Hi i live in manchester and the water here is soft. Do i still need to add salt to my dishwasher and if so is it titrated again water hardness? apologies for the dumbass question but new to this malarky and dont ask, dont learn!
On my dishwasher (Bosch) there's an adjustment which is set according to the hardness of the water supply. I'd imagine that this alters the frequency at which the integral water softener regenerates and so the salt consumption. You'd find out from the water suppliers what the typical hardness is. I don't think they'd supply water at 0 ppm hardness 'cos it would cause problems with lead pipe plumbo-solvency, copper pin-holing and stuff.
So, I think the answer is yes, but you'd need to read the relevant manual.
There should be different settings according to water hardness. The local water authority will tell you that and the dishwasher manufacturers will tell you which setting you need.
I haven't added salt for years, and haven't noticed a problem (except the annoying delay at the start of every cycle).
I've lived in the Manchester area for the 25-years-or-so I've been using a dishwasher, and I've never added salt. There doesn't seem to be any need. I'm not sure exactly what I should be looking for that might indicate a need for salt, though.
The salt is for recharging the water softener built into the dishwasher. There are some washing machines (rare) that have softeners built in. The advantages are::-
- You need less detergent (all doses are for soft water anyway).
- Soft water lifts dirt off better than hard water.
- You don't get scale stains on your glasses (and scaling of dishwasher).
Before we had a house water softener fitted it was pretty obvious the salt had run out on the dishwasher by the scale stains on the glasses. Add salt, nice clean glasses again.
thanks chaps. i rang united utilities and they gave me the clarkes value of hardness for both mine and my parents house [2 miles apart, different base supply] and this was 2.8 in both cases and hence very low - no need for salt.
Blimey 19 Clarkes here in Eastleigh (measured over 20 by my test kit), no wonder our baths/showers got covered in scale so quickly. All in the past now with a watersoftener.
Riz1 wrote: .
hardness
350 ppm around me, a lot of water from boreholes in chalk, apparently. No idea what that is on the Clarke's scale.I'd have thought you'd put salt in and it would regenerate very infrequently, so minimal salt consumption.
I also asked my water supplier for a hardness value and they said that my location in Bracknell Berkshire was 20 Degrees Clarke hardness which was rated as fairly hard. When I came to commission my new water softener this weekend this turned out to be almost spot on the default setting for the unit. This is good for me as I don't have to worry about resetting the hardness control following a power cut.
The softener regenerates every cycle the salt setting just controls the amount of salt water used to regenerate the resin. Turn it down and salt lasts longer, though whether you need it at 2 clark.
I think you will find 350ppm is clasiified as hard. See
When I worked as a Lab Assistance years ago, we use to use salt to harden water, then when I worked for a company in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, they use SALT to Soften water. We you get a teaspoon of salt, or dip your hands in salt, you foind you cant get a lather, so its harden water, thats why you can wash with it. But as for adding salt in Soft water area, it not needed.
I should not feel yourself as being dumb, Question are only easy if you know the answer, that why I never what "THE WEAKEST LINK ". some of us men might get good tip from what you call dumb women, men are good at some things, but not all thing, if I've made any spelling mistakes excuse me, I a MAN.
Water standards can even vary across a very small area.
For a period of time, I lived in a city centre property. The water in Coventry town centre was awful. It stank of chlorine and if you ran the hot water tap on high for a bath the water would foam and the chlorine smell would become very bad.
The water in the city centre is also very hard. A kettle would become very badly scaled within two months.
However, you only need to go a mile outside the city centre and the water is completely different. It has no chlorine smell and there is never any need to discale the kettle.
I think that Coventry is supplied from two different water sources. I know that one of them is an underground spring.
Graham
You can get those 3in1 tablet for the dishwasher, contain detergent, salt and rinseaid, then you don't need to worry about anything.
Except that they are reputed to not work as well, and they're more expensive.
Apparently, the salt unit in some dishwashers will fail if they are run for some time without any salt.
You may find that if you switch to tablets that you cannot then go back to using conventional granular salt at a later date.
Graham
And I've never understood how the salt in the tablets gets to the 'right place'...!
Our Bisch has a salt 'setting' - in an area where the salt isn't necessary, you set it to zero and then it never recharges the resin in the softener.
That's what I was told by the man who delivered my dishwasher. He suggested using salt, but putting it at the lowest setting, as the water here is _very_ soft.
Sheila
Manchester's water is very soft - dishwashers, kettles, pipes, don't have a mark on them after many years. In fact the water here is so soft that the water suppliers have to add chemicals (phosphates if I remember right) to stop the water slowly dissolving lead pipes - I really should be able to remember, as I designed the control panels for some of the dosing rigs!
Steve Walker
I also live in Manchester. I've never put salt in any dishwasher here, including my current Bosch. They all work(ed) fine without.
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