Water Softener Guide
Why Should You Buy a Water Softener?
A water softener solves hard water problems. Hard water is water that is rich in minerals (calcium, magnesium carbonate, and manganese). Living with hard water will mean that soap, shampoo, bath and shower products don’t lather particularly well. Your plates, mugs and dishes will have spots and streaks on them, and your bathroom and kitchen surfaces will be dull and lifeless. However, there is a cure for all of this.
Fit a quality water softener.
We say fit a quality water softener because, like many things in this world, you get what you pay for. You can certainly purchase a very cheap water softener but it will probably not be particularly efficient in the way it runs and its life expectancy will be short. It is far better to invest in the best water softener you can afford. This investment will be saving not only your property from the ravages of hard water but also protecting your family.
Water softeners reduce the amount of limescale in your home – fact!
There are no two ways about it. If you live in a hard water area – without a water softener - everything in your home will be struggling with the effects of hard water. From your taps, bathroom tiles and shower screens to your heating system and domestic appliances.
Water softeners don’t just reduce the amount of limescale, they eliminate it. Simple to install and simple to run, a water softener will transform your life and protect your home from the ravages of hard water.
And that’s not all, hard water has a detrimental effect on your skin and hair.
What is limescale?
Limescale is a common problem in homes that have hard water. It’s caused by minerals building up and leaving a white powdery residue of calcium carbonate and magnesium. It clogs shower heads and pipework, makes surfaces appear dirty and discoloured and prevents your appliances from working efficiently.
The only way to have soft water where your supply is hard water, is to have a water softener installed. Cleaning products can combat the effects of this annoying combination of minerals but this is not a solution to the problem and it’s also costly and time consuming.
A water softener will remove limescale from hard water. It will also reverse the damage that hard water creates by gradually removing the scale from pipes and appliances, over time. So even if your house has been ravaged by the effects of limescale for a number of years, it can be reversed by fitting a quality water softener.
By plumbing a softener into your water supply system, the softener removes the mineral deposits from your hard water leaving you with pure, softened water that is so much kinder to your home and to you.
Why limescale is so bad for your home…
When limescale is deposited on the interior of your pipework, your heating system, your appliances and your surfaces, it is clogging and coating your home with an unwanted residue. You will have noticed your beautiful bright chrome fittings slowly deteriorate in appearance over time and that things like taps and shower heads become less efficient. The use of strong chemicals to remove the limescale starts to discolour the chrome as well. It’s a never ending circle.
Inside your house appliances, the limescale builds up corroding heating elements (think of your kettle, washing machine, dishwasher, coffee machine as well as your heating system). Life expectancy is reduced. You spend more money on replacing these items. By removing the limescale, you start to protect your appliances, they work better, live longer and cost you far less money over time.
Benefits of soft water
Saves you money
Your appliances will last longer. Washing machines, dishwashers and central heating systems will enjoy a longer life, saving you money on service, maintenance and replacement costs.
Less cleaning for you to do
No more limescale means no more stains and marks on dishes, glasses and pans. Your bathroom will be cleaner and shinier with sparkling tiles, bath surrounds, shower screens, basins, taps and tubs.
Smoother skin and shinier hair
Your skin and hair will thank you for bathing in soft water. Not only softer skin and shinier hair, skin conditions such as eczema can show remarkable improvement from continuous bathing in softer water.
Fewer cleaning products to buy
No more scrubbing away on your taps and surfaces with all the many products designed to combat limescale build up. Wet areas of your house become simpler to keep clean, costing you less in both time and money.
Less detergent needed
You will need less detergent in your washing machine and less salt in your dishwasher. Shampoo, soap and conditioners will last longer – no need for that rinse and repeat!
Plumbing restored
Over a period of time, your softened water will remove scale from the inside of your water pipes, hot water cylinders and shower heads. Your shower will become the ‘power shower’ you once knew
The best bits about a limescale free life
Your home will look cleaner and shinier without the continuous effort of trying to remove limescale. You will have more time for you and your family. You will have more money in your pocket to spend on the things that you want to enjoy and not having to spend money on cleaning products. You won’t be spending money on replacing expensive household appliances.
How water softeners work
The very heart of a water softener is the resin that is contained within it. The resin sits in its own tank and is where hard water passes through. The better quality the resin, the better the performance of the softener.
Very simply, hard water passes through the resin and goes through an ion exchange process, leaving the limescale behind and leaving the softener as soft water. The softener cleans itself (called regeneration) by flushing a brine solution through the resin to clean it. All you need to do in terms of looking after your softener is to refill the salt on a regular basis.
The softener does the rest!
With the introduction of a super fine food grade resin in the more expensive softeners, this means that water that has passed through this type of softener, is drinkable. Older softeners and the more simple, cheaper imported softeners have a basic type of resin. Its not recommended to drink water that has been processed by these softeners.
Have you looked in your kettle recently?
Do you look inside your kettle and think ’oh dear…’ What you are looking at is the white residue of scale furring up the heating element. Scale forms around the heat source when hard water is heated. This will be happening inside your hot water system. You won’t be able to see it (unless you cut your boiler open) and you certainly will struggle to clean it. The scale forms an insulating layer between the heater and the water, which means that the heating element has to work much harder to heat the water – costing you more in energy bills. The thicker the scale, the harder your heater is working. If you have soft water running through your heating system, the scale will be gradually reduced and eventually eliminated over a period of time. This will mean cheaper bills and a more efficient heating system. Win/win for you and your household.
Say goodbye to cardboard, rock hard towels
With hard water, you are probably using a considerable amount of fabric softener in order to get lovely soft bouncy towels. By fitting a water softener, you will be able to wash and dry your towels and the rest of your clothes with the minimal amount of product. Another cost benefit to having soft water.
Do you long for a nice soak in a luxurious bubble bath?
So, you have some time to yourself and fancy a nice long luxurious soak in a super soft bath. You run the water and pour in your expensive bubble bath and ..it doesn’t quite meet your expectations because you add more and more product and it doesn’t seem to make a great deal of difference. With soft water, you will immediately notice the amount of bubbles you will get. Then when you sink into the silky soft water, your bath time will be transformed to a truly luxurious experience.
Its not just your bath time that will be transformed, its also your shower time and your hair washing time! Life will never be the same.
Your products will last longer (saving more money) !