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At one point there was a water softener in my basement, but for an unknown reason it was taken out. I am on a well and septic; water is fairly hard, measured at 250 ppm (15(gpg).

I would like to add a water softener again, but the choices and info at local stores such as Lowes, Menards, Sears, etc leaves something to be desired.

The house has a kitchen and three bathrooms, but at present only me living in it. Gas water heater. No dishwashers or whirlpools, though I do shower daily, sometimes more in summer.

Any comments from knowledgeable people about brands known for quality, features or other issues to look for are greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Bella

Do you still need a straight feed to a least one tap for drinking water?

All the data I've read states the amount of salt is far less than you get in food and bottled drinks anyway.

dhobbs wrote: ↑Fri Apr 21, 2017 12:34 pm Do you still need a straight feed to a least one tap for drinking water?

All the data I've read states the amount of salt is far less than you get in food and bottled drinks anyway.

We didn't bother with an untreated tap - the amount of salt in the water is minuscule and can't be tasted

We went for a three way tap, of which one lever is untreated and the other two (hot / cold) are treated. Use the untreated for watering plants and the water for the dog.

Just to give you an idea of running cost - family of 4 just cost me £195 for a year's worth of salt supplies.

Our 3 way tap has a filter on the drinking one, sort of like the inline Britta ones.

We've realised recently the same filter is still in place from new (many years ago) so the auto shut off when spent 'might' not be working properly, or we don't drink much water its on my list to change.

We've got a kinetico one & if it broke tmrw I'd replace it instantly. I'd heard Harvey's came up,with the design etc & it was then backwards engineered by kinetico to make their one with enough changes to prevent lawsuits.

PerryGunn wrote: ↑Fri Apr 21, 2017 3:26 pm We didn't bother with an untreated tap - the amount of salt in the water is minuscule and can't be tasted

We don't either - the point of the salt is to flush the calcium deposits out of the resin, and a minute amount is in the water afterwards. We also test it regularly and the amount of salt doesn't register.

markeg wrote: ↑Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:17 pm
We don't either - the point of the salt is to flush the calcium deposits out of the resin, and a minute amount is in the water afterwards. We also test it regularly and the amount of salt doesn't register.

That's exactly what i had read. I assume this is the same as your dishwasher and the salt that goes in it.

dhobbs wrote: ↑Fri Apr 21, 2017 10:50 pmThat's exactly what i had read. I assume this is the same as your dishwasher and the salt that goes in it.

Yes, but if you have a softener you don't need to put salt in the dishwasher!

I had Harvey softeners for over 10 years and they do what they claim to do! But I'm still unimpressed with the smarmy photos of the local agent in my local paper every week.

They do seem to work well despite that!

Mr Tidy wrote: ↑Fri Apr 21, 2017 11:58 pm Yes, but if you have a softener you don't need to put salt in the dishwasher!

True, but the 'add salt' indicator light on ours annoys me so I still put salt in the dishwasher - I have it at the lowest possible water hardness setting so the dishwasher salt lasts for very long time between refills....

PerryGunn wrote: ↑Sat Apr 22, 2017 8:02 am

Mr Tidy wrote: ↑Fri Apr 21, 2017 11:58 pm Yes, but if you have a softener you don't need to put salt in the dishwasher!

True, but the 'add salt' indicator light on ours annoys me so I still put salt in the dishwasher - I have it at the lowest possible water hardness setting so the dishwasher salt lasts for very long time between refills....

Yup, I put it in too, just to avoid the light

mj2k wrote: ↑Sat Apr 22, 2017 6:49 pmTrue, but the 'add salt' indicator light on ours annoys me so I still put salt in the dishwasher - I have it at the lowest possible water hardness setting so the dishwasher salt lasts for very long time between refills....


Yup, I put it in too, just to avoid the light

Our dishwashers must have been pretty low spec. - they never had a "low salt" light.

I've been told they rot the heat exchanger (or whatever it is) in the boiler due to the salt and only one manufacturer (Vaillant I think) are safe to use softened water with. This is why we never got one. Is this the case in your experience?

Carol M wrote: ↑Fri May 12, 2017 9:25 pm I've been told they rot the heat exchanger (or whatever it is) in the boiler due to the salt and only one manufacturer (Vaillant I think) are safe to use softened water with. This is why we never got one. Is this the case in your experience?

Nope. The salt doesn't go through the boiler, it's flushed through the resin into a drainage pipe. No salt comes through the system into the boiler or pipes. This is our one; non-electric and twin tank - twin tank means the resin is flushed separately so you don't lose the soft water supply.

Carol M wrote: ↑Fri May 12, 2017 9:25 pm I've been told they rot the heat exchanger (or whatever it is) in the boiler due to the salt and only one manufacturer (Vaillant I think) are safe to use softened water with. This is why we never got one. Is this the case in your experience?

We had a "Harvey/Kinetico" one some time ago and never had a problem, even though our first was in a house with a Baxi back-boiler which worked fine for 4 years or so?

Just a thought, but did your advice come from a Vaillant salesman?

No, from the Ideal engineer when he came to service the boiler. I'd love to have one fitted, limescale is the bane of my life.