Water Softener

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It's fine to drink? Unless you're on a low sodium diet, then they say to avoid it. If it tastes salty something is wrong with it.
It does alter the taste of it (makes it bland) and some people prefer the taste of hard water, that's why we've had a hard water outlet fitted but it's not mandatory. Our boiling water tap conversely is fitted to the softned supply as I didn't want it to scale up in minutes! The only place you have to have non softened water is the outside tap outlet (if fitted) as the water board can use it to draw off a test from the house, but there is no reason that you can have a second softened outside tap to wash the car etc with.
 
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Bit of a bump here... We are moving into a new-build soon and want to fit a water softener as fed up of hard water in our current place.

I want to fit an under-sink water filter & dedicated tap for drinking water and fit a water softener system to serve the whole house. I'm pretty sold on the non-electric block salt systems, are there any disadvantages apart from price? We have a heat pump system in the house so no combi boiler to consider.
 
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We have a TapWorks AD11 and it's great. It's electric, but doesn't use that much power. I've fitted a monitoring plug to it and it uses less than £3 worth of electric per year. It's been fitted since we moved into our new build 4 years ago and it's performed well without any problems. We have no scale on any of our taps or shower screens. We have a closed heating system boiler and a 180 litre hot water tank and we've never run out of softened water. We use 25kg bags of Hydrosoft salt tablets, and normally empty one bag in it every couple of months or so. Each bag costs about £10 if you buy in bulk (10+), or Wickes normally have a 3 for 2 offer on (3 for 2 x £14.99 is about £10 each).
 
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Another bump...

Rung around a few places and the quotes were quite substantial. A couple wanted nearly £1700 which I thought was overkill for what's offered.

Any recommendations? I was looking at the Monarch range now and maybe getting a local plumber to install.

Thanks.
 
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Look at reconditioned. I got a Twintec S3 with new resin chambers and a five-year guarantee installed for under £900.

If you Trust me your details, I can pass on the name of the guy I used. Not sure if he'll cover your area, but he might!
 
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Look at reconditioned. I got a Twintec S3 with new resin chambers and a five-year guarantee installed for under £900.

If you Trust me your details, I can pass on the name of the guy I used. Not sure if he'll cover your area, but he might!

Where does one look for reconditioned? That Twintec sounds and looks a lot like the one I enquired Minimax M2 and Harvey's. I am looking at one to reduce the awful limescale and also to be less harsh on the skin.

Is the company anywhere in the South East or London? Just done a quick search and found one in the RG area so will see what they say.

Also was looking at a water filter and triple tap but I guess they can install that at the same time.
 
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They are all the same. There's a good thread about them on here which will explain how come they all share the same internals and will never undercut each other.

Not sure where he'll cover, but give him (Danny) a call - his website is here.
 
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They are all the same. There's a good thread about them on here which will explain how come they all share the same internals and will never undercut each other.

Not sure where he'll cover, but give him (Danny) a call - his website is here.

Nice one. That's the website that appeared in my search once you'd mentioned reconditioned. Appreciate the heads up. The guarantee and installation makes the costs more inline what I'd like to spend. Thanks.
 
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He's a good guy. Someone on here recommended him to me and he did a very professional job.

You can't do better than a reconditioned S3 for under a grand including fitting, so you really can't go far wrong.
 
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He's a good guy. Someone on here recommended him to me and he did a very professional job.

You can't do better than a reconditioned S3 for under a grand including fitting, so you really can't go far wrong.

That would be me :) Danny did a great job. I wouldn't write off electric though. It is much cheaper if you have a plug under the counter that is easy to get to.
 
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That would be me :) Danny did a great job. I wouldn't write off electric though. It is much cheaper if you have a plug under the counter that is easy to get to.

Thanks for another recommendation. I don't have a plug under the counter as the dishwasher and washing machine were wired up and use the plugs. I'll see what options available when have a chat. Thanks.
 
