Boiling water tap - Quooker alternatives

[Nick Laslett]

We have used Harvey Twin Tank Water Softener for more than 25 years in Kent. Good for a house of four. 
 

They usually last 10 years. 
 

https://www.harveywatersofteners.co.uk/products/water-softeners/

 

The newest model is overkill as it has SMART functionality!!!

 

We bought direct from these guys and self installed. 
 

https://newatersofteners.co.uk/collections/harvey-water-softener-range/products/harvey-twintec-s4?variant=44088604033260

 

 

 

[canalsiderenovation]

27 minutes ago, Nick Laslett said:

We have used Harvey Twin Tank Water Softener for more than 25 years in Kent. Good for a house of four. 
 

They usually last 10 years. 
 

https://www.harveywatersofteners.co.uk/products/water-softeners/

 

The newest model is overkill as it has SMART functionality!!!

 

We bought direct from these guys and self installed. 
 

https://newatersofteners.co.uk/collections/harvey-water-softener-range/products/harvey-twintec-s4?variant=44088604033260

 

 

 

I'm definitely going to look into the non electric ones, it's an absolute pain being an all electric house as we have frequent power cuts and I'm not fussed on smart functions, our wifi signal is crap even with a mesh system and seems to be even worse since Openreach insisted on upgrading to digital.. if our phone signal was any good I'd do away with any form of router but it isn't and that's a whole new issue.

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, Gone West said:

Not actually true. We've used Kinetico in the past as a whole house water softener. The twin cylinder softeners are good because they can soften water using one cylinder while the other cylinder is being regenerated.

Sorry, yes the larger capacity units can. I meant the single 'cartridge' types are usually not 'man enough'.

 

Multi-tasking atm which never goes well....

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, Nick Laslett said:

They usually last 10 years. 

What mileage have you got out of the units over 25 years? Same one or 2.5 replacements?

[Nick Laslett]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

What mileage have you got out of the units over 25 years? Same one or 2.5 replacements?

The one in our one bed rental flat is still going, installed in 2000. The one in our 4 bed house was replaced after 14 years. The engineer from Harvey quoted the 10 year average lifespan. 

[LnP]

It's worth thinking about whether you're happy to drink softened water. I'm not an expert and can't give advice but in principle, water softeners work by exchanging calcium and magnesium ions for sodium ones. So e.g. calcium carbonate is converted to sodium carbonate. Calcium carbonate precipitates out when you heat it, i.e. hardness, but sodium carbonate is completely soluble, so stays in solution. The harder the water, the more Ca and Mg ions need to be exchanged and the more sodium ones will be in the water. With a water softener you'll be consuming more sodium ions and the harder the water is, the more sodium ions you'll be consuming. I found this from Kinetico.

[Russdl]

A Combimate solves the potential problem of drinking softened water whilst still keeping lime scale at bay.
 

(There are probably other water conditioners out there but I don’t know of any).

[Nickfromwales]

2 hours ago, LnP said:

It's worth thinking about whether you're happy to drink softened water. I'm not an expert and can't give advice but in principle, water softeners work by exchanging calcium and magnesium ions for sodium ones. So e.g. calcium carbonate is converted to sodium carbonate. Calcium carbonate precipitates out when you heat it, i.e. hardness, but sodium carbonate is completely soluble, so stays in solution. The harder the water, the more Ca and Mg ions need to be exchanged and the more sodium ones will be in the water. With a water softener you'll be consuming more sodium ions and the harder the water is, the more sodium ions you'll be consuming. I found this from Kinetico.

I always fit a raw cold supply to the kitchen sink for ‘human consumption’, and usually that’s in the form of a 3rd party faucet or a filtered water gadget of some sort, often preceded by a charcoal or other filter.

 

I worked for 2 doctors and they didn’t have stupidly hard water so they instructed me to put the softened feed to the kitchen mixer tap as is, with zero faff.

 

If 2 doctors will drink softened water then who am I to argue? 

[Mike]

3 hours ago, LnP said:

It's worth thinking about whether you're happy to drink softened water.

It's recommended that there should be a supply of unsoftened water in the kitchen - either feeding the kitchen tap, or a separate one like @Nickfromwales provides.