Which water softener do you have?

[sarahb083]

We live in an area with very hard water and want a water softener but I'm struggling to choose one. There seems to be a large range of options and I'm not sure the expensive ones are worth the £2k?!

If you have a water softener, what brand is it and would you recommend it?

I’ve not had it delivered yet, but my plumber recommended Monarch softeners. I’ve gone for the MIDI HE which has good reviews and was £519 (with ‘free’ salt included).

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Ooh, I have been considering one as also in hard water area- are they really worth it?
Sorry op, for jumping in and being no help to you at all!

@LOTER16178 we also have the monarch midi - just be aware that the free salt is a pitiful amount.

We got one from Amazon!!! After harveys quoted similar
It has amazing reviews I was sceptical but we had a punt.

www.amazon.co.uk/Water2Buy-W2B110-Softeners-Compact-Control/dp/B006WN2A66/ref=asc_df_B006WN2A66/?hvlocphy=9045994&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=231999013088&hvpone&hvlocint&hvpos&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-421535663650&hvrand=8095466693253655390

They have a website too.

It is great and we love it.
We buy the blocks as the pebbles can clump a bit, and they are really not that expensive

Watching with interest. We live in a soft water area but our house has a private water supply and our water is very hard. I have never had to live with hard water until now. My hair is a mess, very tangled after washing and before brushing it. Is it possible to have a water softener for one tap/shower or are softeners used to soften the supply for the whole house. I have no idea how they work.

Thankyou JackieWeaverFever, very helpful link.

@Flamingolingo I gathered as much... and hence the quotation marks, is the salt really free when you’re paying over £500

But saves me forgetting to order it separately to get it started. I’m quite excited at the prospect of needing to use less shampoo and hopefully having no limescale build up on my new black taps...

@TracyHorrobin

Watching with interest. We live in a soft water area but our house has a private water supply and our water is very hard. I have never had to live with hard water until now. My hair is a mess, very tangled after washing and before brushing it. Is it possible to have a water softener for one tap/shower or are softeners used to soften the supply for the whole house. I have no idea how they work.

Yes depending on where it's is installed so all our water except drinking water is softened

The salt for the Monarch is a little bit of a faff to get hold of as a private individual. Most plumbers merchants sell it for a reasonable price but our local one is trade only. I usually bulk buy it 10-20 bags at a time but storage isn’t an issue for us.

On the softener side in general it’s been a game changer for us - far less eczema for me and my DS, softer washing, sparkling glasses from the dishwasher. I had to drink from the bathroom tap one day when the hall floor was being finished up and that was vile. I would recommend a separate drinking supply.

We have Harvey’s, it’s great.

I've had a WatertoBuy one in our old house and when we moved got one fitted in the new house, always been happy with them. I buy the salt from Amazon it's around £14 for a 25kg bag.

We rent one and have for years. We get it serviced if it needs it and any query or issue is resolved no problem. After a certain number of years it is replaced with a new one. It is a generic softener and does the job perfectly. We buy tablet salt from a local plumbing shop and it’s not expensive. We could have it delivered by the pallet if we had somewhere to keep it. When it was installed (free as part of the agreement) they put in a drinking water tap to the kitchen sink so we can access water straight from the mains for cold drinks etc. It really is worth every penny and makes ever From cleaning to showering simpler and more pleasant. One of the best things is that the kettle doesn’t fur up and you don’t get that nasty film on top of hot drinks, if you live in a very hard water area as we do I’d totally recommend it.

@MothershipG ahh see I buy salt for around £8.50/25kg but usually have to take up to 20 bags for that price.

Not really the OPs question but our milkman delivers water softener salt conveniently.

Very interested in this as I plan our extension. How much salt do you use? Is it a pain to refill? Is there any other maintenance? Our old house had one but it hadn't been maintained and was all furred up and Unuseable.

Also where have you all put them?

@Flamingolingo are you happy with the monarch?

Yes, it’s been in almost a year and appears to work really well.

Ours is in our utility, where the water comes into the house. It was easy for us though as we were re-plumbing the whole house anyway.

@Flamingolingo 😂😂 no way could I store that much so I have to pay more but thanks for the tip.