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We have just moved into a house and we are considering one.

Couple of questions, I know some people say it’s not good for drinking and others say it’s fine however, if I have a fridge that offers filtered water (Hard connection) Will this filter it and reduce any potential salt?

What are the actual benefits other then less limescale?

Thanks
 
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The house we're moving to has one but not sure if I'll bother with it. Current place is in the same estate (so same water) and no major issues with limescale etc in the 37 years I've been here.
Also keep aquarium fish and don't want it to mess with the water chemistry. I think the tap that is separate from the softener is the garden tap outside which will be a ball ache having to draw water off that tap and store/heat it up, it's doable though.
 
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So to answer your questions.

We have just moved into a house and we are considering one.

Couple of questions, I know some people say it’s not good for drinking and others say it’s fine however, if I have a fridge that offers filtered water (Hard connection) Will this filter it and reduce any potential salt?

What are the actual benefits other then less limescale?

Thanks

I drink it and it's fine. At first it had a slight taste difference but I don't really notice. We did fit a hard tap just incase people don't like it though. My American fridge freezer is fed by the softened water too. Tastes fine.

Less limescale is great. My kettle, boiler, washing machine, dishwasher, showers, taps all look as new as the day I got them. No water spots etc... on my shower either.

I have the Minimax M2 and it's great. Cost me £1400 with a ton of salt if I remember rightly.

Andy
 
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Hi all.

I am a retired heating and plumbing engineer.

I have a Harvey Duo Flo softner that I installed in 2015.

Over this winter I had been turning my mains water off, overnight, at the stopcock because of exposed pipes in my garage (where the softner is located).This was to prevent a flood should the pipes freeze. Now my softner appears to be stuck in regeneration mode and is discharging continuously! I have switched the supply into bypass and removed the softner for the moment, with a view to stripping and checking for faults. But before I proceed, does anyone have any idea why this may have happened?

Thank you for reading and for your anticipated comments.

Michael
 
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Soldato
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So I live in Kent which is notorious for hard water and someone mentioned a water softener and it got me thinking.

Anyone got one, or used one before? Any drawbacks? I've seen the damage it's done in our current house and would like to prevent that if possible in our new place.

Any brands to go for?

Thanks in advance,

Andy
Does anywhere have soft water?

Mine is also hard, and when I looked into it, it seems most other people are as well. :(

Dont know why they dont soften it in the supply.
 
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I have also been looking at water softeners for my 2-bed flat, where I live alone most of the time

Today, a locally recommended specialist quoted me £1800 for a Harvey Minimax Innova, including installation, warranty, etc. I was in shock. I had seen units from as from £600 online from Homebase, B&Q, etc, so assumed a specialist who would supply and fit would come under £1000! The Innova is twin cylinder, uses block salt, metered regeneration (not timer) and non-electric, so ticks all the boxes.

I have someone from Harvey directly coming on Friday for a comparative quote.

What would I lose, generally speaking, going for a self-bought unit, installed by a manufacturer-approved plumber? e.g. https://www.homebase.co.uk/kube-i-n...useholds-with-up-to-2-bathrooms/12878338.html
 
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I have also been looking at water softeners for my 2-bed flat, where I live alone most of the time

Today, a locally recommended specialist quoted me £1800 for a Harvey Minimax Innova, including installation, warranty, etc. I was in shock. I had seen units from as from £600 online from Homebase, B&Q, etc, so assumed a specialist who would supply and fit would come under £1000! The Innova is twin cylinder, uses block salt, metered regeneration (not timer) and non-electric, so ticks all the boxes.

I have someone from Harvey directly coming on Friday for a comparative quote.

What would I lose, generally speaking, going for a self-bought unit, installed by a manufacturer-approved plumber? e.g. https://www.homebase.co.uk/kube-i-n...useholds-with-up-to-2-bathrooms/12878338.html
Most recent thread on this topic with a little discussion/comparison of self fit vs professional, models etc:

 
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