Water filter for house for hard water

[noblegiraffe]

We've got hard water in our area and it is a pain in the arse constantly having to clean limescale off everything. I've just found out that you can have a filter installed that softens the water supply to the house.

Has anyone done this and was it worth it?

We got a Harvey’s one years ago and I love it. Great at stopping limescale buildup everywhere and makes the tea taste nicer (I use softened water for tea making).

Thanks, good to know it works! Does it need any maintenance?

I don't like the taste of softened water (we have a Brita filter for making tea because the kettle was just awful for limescale) but the website I've looked at says that your drinking water has to remain from the mains and not be softened. Is that the same for your set-up?

I have a water softener for the house which has made a huge difference to appliances and hair washing! For drinking water, I have an osmosis system which also works fine. You need to chuck water softening tablets in the water softener periodically and have the filters changed about once a year.

We have to regularly add the salt blocks, maybe once a month or every few weeks. It went wrong once and we called the guy out and he fixed it - we’ve had it maybe 13 years?
We keep a mains tap for cold water in the kitchen for drinking water, and also the outside tap - softened water isn’t good for plants. It’s ok to drink, unless you’re on a strictly sodium controlled diet, so we use it in tea / in the kettle, and I fill up bedside water from the bathroom tap, but most drinking water is from the mains unsoftened one in kitchen.

Thanks all, looks like a no-brainer then! V excited to be retiring the Viakal!