water softner help in chosing and is this true

D4Me

What are peoples experience of Esign water softeners?

ihshaikh

ihshaikh wrote: »

Went for the Coral 10LTR Water Softerner and getting this fitted today. Question I have is how much salt do I need to put in?

They have supplied me with 2 x 4KG of Block Salt.


Its been 12 hrs since the water softener has been installed - checked the water hardness and it remains unchanged. I have just triggered the manual regeneration process. Anything else that I may be overlooking?

Water Hardness Test
initially - took 14 drops to turn the water from pink to blue
now - 10 drops.

I would expect it to be less than 5.

a few more weeks on a the softener has softened the water however i dont think its working right (called the company that sold it to me - so far their service has been inadequate).

question i have is - on the meter there is a capacity setting - i guess for salt in KG - what should this be set at?

spwwuk

chintanm78 wrote: »

Coral 10l digital
344 without - 404 with kit
xxx.fountainsofteners.co.uk/coral-10-litre-watersave

Also came across this which is good value using an autotrol but quite bulky
xxx.eastmidlandswater.com/Details.asp?ProductID=999

Having spoken to a rep at eastmidlandswater.com, their model uses the Autotrol 255-760 unit rather than the 255-762 used in the Coral one above.

Differences can be found here:

xxx.gapswater.co.uk/autotrol255.pdf

Whether that's worth over an extra £100 for...........

Sorry about the links, btw, but I can't post html as a new contributor.

miltonkeynes39

Hello All,

I wanted to get a water softener installed at home (for all the obvious reasons), and friends recommended the Kinetico. Balked at the cost and thought I'd do some research and its amazing that this moneysavingexpert link on the topic is the only review/forum/research link of any worth on UK water-softeners on the Internet! :T

After being completely swayed away from the twin-cylinder camp courtesy words of wisdom from Moonraker, DocN and Matt, I now want to decide on a simple single cylinder (electric/ timed/metred) water softener that is installed by a company, ie, someone more dependable than a local plumber (tradesmen are fine for one-shot work and just not reliable enough for long-term dependability IMHO)

What would be 3 names/ products that I should consider? Does anyone have any experience of EWT Technologies and their E501? They have an interesting deal available for £574 including installation and a water-purifier, but wanted to get views/experience from other folk as well.

bricethurin, ihshaikh, mogwai, you have all been recent buyers of water-softeners - your views would be very useful?

BoxerfanUK

Hello all, been reading this thread with interest and wonder if anyone can help with our situation.

We have a holiday home in Cyprus. The water is really hard and I am thinking of a water softener.

The water system over there works similar, but slightly differently to here.

Although we have a mains supply from the local village, this doesn't have a direct feed to any cold tap. Instead, the mains supply solely feeds a 2000 litre underground cold water tank outside the front of the property.

We have a hot water tank on the roof heated by solar panels with an immersion heater as back up in winter.

The cold water tank supplies water to all outlets within the property including the hot water tank and outside tap via a 1HP electric pump.

Ideally we would like to site the softener outside between the mains supply and the cold tank as this would ensure that the whole system from cold tank, hot tank, pump and all outlets would all receive softened water.

We do not drink the tap water anyway so have no need of a seperate cold tap with un-softened water.

The property has 3 beds and 2 bathrooms, sleeps up to six and we do rent it out very occasionally. At the moment we only go over 3 or 4 times a year so at times the place is empty for 3-4 months. In the future we hope to use it more often when we eventually retire or semi retire.

