Cheapest place for water softener salt

[FGoogle]

Just put in a water softener brought from Screwfix 4 years ago (that's good going for my DIY jobs ! )

Where do you get your salt from?

Needs granular salt apparently

Mark

[Aidan]

Costco.

So does my Bosch dishwasher, I think. I've fed it on the tablets I use in the water softener, with no ill effects, as yet (5 or 6 years).

Salt is salt. In reality, it uses a brine solution and I can't see how the shape of the solid salt will affect operation. Anyone saying otherwise is usually in marketing.

[Christian McArdle]

I just plumbed my dishwasher into the soft water, so there is no need to continue feeding the dishwasher at all. The main problem is finding dishwasher tablets without "salt action". Unfortunately, what "salt action" actually means is that the tablet is full of environmentally damaging phosphates. Quite frankly, they should be banned. It is ridiculous that we are pumping out all these phosphates just because people can't be arsed to fill their salt container.

No, there is a genuine reason. It affects the accuracy of brine metering. If the brine is metered by level, rather than flow, having a consistent size of solid salt in the tank will ensure that the amount of brine up to the level is consistent. Whether that accuracy is of much concern is another matter.

Christian.

[Andy Hall]

It can matter.

Originally, the unit that I have had a brine pick up unit in the salt tank with a filter. This would operate with granular salt. At some point the device failed and was replaced with a newer design which did not have the same filter. Grains would get trapped in it, so it requires tablet salt now. In both cases, brine metering is by the level of brine in this tank, which can be adjusted. In both cases, it makes a saturated solution, so I don't think the brine quantity has altered.

Accuracy needs to be in a reasonable range. Too little and the resin bed is not regenerated properly. Too much and salt is wasted. The adjustment on mine is to start low and to then increase until the remaining hardness in the water is at the soft water level.

[Christian McArdle]

The issue is that the undissolved block salt, tablet salt and granular salt will all displace a different amount of water when sat in the tank. This displacement might also be more or less variable. Block salt will displace a pretty much constant amount of water and provides the best level metering. Granular salt will be quite variable in the amount of water it displaces.

I'm not saying that it matters particularly critically, but there is a difference.

Christian.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Anywhere that sells the right sized stuff.

I pay about 6.50 for a 25kg bag. Tablets in my case.

The local village shop does it, strangely as cheaply as the builders merchants and the 'country store' place.

[Bob Eager]

Any reason not to use conventional dishwasher powder, without the 'salt action'?

[Christian McArdle]

It is messy and you have to dose it. However, I suspect I should move towards it, as the tablet manufacturers insist on still wrapping the tablets individually, which is bad.

Christian.

[Bob Eager]

My thought too. We just use an old washing powder scoop for the job, and

5kg tubs of dishwasher detergent from CPC.

[Andy Hall]

OK, I see what you're saying....

[Andy Hall]

I imagine that that is so that you can easily handle the tablets, unwrapping them without touching them. The detergent seems to be quite pokey. I managed to get some on a piece of raw skin and it hurt quite a bit.

[Bob Eager]

Not sure if I mentioned this before...I know someone who works in a burns unit, and they get quite a lot of 'dishwasher detergent' cases! It made me more careful...