Water softener - what to buy?

[oldfella]

As the topic heading says, I am about to purchase a water softener and never having had one before I am very unsure as to what I need. I guess to budget about 400 pounds or so? Any tips advise, what to avoid, would be greatly appreciated as would any links. Thank you.

 

[JohnD]

Look for one that is controlled by an internal water meter, so that it isrefreshed with salt when (and only when) it is needed. Install it where you can easily get to it to tip sacks of salt in. It needs to be on the incoming water main and with access to a drain as it automatically rinses itself. It is about as easy as installing a washing machine.

See if there is a local supplier that provides servicing - mine has run for 20 years and only needed maintenance twice - if you buy a budget special from a DIY shed and it goes wrong, you will probably have to throw it away and buy a new one. A local supplier can probably also deliver you sacks of salt at a reasonable price, they are quite heavy to collect yourself and make your car go rusty if there is any salt leakage.

It is an advantage to get one with a big salt bin, so that you don't have to fill it often.

Your budget is quite low, so you you will probably have to buy a cheap one and hope it doesn't go wrong. At least look for a good guarantee.

If you have babies or anyone on a low-salt/low sodium diet or with high blood pressure, be sure to have a tap delivering hard water for drinking (they put a tiny amount of sodium bicarbonate in the water, as used for indigestion, but it is extremely small).

They are wonderful though - once you've had one, you won't want to be without it.

 

[bathjobby]

oldfella, I agree with everything JohnD mentions about the better models.
Here is my response to the same question some time ago and the EMWC unit is still doing the business perfectly.
In addition to an outlet for the salt rinse this model comes with an overflow out let which is purely safety. Both the outlet and the overflow are only about 13mm pipe, so my outlet is pushed into the standpipe for the dishwasher (easy as you like) and my overflow went out through the wall so I did have to drill a small bore hole for that.

dcullen, I did extensive research and opted for a top of the range which I found at half price on the net. Bottom to mid range is single filter, so when it is being flushed water supply is interrupted, flush is set by timer not volume of water softened so it could be flushing too much (when on hols) or not enough (when you have guests = heavy usage), need electricity supplying to it.
Top of the range means; dual filter so that when one is being flushed the other maintains your water supply. Only flush when needed based on volume of water passed through filter rather that elapsed time (all that filter flushing whilst on holiday etc = more salt used), no electricity supply required as mains water pressure drives all functions and it actually fits inside a standard kitchen unit, many don't or the instructions (only after you've bought and opened it) tell you to cut a hole in the base of the unit. Plus it takes any type of salt, block, granule etc and has easy front top lid access for topping up. I have a 4 bed, 3 occupancy household with a heavily used power shower and it takes a 10kg bag of salt (£3.98 from Q & B shed) every 4 weeks, less than £1 week and as I said earlier, all the other detergent / soap savings but most of all all the time spent cleaning is saved and every thing stays cleaner.
Get on with it man, which one is it they all shout.

This one here; http://www.emwc.uk.com/Details.asp?ProductID=87
and I see its still half price N.B. this is a genuine half price for the specification based on all the comparisons I did.

emwc is the east midlands water company and I have subsequently had very good email support from them (nothing wrong with product, just questions on my slightly peculiar set up).

I would also recommend paying the £29 or whatever it is for the specific valve and flexi pipe installation kit for 2 reasons. 1) you get nicely labelled valves. 2) More importantly, the very robust flexi pipes maintain an internal diameter of 15mm so don't restrict any water flow unlike the ones bought from the diy sheds which have 15mm connectors on them but the internal diameter of the pipe and fittings is significantly less.

P.S. Other than the salt top up, I fitted it and forgot about it......

 

[oldfella]

Many thanks, exactly the sort of info I was hoping for.