Water softener - will it make a difference?

[VictorDelta]

We live in an 80 year old house in a hard water area. During some recent building work, we had a water softener installed.

Can anyone please tell me if the now soft water will eventually remove some of the existing lime scale from the hot water pipes, or will that remain for ever?

Secondly, our HW system has some pipework in it that is not copper (cast iron presumably?). We've lived with this for years and it's never been a major problem. However, will the advent of soft water make any difference to this, or increase the likelihood of leaks perhaps?

TIA

V

 

[JohnD]

yes

if it is an ion exchange softener, that you tip a sack of salt into once a month or so

no

if it is a magnetic, electrical or magic charm one.

your boiler and radiator water needs a corrosion inhibitor in it. Sentinel X100 is a good one and is compatible with softened water. An average-sized house needs a litre to give a 1% solution.

if you have iron pipes feeding the taps, their protective layer of limescale will dissolve and they will start to rust, leaving orange stains in the bath and WC.

 

[VictorDelta]

if you have iron pipes feeding the taps, their protective layer of lime scale will dissolve and they will start to rust, leaving orange stains in the bath and WC.

Thanks. Oh dear, that's what I was afraid of!

V