Has anyone installed a water softener system?

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I've just come back from a couple of weeks holiday in France, where the water was incredibly soft. Within days, the dry skin and rosecea I've had for years was more or less gone. We took our usual shampoo, moisturiser etc with us so I know it isn't that!

I want to look into getting a water softener system installed, but I don't know where to start. Google brings up pages and pages of them, and they all seem to be slightly different - some just soften the water, others are filters as well.

Does anyone have any experiences they can share? Any good/bad types of filter or companies? Thanks!

Ours was installed by our plumber in its own cupboard in my kitchen. I think you do have to have one tap supplying non softened water but all the others can be softened. I do not know much about the different makes, but we actually have a water softener shop near us so we discussed possibilities with them. If you can find a similar adviser or knowledgeable plumber this might help. We live in a hard water area so de scaling is now not really necessary and hopefully our pipes are not furring up! The baths are much cleaner and also the glass of shower enclosures stays cleaner. You have to feed salt into the softener and you do need one big enough for all your water use. They are plumbed in near where the water supply enters the house.

Like most people who've had one, I wouldn't be without it.

It is about as difficult to install as a washing machine, including fitting new pipe connections, you need access to a drain and the incoming water supply.

When full of water and salt it will be very heavy so I recommend putting it on the floor, not standing on the bottom shelf of a kitchen cabinet.

You will need access to tip salt inside about once a month, so not in the loft.

I recommend phoning your local water softener company (there will be one) who sells, installs, repairs and reconditions softeners, and delivers salt. Your first question should be "do you repair water softeners" and the answer should be Yes. You could buy a cheap softener in a DIY shed for a few £hundred, but will probably have to throw it away when it breaks. There are companies who advertise door-to-door and in the Sunday papers, they seem to charge a lot too much.

Get your salt delivered, never carry it in your own car. Look inside the delivery van and you will see great patches of rust and holes. You will need bags or blocks that you can easily carry, even though 25kg bags work out a bit cheaper.

Softened water does not contain salt, but a tiny amount of sodium bicarbonate as used in baking powder and indigestion remedies. If you drink it every day for a month, you will consume as much additional sodium as if you have a plate of chips with salt on them. A hard drinking water tap in the kitchen is probably healthier, especially if you have a FF baby or have to avoid sodium and don't eat cornflakes, bread or ketchup.

Thanks! We have a water filter Britta type thing built into our fridge door, so I'm not so fussed about drinking water, but something that will make showers softer and protect the washing machine a bit would be useful. And someone who can make sense of the victorian plumbing layout and know where best to put it would be even better!
Will try and find our local supplier. I've found a site called EcoWater who seem to have a nationwide network of salesmen and engineers - any good or bad experiences with them?

Hiya, water industry comment - you must legally have an unsoftened cold tap in your kitchen for drinking. You also need to make sure that your installation is water regulations compliant, including back flow protection to protect the mains water. You should also be certain to have your softener regularly maintained, as they can pose a risk for bacterial growth. It's a good idea to mention all this to your installer, and to consider maintenance when shopping for one.

"you must legally have an unsoftened cold tap in your kitchen for drinking"

What law is that, please?

I ask because it does not appear to be in The Water Act 2003 (Consequential and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2005 nor in the The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999

I definitely understood that there must be non softened drinking water tap available and our plumber insisted on it. It makes sense really ! Maybe not a law but definitely good practice.

I am aware that it is often recommended, and don't object to it, but if there actually is a law, I would like to know.

No legal requirement but it is recommended because the sodium levels may exceed the legal amount in some areas of the country if a water softener is installed and provides the only source of drinking water. This is why even water softener suppliers recommend a non softened supply. It IS considered to be good practice.

Hi PigletJohn, the requirement is for A) a tap conveniently situated for the drawing of drinking water and B) for this water to comply with the Water Supply (Water Quality) regs. Water drawn from a softener often exceeds the upper limit for sodium, and often contains coliform bacteria (because softeners tend to grow bacteria, particularly if not very well maintained). It's possible in some areas, where water is not very hard, that softened water would still comply with the water regs for sodium, and not all softened water contains coliform bacteria, but as a general rule, softened water is unlikely to comply with the water quality regs.

Where random sampling of customers tap water is carried out, and softened taps are sampled in error, water quality failures are the norm in the areas where I have worked.

Likewise wouldn't be without our water softwner. Better skin, better hair, no limescale, minimal chemicals needed for cleaning, minimal amount of detergents needed for laundry.

On plumber's advice we went for one which takes block salt. Much easier to manage 2 x 4kg bricks of salt than 1 x 25kg bag of pellets. We get 10 x 8kg packets delivered every 6-10 months for a household of 5.

I chose to exclude the kitchen cold tap. I have several relatives with high BP and don't want them worrying whether it is safe for them to eat or drink in my home. Also, research shows lower incidence of certain medical conditions (heart disease and bowel cancer, IIRC) in areas of hard water compared with areas of naturally soft water. Only statistical, and cause has not yet been identified, but decided to stuck with ingesting hard water for the time being.

The unit is very heavy, so place it where you will not need to move it. It can be moved, slides easily across the smooth cupboard base, but not something I would choose to do.

Maintenance is important. I haven't heard anything about cleaning it internally, but plumber pointed to the overflow and stressed that if ANY water comes out of it I should call him immediately.

It's ages since I did my research, but IIRC you can get electric softeners, which don't need salt but cost ££££ (and need to be powered, of course), non-electric, salt-fed (like mine, which automatically refresh themselves once a certain volume has flowed through, so once every day or two) and electric ones that also use salt.

Just wanted to say - definitely don't stop drinking the normal, nonsoftened water. Hard water has proven health benefits, including the prevention of heart disease.

We had one installed 15 years ago. It was so incredibly noisy, we actually got rid off it after a year, as it was set to flush through at 4am, and the noise would wake the kids and us. That said, it was a long time ago and im sure technology has progressed!

When my non-electric WS regenerates (the equivalent of fanny's 'flushing through') it sounds a bit like a toilet cistern refilling for 15-20 minutes. Can only be heard if you are in the kitchen.

We've got one.
We have the salt delivered from our local plumbers merchant. It's in the boot room but is very quiet, there's a 1 minute swoosh at 5pm every day.
We do have a none softened drinking tap but I use the softened in my coffee machine (to avoid limescale) and I really can't taste the difference.

The biggest advantage for me is the lack of limescale in the showers means much less cleaning.