convince DH of this and the fact its worth sacrificing something else we could get (like nice garden furniture)

[PigletJohn]

some hundreds of pounds but should not be a thousand

no scale or lime in bathroom, kitchen. Mirrors and windows gleam easily. Better tasting tea.

You will use half as much washing powder, and not need to buy many other cleaning materials. You can keep bathroom and kitchen clean with a damp sponge and WUL.

You will have soft shiny hair and not need conditioners.

Anybody who wet shaves wil be stunned at how much smoother and easier it it.

[lazydog]

"You will have soft shiny hair and not need conditioners"

Hahahahaha!!! You've obviously not met my hair

We have a water softener and agree with all PigletJohn that it makes a huge difference. One major bonus we've noticed (because our water was high in iron) is that white clothes stay white for much longer - the "rust" would turn them a yucky beige with the very first wash without the softener.

[napkin]

Do you notice a lot of difference with the softener and your washing lazydog? Wan't to get one myself but keep reading a lot of negatives and positives about them and just not sure!

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Drinking water should not pass through the water softener as it adds salts and water sits in the softener for a small amount of time. It is great for bath water etc and then I use a Brita water filter for drinking water.

[lazydog]

napkin A huge difference, yes, but we're on well water, not mains, and our issue is with too much iron, not calcium, as is probably more common in the UK.

[lazydog]

We drink the water and we're not dead yet . It does add sodium, but none of us have high blood pressure so don't really watch our salt intake that much. I checked and was pleasantly surprised to find that a cup (8 fl oz) of softened water contains on average 12.5 milligrams of sodium, while a single slice of bread contains anywhere between 100-200 milligrams!!

The idea of the water sitting in the tank for a small amount of time doesn't bother me at all. We use a lot of water and the softener is quite small, so it's definitely not going to have time to sit and get stagnant.

[ferrarigirl]

We have had an electronic water conditioner in for 5 years now - easy to install (DIY 20 minutes) and you don't have to add chemicals, filters or salts etc, meaning you can still drink water straight from the tap. Very compact - has transformed our water and I wouldn't be without it. We got ours from www.waterimp.co.uk. Cheers

[kittycat68]

i had one fitted six months ago cost me £750.00 for everying including fitting.
we live in a hard water area, Will make your shower taps washing machine dishwasher last alot longer!! I still use conditioner on my hair
You should not run it through the main cold water tap!!!! apart from the fact its incrediably salty too. it runs all the other water outlets though!! including the boiler. in the longer term it will save you money due to the fact that your appliances and boiler will last longer!

[PigletJohn]

There should never be ANY salt in the tapwater.

If there is, your machine needs mending.

[lazydog]

PigletJohn - No it doesn't!? It's totally normal for a softener to increase sodium levels in the tap water, but at a very low level.

[lazydog]

Ours works on the principle of ion exchange and the "exchange" is of sodium ions, in place of the iron, calcium and magnesium ions it removes. Miniscule amounts, but certainly their presence means it's doing its job, not that it's faulty!

[veryconfusedatthemoment]

I really like my water softner - had it for 13/14 years. I add block salt. I am not sure about payback financially but I Like very much the idea of being able to use detergents etc very sparingly and stuff is still clean. Also there is a lot less limescale and I think this has helped me keep the heating system going longer and stopped the hot water tank furring up. It was £1000 and a replacement would be similar cost - I live in South east. Apparently they are now smaller.

[PigletJohn]

lazydog

I used the word salt because kittycat60 said "incrediably salty"

There should never be ANY salt in the tapwater.

If there is, your machine needs mending.

I agree that there will be a tiny amount of sodium bicarbonate (as used in indigestion remedies and baking powder) in the water. If you drink 2 litres of softened water every day for a month, you will ingest as much sodium from it as is contained in a traspoonful of salt.

[vicky228]

I've been quoted £1000 to have one fitted (not including the cost of the machine itself). This seems a lot more than I expected but it is from a reputable local company so I don't think they're trying it on.

They say they have to locate where the mains water supply pipe runs, run hard water connection to the kitchen cold water tap and the softened water elsewhere and do something with an electrical connection and overflow. But how come nobody else seems to have to pay this much to have a softener fitted??

[PigletJohn]

If I thought I could find people willing to pay a thousand pounds to fit a water softener, I'd take it up as a part time job.

If you provide Jaffa cakes, I could give you a special price of £999.

Have you got parking for my Bentley?

[PigletJohn]

p.s.

Ask around for a recommended local plumber. That's all it needs. He will probably also source one from the local plumbers merchant if you ask.

Send me half the savings....

[vicky228]

Dammit. Got a water softener company in who'd estimated around £200 for fitting, depending on a site visit - and they can't find our stopcock so can't do anything. I presume this was what bumped up the original quote.

Why would a stopcock be so well hidden??

[HaveToWearHeels]

Vicky I couldn't find mine in my previous house until it developed a very slow leak which lifted the wood flooring. Kitchen was at the back but stop cock was behind a funny panel thinging in the hallway. it was boxed in with access via a circular hole that was covered with a circle of wood, sort of like a key hole cover on a large scale iyswim

[vicky228]

Eek. We had a funny panel thing in our hallway which I thought was just cleaning access to a chimney for an antique woodburner we don't use. We've just plastered over it and redecorated...

[HaveToWearHeels]

whoops, that could have been it !

[bellajeri]

I am planning to add a water softener to my home since we have hard water problems. I plan to also run a separate line off the softener so I can wash my cars.

I am also planning on buying a electromagnetic water softener which my plumber recommends. This will allow it to be run through the entire house and be used for cooking, ice cubes and drinking.

Have any of you had any experience with this kind of softener instead of the typical salt based systems.

Thanks!