Kinetico 2020c salt usage?

I recently had a Kinetico 2020c water softener installed and I must admit that the difference it's made to the quality of my water is remarkable (I live in Hertfordshire)

My only concern is that it seems to go through salt at an amazing rate. The installers said "around a month on 2 blocks of salt is normal" but we seem to be using it at a rate of 2 blocks a week at the moment. And it's only a 2-person household who shower (as opposed to bath) and don't do anything else that's particularly water consuming. It seems a bit much to me, but I'd appreciate it if people could share their experiences with rate of salt usage with this unit.

(I'm trying in uk.d-i-y because this is the place I first came across these things being discussed, so I reckon there must be a fair amount of experience of them in here.)

- Christiaan

Reply to
Christiaan Keet
Loading thread data ...

Make sure you have set it up to the actual hardness of the water. Get a hardness testing kit and set the dial on the machine to match the result. If it is set too high, it will eat salt. Too low, and you will get hard water for short periods.

Also, check that you have no water leaks or overflows. Finally, toilets will get through loads of water, up to half of your softened supply, if your outdoor taps are unsoftned. Anything to reduce toilet usage would be a good idea.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

I've got a 'kinetico' look-alike softener installed. It's a two-cylinder continuos softener rather than the electrically switched three-o'clock purging type. Being a self-confessed anorak type, I have recorded every block of salt that I've fed into the device - btw: I only feed one block at a time ... I figure that as the solution stops disolving the salt when it's saturated it doen't matter how many blocks are installed ... anyway with three adults, washing machine, dishwasher our consumption is currently one block (4Kg) per ten~twelve days.

Reply to
Brian Sharrock

I've got a similar type. I don't bother with block salt. I just use cheap granulated. I know block salt gets a more consistent brine for regeneration when using water level for regen metering, but it is so expensive, that I'm sure it doesn't really matter.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

Can you tell me which one and from where Brian? That's another unfinished project of mine, plumbed ready and waiting for the last 18 months! :¬)

Cheers Pete

Reply to
PeTe33

Hmm, I've got a few more months of block salt in hand, but I've noticed bags of granulated salt in a builders' merchant which was much cheaper per kilo than block salt. I'll give it a try ... How does your softener's salt consumption compare? My figure of 4Kg / 10 days is a datum - but I've nobody else's data to compare it against.

Reply to
Brian Sharrock

You're using much more salt than someone I once knew. About 15 years ago a friend's mum had a water softener installed. This was before they were common place so of course they were very proud of the new toy and generally found a way of dropping it into conversation when anyone was round and telling them how much better things were with soft water instead of the nasty hard water they'd had to put up with before. About a year after it was fitted I was visiting. I asked him how much salt it used. "Ummm, I don't think it uses any. Should it do?"

"Well it would be normal seeing as it's the salt that softens the bloody water!!!"

I asked him to show me the installation. A quick look was sufficient to see that the thing was bone dry inside and full of pristine blocks of salt that had been in there doing nothing for over a year. It had never had any water in it. Whatsisname and his mum were both too dim to realise that a water softener ought to actually have water in it and that every now and then it might need more salt.

A further look revealed the plumber had installed a branch line off the incoming mains water pipe, through the softener and back into the main line. He'd fitted stoptaps on both runs so you could divert water through the softener or bypass it to just use the main line. Unfortunately he'd forgotten to close the tap in the main line and open the one to the softener.

I was rolling around on the floor laughing. All that bullshit about how great the thing was and it had never even been operational. Still at least it was cheap on salt :)

Reply to
Dave Baker

As you, I've got a 'pile' of tasks awaiting a decent stock of round tuits. As part of a 'room in the roof and single storey rear extension', which'll mean an en-suite, plus extra heating .. which'll mean a replacement boiler (my current boiler is over a quarter of a century old) ... I decided to start off with a water softener. { Clean water into a clean installation }

I was attracted to the Kinetico design which I'd studied at an Ideal Home Show because of the continuous softening and the fact that it doesn't require electricity - the mechanism is that found in a water-meter - consume water .. the turbine spins ... purging is automatic .... albeit I wasn't chuffed with the high price of the Kinetico. [A thousand plus quid - exhibition offer - we'll deliver, Guv! } Googling like mad and reading and rereading the UK-diy faq's I eventually found ... a 'UK designed' equivalent model. It is called a 'TwinTec' non-electrical water softener. The 'guts' of the machine are (allegedly) British sourced and qualified (unlike Kinetico's which are (allegedly) US manufactured ... The unit is not as 'pretty' as Kinetico's; it is a plastic beige box and the pipe connections are on one side of the unit - (AIUI, Kinetico's units are capable of being attached from either side and are available in a range of 'decor' colo(u)rs).

