water softner help in chosing and is this true

smscott

Hi. Hoping someone can help us. We have two small children whose bedrooms are directly above the kitchen. Noise travels a lot here and I am concerned that if we buy a softener which regenerates at night it will wake them.

Does anyone know how noisy regeneration is or of any quiet machines?

Thanks in advance.

dfarry

Well it's been one year since I fitted our Water2Buy Mezzo Metered softener.... and I'm please to say that I am very happy with it, we've had no issues with it so far.

I've also received a few personal messages from members here asking about it so I though that I might summarise them (and my replies) as they may be helpful.

Hi there,

I noticed you posted on the water softener thread that you bought the metered softener from Water2buy. Wondered if I might ask your thoughts on it.

I don't suppose the valve that comes with the meter shows whether it is a autotrol or fleck valve.

You've had it now for a few weeks, how often are you finding that it is regenerating? and does it vary day or night?

It's a toss up between this softener which does seem to have good reviews and a good price or http://www.eastmidlandswater.com/Det...roductID=1399# which I know for sure has the reliable valve.

Thank you so much in advance for your help,

The valve is this one... BNT 165 - http://canature.gmc.globalmarket.com...ve-373609.html

I can't say I have noticed the water softener randomly regenerating although it does generally start at it's redetermined time of 2am... presumably it is only regenerating what it needs, unless the meter is monitoring used water and would then regenerate earlier if all water is used up.

The softener itself is fine but I am not happy with Water2Buy's slow responses.... that said when you do get a response they seem quite attentive. The overflow outlet on my softener was broken and there was a tiny crack in the top casing (barely visible and not an operating issue)... I managed to work around the overflow outlet problem and when they eventually replied they said that they would send me a new outlet and cover free of charge.... that was about a week ago though and I haven't received anything yet.

Hope this helps

Hi! I read with interest that you recently bought a softener from Water2Buy, as I don't want to spend £600-1200 either , just wondering what your experiences are? I'm looking at a similar model from them or one from Atlantic http://r.ebay.com/3pB9BD.

Many thanks!

Hi there...

So far so good with the Water2Buy softener... having been fitted by me and setup it seems to be working fine. I did have to get the top cover replaced as it had a small crack and I found Water2Buys communication to be very slow. If you are on a budget (like me) then I think you'd probably struggle to get a similar softener.

Slight delay - but thank you!!
(I don't get to the forums that often anymore


I did buy the Atlantic Water2Buy softener via eBay and I'm very happy with it.

Thanks again for responding!

Cheers

Hi

read your comment about water2buy softener. I am also thinking of fitting in my house. How is your experience ? is product working perfectly without any trouble? which model are you using? from where you purchased the product and how much you paid?

Thanks in advance

Hi Nitin,

Yes I am please to report that the Water softener is still working perfectly and without any problems whatsoever, it's now a year old so I hope this continues to be the case.

I paid £300 for the "Meter AS500a Aquasmart Mezzo". There were a couple of very minor issues when I first received it, the waste pipe overflow connector being cracked and also the brown plastic top had a small crack too. Both these items were replaced without quibble although I did find their communications a bit haphazard and slow.

A year on and I am very happy, plus we have lovely soft water and barely any limescale on any taps, shower enclosure etc.

Hope this helps

Hiya

Thanks for information, its very helpful. Couple of more questions please answer if you can.


Did you buu unit directly from watrr2buy or from other suppliers?

Also for drinking and garden water is it also get soften? If yes is it recommended for drinking?


Fitting wise is it easy to fit diy?

Hi

I bought the softener directly from Water2Buy.

Our home already had a softener and it was plumbed in such a way that cold mains water would still go to the kitchen cold tap (and outside tap I think). All the remaining taps, toilet and heating system is supplied with softened water however. From what I have read, drinking the softened water will not do you any harm but I personally don't like the taste.

Fitting it is fairly straight forward if you have attempted basic plumbing before... all you are really doing is diverting the water flow through the softener (which includes two valves that allows you to vary the amount of softened/unsoftened water or revert to completely unsoftened/softened). There is also a plastic overflow waste pipe and also a smaller brine waste pipe that ideally needs to go into a drain. You'll need to have an electrical socket fairly close by so that you can plug the adapter in.

dfarry

michaels wrote: »

All the cold water (except drinking) flows through the softener, at this time of year it is pretty chilly when it comes into the house so is liable to cause any humidity already in the house to condense onto the cold softener/feed pipes. IN an mdf cabinet this might then cause it to 'rot'.

I agree... our softener is free standing on the floor in our utility room under the boiler... obvious it's a warmish environment but the water/salt inside the softener is colder so condensation forms sometimes on the outside of the softener base.

cliff_hanger

Hi, thanks to everybody who has contributed here, I’ve read the whole thread and it’s been invaluable.

With the help of the info here we’ve figured out how to save money buying our softener – I have a couple of questions about saving money while living with a softener.

Seems to be varied feedback on using with a washing machine – we’d assumed reduced scale/ detergent usage was a key benefit , but I’m reading on white goods forums that modern machines with sensitive sensors do not get on with softened water. But then one reason might be owners not reducing the quantities of detergent ?

Has anyone got any suggestions on using a washing machine and dishwasher with softened water ? Do you bypass the filter for them, or use softened water without salt in dishwasher /conditioner in washer ? Anyone buy special detergent for softened water ? And what about steam irons – we buy De-ionised Water specially, should we continue doing that ?

Thanks in advance – hope to be able to return the favour by leaving feedback on how we get on with our Tapworks AD11 and Easychange

Doc_N

cliff_hanger wrote: »

I have a couple of questions about saving money while living with a softener.

