New water softener - how long for whole of house water to be soft?

tillycat123

I've had my water softner replaced as last one stopped working. This was last Thursday. Water from storage tank still showing hard when I pop one of those testing tablets in the test tube and run water from my hot bathroom tap.

It's regenerated 3 times since Thursday so apparently over 1000 litres have passed through the machine if I read it correctly.

I'm sure with the first softener it was just a couple of days for everything to be showing green but maybe I'm wrong.

Mr_Ted

Sounds like some adjustment needed, it should work within 24 hours!

Innys

Mr_Ted wrote: »

Sounds like some adjustment needed, it should work within 24 hours!

This is wrong. For you to only get soft water in your tank within a day, you'd have to use loads of water in that time.

Think about it.....once the softener is operational, only the fresh water going into the storage tank is soft - the existing water there is still hard. Plus, as you use water from the tank, you don't only use the existing hard water first, you use the soft/hard water mixture. So, you have to use lots of water to dilute all the existing hardened water with fresh soft water so that it becomes undetectable.

I don't know how big your tank is but lets assume it holds 250 litres. You say you've softened 100 litres. But, the tank doesn't now hold water in the ratio of 1000/1250 of soft to hard. You can probably work out the correct ratio but my maths isn't good enough to do that for you!

Finally, it took about two to thee weeks for me to getting fully softened water through but, admittedly, there's only myself living in the house.

Mr_Ted

Its a cheap softener then if it hasnt worked within 24 hrs as there should be a regeneration cycle to ensure the water is as soft as the machine is set to provide!

You only get what you pay for, so wait!

Innys

Mr_Ted wrote: »

Its a cheap softener then if it hasnt worked within 24 hrs as there should be a regeneration cycle to ensure the water is as soft as the machine is set to provide!

You only get what you pay for, so wait!

There's a difference between a softener operating and the effects of its operation being visible.

Part of the title of the post - "whole of house water" - together with the OP's text gives us a clue as to what they are querying. So to say it hasn't "worked" in 24 hours is, perhaps, a touch misleading.

Incidentally, using 1000 litres of water in under two weeks seems a lot to me but, obviously, that is dependent on the size of the household.

tillycat123

Many thanks, called the chap who put it in. He said in around a week to 10 days. So a bit ambituis perhaps thinking should be done by now.

I have a massive water tank in the loft, so no way will it soften within 24 hours.

I actually paid a lot, in reply to you get what you pay for its a Harveys twintec.

Avoriaz

Do you have a tap (at the kitchen sink perhaps) that is piped directly from the softener and not via the tank in the loft?

You could test that for hardness.

You could also check that the valves/taps are all set correctly. There should be three valves. The two valves to and from the softener should be fully open and the bypass valve should be fully shut.

As Innys says, a few days to a week is normal for all the water to be soft in your situation.

Mr Ted's comments are inaccurate and unhelpful. No offence intended Mr Ted but you clearly do not understand water softeners.

Harvey's softeners are expensive but very good.

tillycat123

Many thanks Avoriaz - cold tap in kitchen giving a softened reading, will just have to be patient for the rest.

yangptangkipperbang

tillycat123 wrote: »

It's regenerated 3 times since Thursday so apparently over 1000 litres have passed through the machine if I read it correctly.

Most of that will be for toilets/cold taps/washing machine/dishwasher, etc, etc, which doesn't come from your tank in the loft.

Innys

Tilly.........I'm hoping you have two cold taps in the kitchen - one containing soft water and one containing hard water. I understood hard water was recommended for cooking purposes.

For those that are interested, and know of a decent plumber, don't bother having a firm supply and fit a water softener. That is, unless you have cash to burn or want the security of having only one supplier to deal with if things go wrong.

I was quoted over a grand to supply and fit a single tank softener by a local firm. That seemed a lot and I ended up buying the softener off the internet and having my plumber fit it for me. I reckon I saved around 40%.

Innys

yangptangkipperbang wrote: »

Most of that will be for toilets/cold taps/washing machine/dishwasher, etc, etc, which doesn't come from your tank in the loft.

Very good point!