I don't know what pressure the mains feed is that supplies the cold tank and intend to pressure test it first to be sure, but assuming the pressure is within acceptable limits, I have some questions;

1. Can I site a water softener outside? We never have frosts in Cyprus.
2. Can it be left dormant for long periods, such as 3-4 months or more at a time?
3. If answer to Q2 is no, how often (and for how long) would water need to be put through it?
4. What unit would you recommend? The softener will only supply the cold water tank, which will in turn supply the property, so direct (on demand high flow) feed from the softener will not be required as such. Having said this, the cold tank level is controlled by a simple float valve just like a UK loft tank, so whenever a tap is turned on the water level drops which then calls upon the mains to supply
5. We would like a unit that's as compact in terms of height as possible. The reason for this is that assuming it can be sited outside, it would be installed slightly into the ground next the tank with a deck (with access hatch) spanning over both.

Drainage and power supply is not an issue.

Sorry for so many questions.

dsbp1962

Have read this thread with interest as discovered my new home has unbelievably hard water - 390+ and kettle was thick with gungy limescale after only 2 months.

Have just had EWT install a metered unit (special offer as mentioned + extra £75 for upgraded unit) and so far could not be happier with service received from them. Lovely surveyor and installer, work carried out quickly and cleanly and first test shows water brought straight down to 'soft' setting on testing kit. Don't worry about any 'hard sell' of add-ons - yes, they want you to take out their service plans but I just said I'd think about it. Yes, they flog you 'special offers' on salt, but you will need it anyway and is it worth stressing about saving a few pence when they have it on the van there and then and now I won't have to restock for 12 months. Unit is neat (mine had to be installed in a coat cupboard as no room under sink, and drainage tube put through external wall into outside drain).

Hate to think what several months of hard water has done to my washing machine and dishwasher - have run them through with descaler and first wash with soft water in dishwasher had super shiny results! 11 year old son commented on not needing much shower gel this morning - he used the usual amount and it bubbled up everywhere.

Go for it!

miltonkeynes39 wrote: »

Hello All,

I wanted to get a water softener installed at home (for all the obvious reasons), and friends recommended the Kinetico. Balked at the cost and thought I'd do some research and its amazing that this moneysavingexpert link on the topic is the only review/forum/research link of any worth on UK water-softeners on the Internet! :T

After being completely swayed away from the twin-cylinder camp courtesy words of wisdom from Moonraker, DocN and Matt, I now want to decide on a simple single cylinder (electric/ timed/metred) water softener that is installed by a company, ie, someone more dependable than a local plumber (tradesmen are fine for one-shot work and just not reliable enough for long-term dependability IMHO)

What would be 3 names/ products that I should consider? Does anyone have any experience of EWT Technologies and their E501? They have an interesting deal available for £574 including installation and a water-purifier, but wanted to get views/experience from other folk as well.

bricethurin, ihshaikh, mogwai, you have all been recent buyers of water-softeners - your views would be very useful?

Dave_John_Lat

Hi im new to the site, could anyone tell me if the current models sold in B&Q or Wicks are any good, ive read here that the single tank models are good value
Many thanks....Dave

Dave_John_Lat

Been B&Q model ps53v2 for 4 people looks fine, any thoughts anyone?

Doc_N

Dave_John_Lat wrote: »

Been B&Q model ps53v2 for 4 people looks fine, any thoughts anyone?

On the strength of what I've read about these, I'd give them a wide berth.

Have you seen the two reviews for what appears to be a similar model:

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/plumbing/plumbing-supplies/water_softeners___filters/-specificproducttype-water_softeners/Permutit-Timed-Water-Softener-9271767

Windlepoons

Hi All,

I recently purchased the Perumutit P-SM 65 from B and Q I haven't paid a plumber to install it yet and am now having second thoughts about the unit.

Has anyone had any experience of this model? The things concerning me are there doesn't seem to be much information or reviews on the net relating to this model, or permutit in general.

I have had a look at the control valve and it appears to be an Osmonics Autotrol 255/460 which if I am correct in assuming is a good thing.

I am now thinking of returning it and getting a softener that has a bit more presence on the web such as the ecowater ESM9+, Tapworks Ultra 9, Kenetico Aquablu or the Kenetico 2020c.

Any feedback from anyone would be appreciated.

Cheers