water softner help in chosing and is this true

propertyrental

So I've done some comparisons between the three. Reviews are unhelpful - each have their advocates and each have their detractors. Whether the below might be helpful for others I don't know- it's left me more confused!

As best as I can tell:

Electric: Kinetico Kube no; tapworksNSC11pro & Water2BuyWTB200 yes
warranty: K 2 years; T & W 7 years
Salt: K block or tablet; T tablet or pellet; W crystal or any
regen time: K metered but could be any time ; T & W metered but at night
regen frequency (at 525 hard water): K after 256 litres used; W after 550 litres   T every 3-4 days
regen time: K 12 minutes  W 30-45 mins   T 1 hour
Regen salt used: K 0.27kg  W 1.8kg  T 0.42-1.63kg
Regen water used: K 25 litres  W 30-40 litres  T 49 litres
max pressure: K 8 bar  W 6.89  T 6 bar

Stanley85

Hi everyone,  I am a new to this site.
I am looking to install a water softener.
After going through the internet search, I found three options for my house (detached house with 3 bathrooms).

1) Atlantis 350
2) Monarch midi
3) tapworks nscpro 11.

Could someone with experience and knowledge advice me?

Do I need to have a separate tap for drinking water,garden and car wash?

What is the normal/usual cost for fitting it?

Doc_N

Stanley85 said:

Hi everyone,  I am a new to this site.
I am looking to install a water softener.
After going through the internet search, I found three options for my house (detached house with 3 bathrooms).

1) Atlantis 350
2) Monarch midi
3) tapworks nscpro 11.

Could someone with experience and knowledge advice me?

Do I need to have a separate tap for drinking water,garden and car wash?

What is the normal/usual cost for fitting it?

I can personally recommend the Tapworks NSC11 Pro - a long established company with an excellent reputation, very good customer service and a 7 year warranty.

Fitting costs will vary dramatically according to your own pipework and how you want it fitted. You certainly don't want softened water coming out of your outside taps, and it's advisable to have hard water to the kitchen cold tap - or a separate hard water tap. The latter would be ideal, but probably more expensive.

silvercar

Stanley85 said:

Hi everyone,  I am a new to this site.
I am looking to install a water softener.
After going through the internet search, I found three options for my house (detached house with 3 bathrooms).

1) Atlantis 350
2) Monarch midi
3) tapworks nscpro 11.

Could someone with experience and knowledge advice me?

Do I need to have a separate tap for drinking water,garden and car wash?

What is the normal/usual cost for fitting it?

We drink softened water and that has now been deemed safe, though not for babies. For me the whole point was to avoid limescale on  appliances and taps, I didn’t want a kitchen tap and sink covered in limescale. Our garden tap is the one tap in the house that has hard water - I don’t think plants like softened water, the car would be easier to polish up with soft water I would imagine.

Doc_N

The AI view:

Softened water is generally safe to drink, but there are a few considerations to keep in mind:

1. **Sodium Content**: The water-softening process replaces calcium and magnesium ions with sodium ions. This increases the sodium levels in the water, which might be a concern for individuals on low-sodium diets or those with high blood pressure 

2. **Infant Formula**: Softened water is not recommended for reconstituting infant formula powders, as the added sodium can affect the nutritional balance 

3. **Hard Water Areas**: In regions with very hard water, the sodium levels in softened water might exceed the recommended limits for drinking water. In such cases, it's advisable to have a separate tap for unsoftened water 

If you're unsure about the hardness of your water or its sodium content, you can check with your local water supplier or use a water hardness test kit.

TheGreenFrog

Stanley85 said:

Hi everyone,  I am a new to this site.
I am looking to install a water softener.
After going through the internet search, I found three options for my house (detached house with 3 bathrooms).

1) Atlantis 350
2) Monarch midi
3) tapworks nscpro 11.

Could someone with experience and knowledge advice me?

Do I need to have a separate tap for drinking water,garden and car wash?

What is the normal/usual cost for fitting it?

Depends on whether you are mains fed or gravity for your bathrooms etc.  Mains fed will potentially require large flow through the softener if you are going to soften the cold water (to the bathrooms) as well as the hot, especially with showers etc.  If you are gravity fed then flow rate not as crucial.  Also consider your existing pipe sizes etc.  Salt tablets a lot cheaper than blocks.

djh

Excellent advice above.
I have an Atlantis 350 from a small company based in Haverhill Suffolk. I have had the current one for around 5 Years and have found it to be reliable. I did buy a reconditioned Atlantis unit before and used that for around 10 years without problems.
They have a 22mm High Flow option.
I have pressurised system with a system boiler and direct H W Storage tank and live in a very Hard Water area. For a  two person household we use a 25KG bag of tablet salt every 6 weeks ( around £10/£12 a bag at Costco) and I believe Block salt is more expensive.
I installed a separate drinking water filtered tap in the kitchen fed direct  from water main supply which would also be essential for any garden hose supply.
Cost of installation would depend on existing plumbing configuration in the property.

Stanley85

Thank you for all the information. Does anyone know a water softener installer in East Midlands/Leicester?