Seems to be varied feedback on using with a washing machine – we’d assumed reduced scale/ detergent usage was a key benefit , but I’m reading on white goods forums that modern machines with sensitive sensors do not get on with softened water. But then one reason might be owners not reducing the quantities of detergent ?

Has anyone got any suggestions on using a washing machine and dishwasher with softened water ? Do you bypass the filter for them, or use softened water without salt in dishwasher /conditioner in washer ? Anyone buy special detergent for softened water ? And what about steam irons – we buy De-ionised Water specially, should we continue doing that ?

Thanks in advance – hope to be able to return the favour by leaving feedback on how we get on with our Tapworks AD11 and Easychange

Washing machines: never had any kind of problem in close on 35 years of using a softener. Just reduce the amount of detergent used.

Dishwashers: likewise, though as there's already a built-in softener the detergent used remains the same. You wouldn't need to keep the inbuilt softener topped up with salt, though. One point - if your kitchen tap is on the recommended hard supply, the dishwasher could perhaps more easily be plumbed into the hard supply - that's the way ours is, anyway.

Special detergent: didn't even know it existed!

Steam irons: I wouldn't recommend using softened water. It produces a mucky brown goo which clogs irons. Stick with the de-ionised water.

michaels

We use the softened water in the steam generator iron and get the goo, if we use the hard water then we get clogging. Is it cost effective to buy (/carry) de-ionised water - we must get through about 5 litres a week in the iron (hence knowledge re condensation....)

cliff_hanger

michaels wrote: »

Is it cost effective to buy (/carry) de-ionised water - we must get through about 5 litres a week in the iron

Hi, we buy de-ionised water in batches of 2 x 5L from Robert Dyas, because that's as much as we can store, which costs £ 6.50. I'm sure larger quantities come with a discount. But as there's only being 2 of us at home, this lasts us several months, and it works perfectly.

LimeGreenDefender

Was looking for a replacement W/S and was getting sucked in by the “Twin cylinder no electric” hype when I came across this thread.

How absorbing.

Winter Olympic ceremony in background with 37 web pages to crawl. Didn't finish till 1am (Someone said it took them a week! How did you not click next to get the thrilling installment?)

I had to make a decision this w/e. A shower is not as nice now and lime scale buildup is already showing on showerhead & WC. Also I didn't want to be hooked onto this soap opera, logging in every evening for the next episode.
What happened to Peshi? Did he end up underneath someone's patio or were his life salts extracted for someones water softener?

Quick history.
I had the much maligned Waterside MC250 for 10 years before it spilt all its resin into the water system. Got a Liff 2000 from local plumbers merchant (£300 - very good price at the time) it lasted 5 years until the millenium valve started to leak and I was quoted £250 for replacement. then the electrics packed up altogether, Wish I knew of the PTFE fix from Matt Filterman. Last year I got a “new” Liff 2000 off Gumtree from a BWT engineer. This died last December after multiple power cuts within 20 seconds resulting in the unit going into a forever recharging loop. New electronics will be needed at £130.

Waterdial who now appear to support all Cullingham based water softeners have at least 2 full time technical support who are always busy. Is it good they they have free support or bad because they are always busy?

Today I dropped into two plumbers merchants armed with Brumsters excellent spreadsheet.

First one only sold BWT products and were shocked at my “wouldn't touch them with a barge pole” attitude. The second (PlumBase) had one BWT and 2 Tapworks units - Ultra 9 and AD11. Their price for the the units - before VAT - was more than online prices from Amazon & SNH tradecentre. But they said they would price-match and also gave me offer on salt.

Thankfully Doc, after all these years, has decided that a Tapworks unit was indeed the same (or very similar) as a Ecowater. Because of this and the other positive remarks I have taken the plunge.

Install nice and straight forward with clear instructions and plenty of converters, lengths of pipe and lots of clips.
But it is tall and deep. Had to get saw to back of cupboard and it’s going to be tricky to top up with salt.

Just started its initial recharge and it is much much quieter than the Liff.

I’ll pop in now and again and update you all. But if I don't, you can assume I’m a happy bunny.

PS. Thanks for such a great forum and may this thread last forever.

Doc_N

LimeGreenDefender, that was an excellent summary of a very long thread! I joined it a while back when I had no intention of buying another softener (had one already) but would have bought, if I needed one, a replacement Ecowater more or less without thinking.

As time went by it looked as if the Tapworks models were pretty much the same as the Ecowaters (just slightly less sophisticated), but at dramatically lower prices. I couldn't be sure of that though until I had a chat with the technical people at Ecowater - and that confirmed it.

Now I too have a Tapworks (AD11). Had it for just under a year, and it's every bit as good as I expected it to be. The Ecowater ESM11+ sells at around £1200, and the Tapworks AD11 at around £440 - enough said.

frankie

LimeGreenDefender wrote: »

First one only sold BWT products and were shocked at my “wouldn't touch them with a barge pole” attitude. The second (PlumBase) had one BWT and 2 Tapworks units - Ultra 9 and AD11. Their price for the the units - before VAT - was more than online prices from Amazon & SNH tradecentre. But they said they would price-match and also gave me offer on salt.

Thankfully Doc, after all these years, has decided that a Tapworks unit was indeed the same (or very similar) as a Ecowater. Because of this and the other positive remarks I have taken the plunge.

Why wouldn't you touch BWT? Have you any evidence of the newer versions being a bad product?

I am still trying to decide which product to go for. As you say the tapworks are quite big but I'd sacrifice this problem for a more stable product. BWT offer a longer warranty and a 'free' commissioning service.

I'd really like, if possible, an evidence based comparision of these two systems. Any takers?