Water softeners

MTFU. Soft water is for girls and poodles.

What sort of money are you planning to spend?

There are products to fit most budgets but as with most things you get what you pay for. I've had a number of different plumbers recommend Kinetico which are a bit more pricey to buy but don't need an electrical connection.

Just taken one out........ got bored of filling the thing and the sound of it

Must put it on eBay

what are these things, marketed as electronic water softeners, any body got any experience of them?
http://www.eddy.uk.com/AW-Water-Softene ... gKb6fD_BwE

EDIT: IGNORE:, i just read their FAQ's, just came up in a google search for softeners

Definitely go for non-electric flow metered. Easier installation, more economical and don't flush at stupid times waking you up (although you can set the time 12h out so they flush while you are out, rather than at 4am.
I'm amazed that they cost so much to fit, although depends on your existing plumbing. I'm cack-handed and managed to fit one in a morning.

We are on our second Kinetico (1st one lasted over 20 years until the insides which holds the filter medium let go and sent it through the plumbing and out of the taps, could have repaired it fairly cheaply but it was looking its age).

Plumbing in is quite easy, just cut into the cold feed in two places about a foot apart, put two tees in the run and put a shut off valve between them where the original pipe ran, another two shut off valves on the tees. This allows you to either divert through the softener (normal mode, bypass shut other two valves open), or bypass the softener completely (T valves shut, bypass open, eg for maintenance). You may want to run a hard water take off (for drinking, kettle filling etc) prior to the softener.

The Kineticos use a graduated rotor which is matched to the hardness of the water in your area (find out from your local water supplier website) so you will need to get the correct one. This makes sure that it regenerates appropriately for the hardness and does not waste salt regenerating when not needed. We are in a very hard water area (even worse than London) and use a 25Kg bag of salt every six or seven weeks.

Every year I bypass the softener and take the thing apart for a good flush out of the salt box (even the best quality salt contains all sorts of crud which builds up as a fine sludge in the bottom and needs cleaning out).

Plumbing bits will not cost more than £20, can't see how a local plumber would charge more than £40 or £50 to do what is a 30 minute job (assuming your pipework is not embedded in concrete or hidden somewhere you can't get to)

Hope that helps.

Rick Chasey wrote:

Thanks that's really helpful.

Can you remember what the actual Kinetico costs if they don't fit if for you?

I paid about £600 brand new and delivered and that was 3 years ago. Just looked on ebay and they now go for £650 ish new or between £250 - £400 for a refurbished one. Given that Kineticos are twin cylinder and regenerate alternately using pre softened water I would think that a refurb would be just as good as a brand new one. All the insides are either a plastic/nylon type material or some sort of stainless. My first Kinetico was the older style that had a couple of bits which rusted a bit but they changed that design years ago (the old one had a cream coloured angular case, the newer ones are more rounded and grey/silvery colours).