The TwinTec units are retailed and seemingly badged by the vendors. After googling I found the cheapest one (in April '06) was from 'East Midlands Water Company' (my beige box bears their logo, and no other external idents). Price was £645, delivered.

Connecting was reasonably straight forward - once I decided where to splice in the requisite ' pi ' arrangement of isolating valves and tee-joints. [You'll need to acquire the necessary bits and flexible pipes - these are sold as a 'package' by EMWC and my price included these].

My one regret is that I didn't install one of these devices yonks ago! The effect of the device has to be experienced to be believed! Toilets are cleaner, sinks stay clean and smear free, the detergent dispenser drawer in the washing machine has stopped developing that black slime, hair is softer, skin is smoother .... [I must stop else you'll think I'm 'on commission' :) ]

HTH

Reply to
Brian Sharrock

Took me about 3 months to get through 25kg, so slight less consumption, but using cheaper salt.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

Mine was from

formatting link
It is on constant special offer.

It is suitable for whole house mains pressure operation, provided you don't use the strangle hoses that come with it as standard.

I've connected mine up with rigid flowed bend 22mm copper pipework.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

I think I briefly stumbled across them last night on my googling. I have just contacted a few dealers for some prices. :¬)

I'll give them a try and see if they will still do a deal.

On re-plumbing, I catered for all "gadgets" my problem comes from being the type of person that needs second opinion as to whether something is good or not, as such all the final bits in the puzzle never get implemented. While I have a new inspired interest in the softner side I'll get one ordered possibly today, that'll be another tick done on my job sheet.

Only problem then is the rate of completion... One completed, 3 more started!

:¬)

Presumably, as Christian mentioned, you can use regular salt granules in it as well as the blocks? Just that they sell bags in costco for £4 IIRC but I have no idea where I'd get blocks from without paying delivery costs.

Thanks again for your reply. Cheers Pete

Reply to
PeTe33

Just spoken to them. Looks like it may be the one for me then.

I have a 22mm inlet & 22mm outlet straight connectors currently capped off with blanking plugs, a 22mm full bore stop tap on each with a 15mm bypass beforehand are you saying it's best to use copper all the way through rather than their 22mm flexible connectors then Christian?

Reply to
PeTe33

Well, their high pressure/high flow kit was very expensive, given that a small length of copper pipe and a pipe bender will do the job and you know it won't have reduced bore or kinks. If you don't buy a connection kit, you get (or at least I got) a couple of washing machine hoses in the box, which would be fine for a large loft cistern setup.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

The message from "Brian Sharrock" contains these words:

Good god! My Bosch uses about that in two years. Do the instructions tell you how to set the local water hardness?

Reply to
Guy King

It can vary depending on whether the toilets use softened water or not. However, if you are using 4kg in two years, you either don't actually have hard water, or your water softener is not actually softening your water.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

The salt sits on a little perforated platform which itself sits within a plastic tank. Water (for regeneration) is metered into the plastic tank to just touch the bottom of the salt. The water dissolves the salt until the water becomes _saturated_ salt/water = brine. [I had to convince myself about this ... it's no more .. no less ... dim realisation that those Chemistry lessons in the fifties would come in handy ... one day]. Salt is salt so it doesn't matter what form it's inserted into the device. Being ultra conservative I bought blocks of salt , sourced via a web-search. If you purchase a softener - it doesn't come with a 'free' bunch of Salt. Unlike a dishwasher that often includes a starter set of 'Finish'; you've got to get some salt otherwise you've got an expensive kit if bits doing nothing ... ;) I purchased ten bags of two blocks (80Kg) for £35. When it's consumed , I'll try granular salt which seems to be £1/Kg(?) Blocks are 'easy' to see being consumed (through a transparent cover) and easy to refill the box. The TwinTec box is 'generously' sized to accept two vertical blocks of salt and it's instructions state that it will utilise granular salt.

Reply to
Brian Sharrock

No, much less. £4 - 6 for a 25kg bag, is the normal range. The last lot I bought was £5 a bag for 10 bags, delivered. A bag lasts

3-4 weeks at my rate of use.
Reply to
Andy Hall

4 Kg in two years? 2 Kg per annum? 2,000 gramme per year?
Reply to
Brian Sharrock

snip

Thanks Andy; say 8Kg ~6Kg per week? Where (from whom) do you buy these bags?

Reply to
Brian Sharrock

The message from "Brian Sharrock" contains these words:

Sorry, I misread the original question and was talking about a dishwasher. I plead having two small kids in the room in mitigation.

Reply to
Guy King

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.