For more information on treating hard water and drinking water, please see the British Water link in the links list.

Why have a water softener?

If you live in a hard water area there is a noticeable build up of scale and scum. The scale build up appears around taps, shower head and inside your kettle. More importantly the scale build up that you can’t see inside your water pipes and hot water cylinders costs you money. The scale acts as a barrier between the heat exchanger and the water and therefore takes more energy to heat the water to the required temperature.

Hard water also makes it so much more difficult for soaps, shampoos and detergents to lather. This means that you use more, which costs more and this is what causes the unpleasant scum left on kitchen sinks, baths and washbasins.

The benefits of having a water softener are:

• Reducing maintenance costs on washing machines, dishwashers, showers, kettles, in fact every appliance that uses water.
• Save over 50% on soaps, shampoos, bubble baths, shower gels, detergents and cleaners.
• No need to buy descaling products. Showerheads and kettles will remain scale free, your sink, washbasin and bath will also be free of scale and scum marks.
• No need to replace plumbing, softened water will dissolve all the existing scale.
• Build up of scale on the heating element in a hot water cylinder acts as an insulator which means that it cost more run. Even a small amount of scale, 2mm on a heat exchanger, hot water tank, boiler etc will reduce its efficiency by 12%. With a scale free hot water cylinder, it can produce its maximum volume of water more quickly and by using less energy.

Electric or non-electric, what’s the difference?

Electric water softeners typically have a single cylinder programmed to regenerate at a specific time, usually at around 1-2 am, on the assumption that little or no water is being used at that time. While the water softener is regenerating the water supply to the house will be hard as the softener cannot produce soft water whilst the regeneration process is taking place. The amount of time this takes varies depending on the size/capacity of the softener. This type of softener is only really suitable in households where the amount of people doesn’t fluctuate as the softener is initially set up to accommodate the amount of people in the house. An electrically powered water softener can be affected by power cuts and may need to be manually re-set.

Our non-electric softeners have two cylinders which means that while one cylinder is regenerating the other one is producing soft water on demand. This means that the softener can cope with dramatic variations in water usage as it only regenerates when the total capacity of a cylinder has been used. A non-electric softener will not be affected by power cuts and works using a meter so will regenerate only when required.

What is the advantage to a dual cylinder water softener as opposed to a single cylinder?

Non-electric dual cylinder water softeners are both more effective and efficient as they continue to produce softened water even during the regeneration process. Once one cylinder as become exhausted the machine automatically switches to the second cylinder while it regenerates the first. An electric single cylinder softener will switch into by-pass while it is regenerating and all water used at this time will therefore be hard. Single cylinder water softeners should be timed to regenerate during the night as water is less likely to be used then.

Will a water softener make my water taste salty?

No. Salt is used to clean out the resin beads only. Once the softener has used the salt water for the regeneration process, it again flushes itself through with clean water in order to remove any remaining salt. There will always be a very small amount of sodium left (in the same way as when your clothes are rinsed in the washing machine, it never gets rid of all the detergent), but this is a miniscule amount and not enough to be able to taste it.

See our website for more information and prices just click on water filters and water softeners under the links list heading.

If you are looking to improve the water quality in your home, why not visit our e-shop for information and prices on water softeners and drinking water filter systems.

We sell a variety of water softeners, electric and non-electric and a range of drinking water filters ranging from the ACFF which just removes taste and odour to RO systems which produce the closest you will get to pure H2O!

See our website for more information and prices just click on water filters and water softeners under the links heading.

If the quality of the water you drink is important to you, Reverse Osmosis will give you the closest you will get to pure H2O!

Reverse Osmosis systems work by rejecting contaminated water molecules to drain, whilst allowing “pure” water to pass on to your tap.

Check out our RO units on our website listed in the links list (water filters and water softeners).

We have now added a new product to our water softener range in our e-shop.

The HomeWater 300 is entirely designed, engineered and manufactured in the UK and is suitable for households of up to 10 people and only measuring 485mm high it can be installed in virtually any location.

It is a dual cylinder softener, which means you get an uninterrupted soft water supply. Due to the automatic metering it doesn’t matter how much your water consumption varies, your HomeWater unit won’t need adjusting – even if you go on holiday.

The HomeWater water softener is as easily plumbed into your home as a washing machine. Installation can be carried out by a plumber or a competent DIY person.

See our website under links list (water filters and water softeners) for more information and price.

How would you know if your water is hard? Scale and scum are the main indicators of hard water.

The scale build up which you can see is around taps, shower head and inside your kettle. More importantly the scale build up that you can’t see inside your water pipes and hot water cylinders costs you more money. The scale acts as a barrier between the heat exchanger and the water and therefore takes more energy to heat the water to the required temperature.

Hard water also makes it so much more difficult for soaps, shampoos and detergents to lather. This means that you use more, which costs more and this is what causes the unpleasant scum left on kitchen sinks, baths and washbasins.

If you suffer from scale build up on your taps and kettle, if you get a filmy scum on the top of your tea or coffee, then you have hard water.

Why not check out our website (see link water filters and water softeners under links heading), we stock a variety of different water softeners together with water filters ranging from basic removal of taste & odour to Reverse Osmosis systems which provide almost pure water direct to your tap.