Hard water filters - are they worth the money??

becks92

We live in Derby and at the weekend we went to the grand designs show courtesy of his site :-)

We know we have hard water and were half looking at filters but found ourselves buying one as we've got a new hot water cylinder being fitted soon and wanting to elongate the life span of our products.

We are now having second thoughts and wondering if we have made the wrong decision.

Could anyone on here give us a steer as to if its worth it. We paid £750 for an Ems10.

It's being delivered on Thursday so if we are to cancel, want to do so asap.... Thanks for the help everyone

Chunks

Hi there - guess you are talking about water softening rather than filtering. I too suffered from hard water so about three years ago I invested in buying an entry level machine that I plumbed in myself. It is a single tank timer type that uses salt tablets (about £7 per 25kg bag delivered (East Herts)). I am not on a metered water supply. Got change out of £400 including plumbing parts.

There are helpful posts on the MSE relating to this topic and lots of info on the internet at large. The machine you have on order may well be the one 'right' for you but further research could save you cash (which is how I arrived at the decision I took).

Incidentally, softening our water supply at home has been a resounding success. No limescale, use less soap/washing powder, don't need salt in the dishwasher and cleaning the bathroom is a snap (according to the wife ). If you can afford it, do it (just don't pay over the odds)!

ispookie666

Best money spent at least for me

Furts

My concerns when I see the literature and advertising of such products is the misleading images and statememts.

I see central heating pipes cut through revealing lime build up. The reality is central heating is a closed system and this does not occur.

I see hot water cylinders with a lime build up. The reality is many people have combi boilers and hence do not have a hot water cylinder. Those that do have hot water cylinders will find that the problems are not of the extent claimed. My cylinder was upgraded after 25 years use in a hard water area. It still functioned, as do all my neighbours cylinders.

I see comments about damage to boilers. The reality is boilers are designed for use in hard water areas. My boiler has a ten year guarantee, so the manufacturer does not consider hard water represents a risk to it.

I was brought up with newspaper articles saying hard water was more healthy than soft water and people living in hard water areas lived longer. I do not know if this true for this is outside my expertise.

Ultimately, water softening would be a personal choise. But also be aware that there are good profits to be made by selling to the impulse buyers who are a captive audience taken in by the glitz and glamour of NEC Shows.