those of you with dishwashers.....

[TLV]

I've just bought a john lewis one (and I'm a dishwasher virgin ) it says in the instructions that you need to contact your local water authority to check on soft/hardness of the water??? did any of you do that, also it recommends that you turn the water supply off after use, do you do that???

My dh connected it yesterday but as we only have 2 proper plates and lots of plastic one I can't justify using it yet, I can't wait to tho

You should check your water yes. We knew we had quite soft water but its worth checking out.
But we dont turn off the supply.

I don't turn the water supply off after use, otherwise i'd be forever lugging it in and out. I know I am in a hard water area because of the limescale we get in the kettle etc. Living in a hardwater area is crap.

I've never heard about turning the water supply off after use - how would that work if it was an integrated one??

I also use the tablets that have salt and rinse aid already in them so don't need to bother about how hard the water is (it's very hard actually...)

I think that thing about turning off the water supply after each use is a back-coverer in case there is a leak.

DH parents actually do this after every use of the washing machine, and it is a PITA.

do you think its more energy efficient using a dishwasher, my dh leaves the tap running when doing dishes however I worry about the leccie bill going up (we also have a tumble dryer which we got recently)

map of water types here
It affects the salt setting on your machine. If you are in a very hard area, you may need to add salt even if you use the all in one tabs.

kteepee - they reccommend you use salt no matter what tablets you use. If you needed it repaired and you have no come back if you have't added salt.

tlv, I have a john lewis dishwasher and didn't contact my water authority to check soft/hard water (I live in surrey and know its as hard as nails) certainly have never turned water supply off, don't really know how I'd do it? first dishwasher i've ever had also and i love it(grin)

Yes, we rung up the local water authority as we live up on the Downs which are basically chalk. We were very surprised to learn that, although our water was hard, it was not as hard as we had assumed!! So it was worth the call.

just been on the authorities website and apparently its medium (if that makes sense)

Well I do have a bag of salt lurking somewhere that needs using up.....

I just looked at that map

Not sure where I am on it

Whats the top word?! I might be able to work it out using that...

why is that map of the 'uk' england and wales only? grrr

pmsl @ mamaG

i was sewius

Don't you already know if your water is hard or soft? Ours is soft, so we use less washing detergent and don't get limescale build up.

i thought it was hard becuase it tastes different to Leeds water, which i know is soft BUT i don't get limescale build up!

We've never turned the water off to ours (the tap is in the cupboard under the sink, it's easy enough to get to) - as long as it's cold fill it's 99.9999999% certain not to leak.

(Hot hoses leak. Our washing machine is upstairs and the old one was hot and cold fill; the hot hose went in the middle of the night once, we woke up to several inches of steaming water on the kitchen floor and the ceiling falling in )

I phoned Thames Water when we got our d/w because we had to select something - can't remember what now though. I definetly don't turn the water off after using it though.

Our water is hard and I always buy the tablets with salt included. I still put salt and rinse aid in when the icons flash though.

hmmmm....we are a soft water area, the local Hotpoint man lives locally and he seems to think said we really don't need to use salt. I use the all in one tablets anyway, but the little salt light has been flashing away for years and it runs fine.